Song of the week #14

Don't You Dare Forget

This is the closest I have come to writing a protest song and possibly the angriest song I have ever written. I wrote it during the first lockdown when COVID 19 was wreaking havoc around the world. 

I don't usually watch the news as I find it too depressing but I remember thinking as I watched the UK government press briefings “These people don't know what they are doing!” With hindsight we now know that the very people who should have been setting us an example were flagrantly breaking all the rules they had imposed on the populace while everyone else was doing the right thing and practising social distancing.

I remember early on during lockdown watching a video of Ralph McTell singing his song Masks and Gowns about the woefully inadequate resources given to the NHS on the front line during the pandemic, This was the spur for me to write my own song called Don't You Dare Forget. It was a message to the British electorate to remember what had happened and not forget when next they came to vote.

For the song accompaniment I used a similar guitar style to Ralph McTell - it's called “Travis picking” and is named after the legendary Merle Travis - country guitarist and songwriter from the 1940s and 50s. It creates the illusion that a bass player is playing along with the guitarist.

During the pandemic the split screen of the Zoom call became almost ubiquitous, with bands like the Rolling Stones producing remote collaborative performances at a time when occupying the same physical space was not possible. 

I therefore decided to mimic the style of the Zoom call in my video with different areas of the screen being reserved for the various instruments in the recording. I used a virtual set of jazz drums played with brushes, so, with tongue firmly in cheek, I used a couple of plastic buckets and paintbrushes for the drums and saucepans for the bongos (along with my tapping foot, like Paul McCartney used on Blackbird).

I don't usually story-board my videos as I prefer to let them grow organically but for this video it was essential to plan where everything would go on the screen as the instumentation of the song developed. 

You would be forgiven for thinking that I performed all the parts of the video standing in front of my sitting room window with its view out to my garden but the reality was much more complicated than that. It proved impossible to get a good exposure for indoors and outdoors simultaneously because I was filming using my Kindle Fire tablet which is very unforgiving with light exposures. No matter what time of day I tried recording, there never seemed to be an ideal time when both indoors and outdoors looked perfect. So I took a series of pictures every ten minutes around sunset and eventually found the perfect compromise time of day. Here is the shot I used.

I then performed all my parts against a green screen and during post-production I inserted the above picture into the video.

Happily, during the summer of 2024 the British electorate didn't forget!

Watch the video by clicking on this link:

Don’t You Dare Forget

So when these days are over 
And the world stands on its feet
Just remember all those promises
You swore that you would keep
Just remember. Don’t forget the things you said

And who kept this country running
As we sheltered from the storm
It’s those so-called unskilled workers
Kept us safe from any harm
Just remember. Don’t forget the things you said

Don’t you dare… forget

When you laughed away the good men
And you spat upon their grave
Did you ever wonder who was
Pulling strings behind the stage
Just remember. Don’t forget the things you said

Don’t you dare… forget

Don’t you dare… forget

And they cheered and they applauded
As they cut the nurses’ pay
Did you ever see such arrogance
Or ignorance that day
Just remember. Don’t forget the things you said

So there’ll be no more backsliding
When you come to vote next time
For it could be someone dear to you
Whose life is on the line
Just remember. Don’t forget the things you said

Don’t you dare… forget
Don’t you dare… forget
Don’t you dare… forget
Don’t you dare… forget