Scott King: Songs

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

I wrote this one after a class I took in graduate school on Latin American history with a focus on literature depicting the plight of indigenous people. While at Fort Apache (Cambridge, MA) with Xguru making the record on which this song had its debut, our producer, Tim O'Heir, made me change the line, "they cupped her breast," which I thought was strange and unfortunate. Strange because since when did rock & roll become G-rated? Unfortunate because the line I had written was just perfect in my mind. It followed one of the cardinal rules of strong lyricism, which is to show, not tell. The image lets the listener know that these soldiers are going to have their way with this woman before they take her life, which is part of the story I wanted to tell because it is exactly what happened with these middle-of-the-night raids back in the 70's and early 80's in countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, Chile, and Argentina where people who dared to speak out and organize peacefully against their oppressive governments were labeled communists and tortured and killed. And I wasn't interested in making my lyrics safe for the airwaves or "appropriate," (I'm still not interested in doing that) but I did as I was asked, because this was Tim O'Heir afterall, and he had produced Juliana Hatfield and Morphine and on and on, so I had better listen, right? In retrospect, I rue the decision. I wish I had stood up for the lyrical integrity of the line, but I didn't. I re-wrote that section as Tim asked me to, and so on this track you'll hear the compromise line: "They dragged her out." It's not a bad line. Still image-rich and violent, which maintained some of the integrity of the scene I had wanted to show, but it's not as good as the original line. After leaving Xguru, I put out a stripped down solo acoustic record -- The Thomaston Sessions (2004) -- and I re-recorded Beneath The Sacred Sun and brought back the original lyric. That record is out of print now, unfortunately, but we may re-release it down the road. Hope you enjoy the Fort Apache/Tim O'Heir version. Even with the lyrical compromise, it's still one of my favorite of the recordings I've made, and it's a song that I still love to play and that gets a great response live.

BENEATH THE SACRED SUN

You see them slaving in your fields each day from dawn to dusk
You never wonder how they feel, you keep them busy and hushed

And you got the money from the foreign lands
You bought the weapons and they're in your hands
In the name of freedom and democracy
But your path to privilege is their misery
Beneath the sacred sun

You treat your pets like precious jewels
It's great to be your cat
Your kids attend the very best schools
With those of the diplomats

And you got the money from the foreign lands
You bought the weapons and they're in your hands
In the name of freedom and democracy
But your path to privilege is their misery
Beneath the sacred sun

One morning found her sleeping soundly when the soldiers came
They cupped her mouth, they cupped her breast
And killed her without shame

And they got the money from the foreign lands
They bought the weapons and they're in their hands
In the name of freedom and democracy
But their path to power is your misery
Beneath the sacred sun