Last semester, my U.S. History class was given the assignment to write a song. We had just finished learning about the emergence of counter culture in the 60s and about how music during this time period reflected the current issues (feminism, Black Power, environmentalism). The only direction that the class received was “Write a song about a current issue.” So I wrote a song about mass shootings.
(I tried to insert a video of me singing the song, but it didn’t work 🙁 )
It’s one o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon I feel I’m hardly living because I’m at school But when the teacher tells me to run and hide I know I might be dead by one o’ nine
This was the first verse of the song that I wrote. School shoots are something that strikes a powerful chord in me, being a student and all. I tried to be clever with the way I wrote this particular verse. I used an exact time because I wanted to show how quickly a child could go from being bored in a classroom, or “hardly living”, to actually being scared for their life.
And now I’m staring down the barrel of a gun When I asked him why, he told me “I’m not the only one” As he pulled the trigger, he looked at me and said “They’ll remember me even though you’re the one that’s dead”
Each chorus is written a little differently. For the first one, which was also written first, I wrote from the point of view someone being confronted by a shooter. The shooter tells the victim that the shooter is “not the only one”, as in not the only person to be driven to kill, and “they’ll remember me even though you’re the on that’s dead”. The last line was inspired by many cases of murder in which the killer’s name lives on in infamy while his victims are forgotten.
This music was the loudest I’d ever heard Until the shots rang out, could be heard across the world The screams didn’t drown out the terror inside It’s clear I will go deaf if I make it out alive
This verse is inspired by both the 2017 Las Vegas shooting and the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
And to be staring down the barrel of a gun When I asked him why, he told me “I’m not the last one” As he pulled the trigger, he looked at me and said “Say hello to God for me if you make it to heaven”
The second chorus has the shooter telling his victim that he will not be the last one to do what he is doing. He also tells the victim to say hello to God if they make it too heaven. I wrote this line thinking that whoever the victim is, they may not be the best person and the shooter doesn’t know if they’re going to heaven or not.
Columbine, Sandy Hook, The Pulse, and Las Vegas Couldn’t have waited even if they’d wanted to save us And if they had then where would we be? Would we be closer to a cure or further out to sea?
The bridge references Columbine (1999) and Sandy Hook (2012), both school shootings, The Pulse (2016), a shooting at an Orlando nightclub, and the Las Vegas shooting (2017). It says that these tragedies were inevitable and effected our society in unchangeable ways, though it’s unclear if the impact will be positive or negative in the long run.
And when you’re staring down the barrel of a gun When they ask them why, they’ll tell you that they’re already gone As they pull the trigger, you’ll look at them and say I know you’re gone, but please don’t take my life away
The last verse of the song serves as a warning from the victim. The victim is saying what will inevitably happen.
From what I could gather, my class enjoyed the song. I have no idea where else I could perform something like this, but for now, I’m happy just leaving it here for the enjoyment of whoever wants to read about it.
Luckily, I got to experience you singing this song. The lyrics are so moving, and show the reality we live in today. Such a beautiful, yet deep song <3
I’ve heard this song plenty of times, and I kind of there as you were writing it. And I think that this more than just a song for a history. It feels like poetry (which is essentially what songs are) and it’s really personal. Very well written… beautiful <3
YES!! Addison, this song is so amazing and I was there when you sang it and you did so well! It’s extremely catchy, yet has such a dark message. It’s a message that needs to be sent, though. Anyways, this is very nice and the lyricism is very on point.