Post by Deleted on May 22, 2016 3:31:36 GMT -5
I wrote "Decatur" in the early '90s. It was pretty much my "signature" song (if I had one) and I've included it in solo and band sets for years. But there were always some lines in it that bugged me. They had lazy words or phrases or they didn't make sense (or weren't historically accurate) and I just never went back and fixed them.
I was leading a songwriting workshop at a local arts collective last year and preached the gospel of Edit, Edit, Edit. When I got home, I decided I needed to take some of my own advice and so I went back, pulled out some of my old songs that I thought were "done" long ago, and decided to edit and rewrite them. It's not like we're writing the Magna Carta here. We can go back and fix things, even if they are words or lines or entire verses that we've lived with for a couple of decades.
So here is the current version of "Decatur." It's about the town in Illinois, which had a rocky labor history in the '90s.
Questions/comments welcome, of course.
Decatur
© 2016 by David Hanners
I was born here years ago
This town on the banks where the Sangamon flows
Known my neighbors all my life
Sons and daughters, husbands, wives
When I graduated in '73
Plenty of work for you and me
At Archer's and Staley's and the Big Cat, sir
Far and wide, they knew the name Decatur
Got work unloading corn at A.E. Staley
Remember my first paycheck like yesterday
Joined AIWA Local 837
I'm a union man, third generation
Worked long and hard and honestly
I was good for Staley's; they were good to me
But changing times brought a change in the weather
And hard times here in Decatur
Staleys sold out to Tate & Lyle
Said our jobs were safe but they lied
Brought in union-busters to negotiate
Givebacks on safety and 12-hour days
We refused so they locked us out
Told us to take what they offered or do without
They imposed a contract that was unfair
To working men and women here in Decatur
I was born here years ago
This town on the banks where the Sangamon flows
There's Detroit, Madison, the Massey mines
Maybe it was always just a matter of time
'Til they added Decatur to the names
Of towns where they stripped away all we gained
Drive these streets at night and wonder
What we lost here in Decatur
I was leading a songwriting workshop at a local arts collective last year and preached the gospel of Edit, Edit, Edit. When I got home, I decided I needed to take some of my own advice and so I went back, pulled out some of my old songs that I thought were "done" long ago, and decided to edit and rewrite them. It's not like we're writing the Magna Carta here. We can go back and fix things, even if they are words or lines or entire verses that we've lived with for a couple of decades.
So here is the current version of "Decatur." It's about the town in Illinois, which had a rocky labor history in the '90s.
Questions/comments welcome, of course.
Decatur
© 2016 by David Hanners
I was born here years ago
This town on the banks where the Sangamon flows
Known my neighbors all my life
Sons and daughters, husbands, wives
When I graduated in '73
Plenty of work for you and me
At Archer's and Staley's and the Big Cat, sir
Far and wide, they knew the name Decatur
Got work unloading corn at A.E. Staley
Remember my first paycheck like yesterday
Joined AIWA Local 837
I'm a union man, third generation
Worked long and hard and honestly
I was good for Staley's; they were good to me
But changing times brought a change in the weather
And hard times here in Decatur
Staleys sold out to Tate & Lyle
Said our jobs were safe but they lied
Brought in union-busters to negotiate
Givebacks on safety and 12-hour days
We refused so they locked us out
Told us to take what they offered or do without
They imposed a contract that was unfair
To working men and women here in Decatur
I was born here years ago
This town on the banks where the Sangamon flows
There's Detroit, Madison, the Massey mines
Maybe it was always just a matter of time
'Til they added Decatur to the names
Of towns where they stripped away all we gained
Drive these streets at night and wonder
What we lost here in Decatur