Song of the week #31
Wake Up!
The original song
I wrote this song in July/August 2018 for my Big Issues album. I had known Martin Niemoller's poem for years; it is inscribed on many Holocaust memorials in the USA, and I thought it would provide suitable material for one of my more serious songs. It is usually known as First They Came.
The version on the Holocaust memorial in Boston, Massachusetts, translated from the original German, is:
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
However, the impetus for me to write the song came about for a more mundane reason. In 2018 I had started to perform at local open-mike nights and wanted a song that would make people sit up and listen. So the song's title and opening line were born. As is usual when I write a song based on an existing poem I don't set the poem to music - I try to absorb the spirit of the poem as I am writing the song. So instead of Communists, Jews, trade unionists and Catholics I used “beggars and scroungers”, “travellers and tinkers”, “poets and playwrights” and “philosophers and thinkers” for the first verse and “ministers and rectors”, “pastors and preachers”, “tutors and trainers” and “lecturers and teachers” for the second. I like the rhymes and alliteration here which came almost without me thinking.
I needed a middle eight for the song and for this I used Nigerian poet Niyi Osundare's poem Not My Business for inspiration. It has the same message as Niemoller's poem: injustice is everyone's business, not just for those who are directly affected by it. It begins:
They picked Akanni up one morning
Beat him soft like clay
And stuffed him down the belly
Of a waiting jeep.
What business of mine is it
So long they don’t take the yam
From my savouring mouth?
I soon became aware that, for dramatic effect, the song must end abruptly as the fourth wall is broken and the singer becomes the victim of the song. So for the third verse I used “players and performers” and finally “singers and guitarists”. At open-mike nights this confused listeners who didn't know where to applaud at the end! But I am unrepentant: the song HAS to end the way it does. Although the song's subject is the world political situation at the time I wrote it (and increasingly now in 2025) but I hope that it is a message for all times.
The re-edited version
I have always been disappointed by my original recording but it is only now that my recording techniques have matured enough for me to fully realise what I heard in my head. Although I extensively edited and rebalanced the parts I didn't re-record anything. I was especially pleased with the lead guitar part which I played on my Variax guitar miked up through a tiny Marshall amplifier - using the same method that David Gilmour used in recording his solos with Pink Floyd.
I also used an AI effect for the vocals which gave a raw edge to their quality.
The video
As with my other recent videos, I have used AI to generate the images I needed - specifically the Google ImageFX website and I have now become more practised at formulating the right instructions to get what I need. As is the case with any search engine if you ask a stupid question you will get a stupid answer! At first I asked for images with British soldiers but the AI interpreted this as 18th century British soldiers who might have fought in the American War of Independence! I also had to specify that the individuals being arrested at various points of the song were “looking worried” as early attempts made them look quite happy to go along with the procedure.
One of the first ideas I had for the video was to illustrate the “but I didn't speak out” line with a modern-day Dylanesque folk guitarist wearing a scarf around his mouth. This also conveniently hid his true feelings behind the scarf. The second idea was for the “no business of mine” middle eight. I imagined the singer walking off into the sunset. Using Photoshop I isolated the rear view of the guitarist walking away with his guitar case on his back. I then had to make a shadow for him so that he would fit into the open road images. Perhaps I should have made the shadow a bit longer as it's sunset but it works nonetheless. I also wanted people with masks who needed to “Wake Up!” which accounts for the hordes of people wearing masks - especially the musicians in the middle section.
I am very pleased with the song and video and hope you like it too.
Click on the link below to watch it on YouTube:
Wake Up!
Wake up! Wake up!
And see what is coming down.
‘Cos there’s a whole lot of bad things going on
Way over on the other side of town
Rise up! Speak out!
It’s time for you to stand up and shout
‘Cos there’s a lesson to be learned
For anybody who knows what their history’s about.
First they came for the beggars and the scroungers
The trav'llers and the tinkers
Then they came for the poets and the playwrights
Philosophers and thinkers
Oh but I didn’t speak out
Although I knew it was wrong
‘Cos I could play my guitar and I could sing my songs
Wake up! Wake up!
And see what is coming down.
‘Cos there’s a whole lot of bad things going on
Way over on the other side of town
Rise up! Speak out!
It’s time for you to stand up and shout
‘Cos there’s a lesson to be learned
For anybody who knows what their history’s about.
Then they came for the ministers and rectors
The pastors and the preachers
And next they came for the tutors and the trainers
The lecturers and teachers
Oh but I didn’t speak out
I didn’t try very hard
‘Cos I could still sing my songs and I could play my guitar.
Why on Earth d’ya think it should be
Any business of mine?
Who they came for in the night?
And who was in the firing line?
Wake Up!
Wake up! Wake up!
And see what is coming down.
‘Cos there’s a whole lot of bad things going on
Way over on the other side of town
Rise up! Speak out!
It’s time for you to stand up and shout
‘Cos there’s a lesson to be learned
For anybody who knows what their history’s about.
Then they came to take the players and performers
The singers and guitarists.
