03/24/2023 Click here for Spotify or Apple Music. This is my 36th official release and honestly it took forever. This is has been my most complicated and expensive track to date. I am very proud of this track. I think it deserves a lot of attention and, as I will discuss, really gets at the heart of the problem.
I remember listening to Russ’s “3:15 Breathe” and it made me cry. It made me think about school shootings and lyrics just naturally bubbled up about the situation. I originally wanted to make the song with Russ’s beat and just redo the lyrics, and I even emailed his management, but after not receiving an answer and sitting on it for a while I decided I wanted to make it anyways and would just pay to remake the beat. You can definitely hear the similarities. You can still find the Russ demo on my soundcloud. He’ll probably never see this unless it blows up but I just want to say thank you to Russ for the inspiration and although I can’t afford to pay you a lot I can give you a nominal fee if desired and of course give you high praise and credit like I’m doing here. Thank you very much Mr. Russ, sir.
My vocals were self-recorded. The beat was made by TheyCallMeHeat from Crack House Recordings in Lansing Michigan. The female feature is Daneikashley from fiverr, and the boys choir was sung by the kids of Martymind from fiverr. The track was mixed and mastered by Sam Peters at La Luna recording studio in Kalamazoo Michigan. The cover art was made by ArtworkGang from Fiverr.
My position on guns and the mass shooting problem is as follows. I have talked about mass shootings on my blog at EricLeo108.com. You can find the specific blog post by going to FarmingHumans.com. But to give you the Cliff Notes, we basically have this problem with guns because of corporate rule. The research is clear that basically more guns leads to more violence.
The real problem is America is a militaristic nation (arguably the most militaristic, especially considering how much of the federal budget we spend on defense) that is (also by consequence) the largest producer of guns in the world. To sell more guns the gun manufacturers, through the NRA, have lobbied the government to make guns legal. They support Republicans and this tactic has worked considering when Democrats have tried to pass gun legislation Republicans have filibustered the process.
So it’s the Republican’s fault, sponsored by the NRA, which is the result of corporate rule, that we have such a problem with mass shootings. This is a uniquely American problem, so much to the point that the number one cause of death to children is guns, above cancer and car accidents. The problem is so ubiquitous every year there are reports of trampling at the Fourth of July celebrations because people think it’s a mass shooting and run. This shows, as the song says, politicians make American’s live in fear.
Ignorant people will say banning guns only takes them away from law abiding citizens and not criminals but the fact is most mass shooters obtain their firearms legally. And even if they didn’t, a ban on guns would raise the prices for them which would outprice them making guns inaccessable or at least a lot harder to get. We need a nationwide ban of guns.
The fact is that mass shooters buy guns legally from different states and bring them into states that have banned guns to commit mass shootings. The reality is we don’t have common sense gun policy in America because Republicans block it. The number one indicator of weather you’ll be a mass shooter is if you’ve previously been charge with domestic abuse. So the logical thing to do is forbid domestic abusers from having guns, but that has been blocked by the conservative (Trump appointed) supreme court.
The truth is corporate propaganda has a hold on America, or at least tries to justify the mass shooting problem. It’s like 80% of people want stricter gun laws, it’s just a few Republicans holding the country hostage. Australia, New Zealand, and Canada have all banned guns without a genocide or martial law against their citizens. But ignorant conservatives are quick to quote Hitler by saying “To take over a nation, first disarm their citizens” but given how other countries have had mass shootings and banned guns and they no longer have a problem is proof that’s a better alternative.
The fact is we have pursued a genocide and martial law in this country all while having guns, and guns never prevented it from happening. All you have to do is look at the history of Native Americans and blacks (respectively). We have always had the “right to bear arms” and they were persecuted by the government. Gun ownership is more prevalent than ever but that hasn’t stopped the Republicans from pursuing the current genocide against trans people. It’s only when white people think that the government is gonna take their guns away do they spread fear-mongering and misinformation about guns.
You can see me talk about this blog post from the last Sunday Update here:
Lyrics:
All I ever wanna do is help you understand and grow
But we sit back watch the country as we lose another soul
Wonderin when its gonna end but then we never reach our goal
I swear the politicians say they care to give a show
I wish you would own up to your flaws
And say that you're wrong when you're wrong
Instead of actin' like you're right, then it turns into a fight
Then another child dies and we haven’t made it right
I watch you
Bleed
I'm so ashamed of what my country do
I tell myself that I won’t vote for you
But I don't wanna sleep, and I can’t really eat
And I just watch you bleed
I ask myself why I ignore the news
About mass shootings at malls and schools
The result of corporate rule
But I won’t be your tool
They’re in my head like
Please I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die yet
Please I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die yet
Please I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die yet
Please I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die yet
You ignore their calls for help and make money as they die
It’s obvious your conscience is that something you can buy
How cold, how cold
I guess the cost of doing business is another child’s life
I guess we can’t do what’s right unless the children pay the price
How cold, how cold
It’s business, over people
It’s the guns, that we feel for
Don’t deny it, what you choose to
Is protect guns, over kid’s schools
We need better mental health and then reform for all the guns
Politicians rule with fear and now the people on the run
Somethin' tells me that I'm right about you
Go head and prove me wrong
They say democracy is right
But got no gull the sing along
Cuz I just watch you bleed
I'm so ashamed of what my country do
I tell myself that I won’t vote for you
But I don't wanna sleep, and I can’t really eat
And I just watch you bleed
I ask myself why I ignore the news
About mass shootings at malls and schools
The result of corporate rule
But I won’t be your tool
They’re in my head like
Please I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die yet
Please I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die yet
Please I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die yet
Please not yet
And I just watch you bleed
Will you refuse these
All the pain and harm we cause, now do you see?
We need better mental health and then reform for all guns
Politicians rule with fear and now the people on the run