I Once Had a Band

I Once Had a Band

I once had a band
Some said we were good
Some said we could have made it
Had we tried knocking on wood

Trying to get the drummer was a fight
And no one else could seem to write
And we lacked of that certain funk
Cause we were all white

The bass player would be yawning
He couldn’t make it through the night
And the lead guitarist would divert the song
Always insisting he was right

Sometimes the drummer was drunk
Or on some sort of medication
& I was all stressed out from work in the city
in great need of a long vacation

(Musical Bridge) / (Time signature change)

We played a place they use to call the Ledge
& the lead guitar wailed to long and lacked the edge
When I’d get to the bridge & try to pull it off
the accent beat was a pause or sometimes the drummers cough

So I couldn’t take the bullshit anymore!
bagged the band; put the PA on the shelf
It was hard to make it, with back muscles so sore
with a lead guitarist all absorbed in himself

Now I'll try, I guess, to make it on my own
I'll no longer have to gather up a reliable band
Or have to waste my time dialing the phone
forget the open mics, it’s a paying gig I need to land

I have lots of songs, very few are covers
How can you be a songwriter singing others
How can you get a following if you can’t afford to lead
How do you please closed minded Americans in this free music stampede?

Written by: R.G. Bierwirth