Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2012 14:36:42 GMT -5
This one is a very rough first draft, and you can expect a few changes in the days to come, but I thought I'd put it out there for any thoughts.
A couple of months ago, a documentary filmmaker was interviewing me for a movie he's doing on Minnesota singer-songwriters (no idea if I'll wind up on the cutting-room floor) and I told him that basically, my songs were Midwestern corridos. It struck me that I actually should try writing a corrido. So here is one such attempt. While most songs in the genre readily identify the pistolero or bandito, I purposefully kept my protagonist/victim vague. Also, "rio" is lowercase because it might be any river, although Camargo isn't far from the Rio Grande.
The Song of the Scarlet Tanager
Near the banks of the rio, down a dusty dirt road
Where the trucks smell of Mexican gas
There’s grief on the wind, there are men prone to sin
‘Cause temptation is all that will last
Sunrise serenade to the song
Of the scarlet tanager
Federales, they tell of a man bound for Hell
If he wasn’t already there
(chorus)
Mas remedio tiene un muerto
Even a dead man has more to hope for
Mas remedio tiene un muerto
It's a short life; we get nothing more
In the dust of Camargo, a dad tells his son
"Always respect this land”
But he would make his own way in a world that obeyed
The law of supply and demand
So he offers a prayer at a shrine to Malverde
That the false saint might keep him from harm
If he needs something more, there’s a Taurus .44
Tucked beneath his left arm
(Chorus)
Hard truth flows like spring rain in arroyos
It grows like mesquite on coastal plains
Much as you try, through tears you may cry
You can’t split truth from its pain
Near the banks of the rio, down a dusty dirt road
Where the trucks smell of Mexican gas
The body they found had been gagged and bound
As if thrown out with the trash
(Chorus and end)
A couple of months ago, a documentary filmmaker was interviewing me for a movie he's doing on Minnesota singer-songwriters (no idea if I'll wind up on the cutting-room floor) and I told him that basically, my songs were Midwestern corridos. It struck me that I actually should try writing a corrido. So here is one such attempt. While most songs in the genre readily identify the pistolero or bandito, I purposefully kept my protagonist/victim vague. Also, "rio" is lowercase because it might be any river, although Camargo isn't far from the Rio Grande.
The Song of the Scarlet Tanager
Near the banks of the rio, down a dusty dirt road
Where the trucks smell of Mexican gas
There’s grief on the wind, there are men prone to sin
‘Cause temptation is all that will last
Sunrise serenade to the song
Of the scarlet tanager
Federales, they tell of a man bound for Hell
If he wasn’t already there
(chorus)
Mas remedio tiene un muerto
Even a dead man has more to hope for
Mas remedio tiene un muerto
It's a short life; we get nothing more
In the dust of Camargo, a dad tells his son
"Always respect this land”
But he would make his own way in a world that obeyed
The law of supply and demand
So he offers a prayer at a shrine to Malverde
That the false saint might keep him from harm
If he needs something more, there’s a Taurus .44
Tucked beneath his left arm
(Chorus)
Hard truth flows like spring rain in arroyos
It grows like mesquite on coastal plains
Much as you try, through tears you may cry
You can’t split truth from its pain
Near the banks of the rio, down a dusty dirt road
Where the trucks smell of Mexican gas
The body they found had been gagged and bound
As if thrown out with the trash
(Chorus and end)
). But the rest of the song is quite top drawer. tells a story in an engaging way. Musically carries the listener along nicely. 
