Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded July 17 and September 30, 2010. Mixed March 5, 2016.

 

Genesis: I wrote the music and lyrics on June 23, 1992. I revised the lyrics a week later and did so again in July 1998. The song originally had eight verses. I attempted a recording in 2002 but set it aside. I revised the lyrics on March 23, 2006, cutting the song down to four and one/half verses and adding the “I can feel it” section.

I decided to release the song this week because of the current state of American politics. Congressional gridlock, embarrassing presidential debates, crazy social media, and the sad state of the news media leave me shaking my head. Most of the words to this song were written almost 24 years ago (I did add a few lines during the G.W. Bush administration…), so I can’t pretend things were rosy then. However, I sense that something’s going to give this year.

Production: Bass guitar, drums, electric guitars, organ.

 Lyrics

SOMETHING’S GONNA GIVE

Something’s gonna give

I can feel it in my bones.

Something’s gonna give

Truth won’t need a chaperone

The movers and shakers

Have pulled up lame

From overexertion

In shifting the blame

Something’s gonna give

I can feel in my bones

 

Something’s gonna give

Ugly rumors are in play.

Something’s gonna give

Silent tongues will have their say

Hear that pressure cooker

Way down the line

The fire’s getting hotter

We haven’t got much time

Something’s gonna give

I can feel it in my bones

 

Something’s gonna give

No need to be misled.

Something’s gonna give

Keep the fear out of your head

They’re leaking propaganda

On the ship of state

The captain’s looking shaky

He can’t keep things straight

Something’s gonna give

I can feel it in my bones

 

Something’s gonna give

There’s no hope without belief

Something’s gonna give

Is that a flag or a bloody handkerchief?

The rising tide of justice

Moves through the night

Past the told-you-so prophets

And the talk show lights

Something’s gonna give

I can feel it in my bones

 

I might not know the minute

When the winds begin to shift

I feel the planet moving

The fog is bound to lift

Something’s gonna give

I can feel it in my bones.

Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner. All Rights Reserved.