RUNNING A BLUE LIGHT (The Godfather of Soul) - 1b

WhiteBushman1971NL

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[INTRO — 0:00-0:35]
[a steel cash-box bass drum struck alone, open and ringing, once every four beats]
[a circular-breathing didgeridoo enters underneath, very low, and does not stop again]
[spoken, close, unhurried] Dig in the yard. That is where it is.
[spoken] Box come up empty, you can hear it ring. That is the sound of nothing.
[spoken] Prettiest sound there is. I do not want pretty.

[THE COUNT — 0:35-1:05]
[spoken, commanding, over the strongbox] Horns. You are not horns tonight. You are drums.
[spoken] Guitar, you are a drum. Bass, you are a drum. Organ, you are a drum.
[spoken] Everything in this room is a drum and all of it hits in the same place.
[shouted] GIVE ME THE ONE —
[full band slams in on the downbeat, tight muted guitar, stabbing horns, organ]

[VERSE ONE — 1:05-1:45]
[lead, rasping] Four years old and the door went quiet
[lead] Nobody sat me down and said where
[lead] Aunt's house, every room in it working
[lead, harder] Sent me home from school for what I was not wearing
[lead, screamed] And I have been paying that school back ever since

[CHORUS — 1:45-2:15]
[shouted, band hitting hard on every one] ON THE ONE
[lead] I do not stop
[band] ON THE ONE
[lead] I can not stop
[band] ON THE ONE
[lead, screamed, held] STOP IS A WORD FOR PEOPLE WITH SOMEWHERE TO GO BACK TO

[VERSE TWO — 2:15-2:50]
[band drops to guitar, strongbox and didgeridoo]
[lead] Fifteen years old and a car window
[lead] Three and a half years up the road at Alto
[lead] Built a choir in there out of nothing but boys
[lead, rising] Walked out singing
[lead, screamed] WALKED OUT OWING

[THE FINE — 2:50-3:15]
[the band keeps playing, the lead speaks across it]
[spoken, cutting in, hard] That is five. — Crease in your sleeve. That is five.
[spoken] Flat note, that is five, and you knew it before I did.
[spoken] You think I am hard.
[spoken, quieter, worse] Hard is the shack. This is a job.

[THE BLUE LIGHT — 3:15-3:55]
[everything at full force, horns screaming on the one]
[lead, shouted] Blue light behind me, blue light on the other side of the line
[lead] Two states could not agree whose road I was on
[lead] They put it in the paper in their own language
[lead, screamed] RUNNING A BLUE LIGHT
[lead] Like running was a crime they wrote down for me personally
[lead, screamed, held] I WAS ALREADY RUNNING WHEN THEY GOT THERE

[THE CAPE — 3:55-4:25]
[the band thins out, then collapses, the lead's voice gives way mid-word]
[spoken, exhausted, almost gone] ...That is it. That is all of it. That is all I have got.
[everything stops except the didgeridoo, held very low]
[a long silence, counted through, not rested in]
[the strongbox is struck once, alone, ringing]
[lead, screamed from nothing] NO —
[full band slams back in on the one, louder than before]

[FINAL — 4:25-5:10]
[lead, screamed] I never stopped and I am not going to
[lead] Do not tell them I got free of it
[lead] Do not tell them it let go
[lead, hard, level] I got paid. That is a different thing.
[band] ON THE ONE
[lead] I do not stop
[band] ON THE ONE
[lead, screamed, held] I CAN NOT

[OUTRO — 5:10-5:30]
[the band cuts out dead on the one, all at once]
[the steel cash-box drum is struck alone, open and ringing, three times, slowing]
[spoken, quiet, close] Hear that.
[spoken] Still empty.
[the didgeridoo breathes once and stops]

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[ALL BRACKETED TEXT IS NON-VOCAL] [NO IMPROVISATION] [NO CORRECTIONS] [VOICE: ONE male lead, raw rasping soul shout, screams, hard consonants, speaks orders to his own band between lines] [KEY: E7, one chord, no modulation] [TEMPO: 108 BPM, locked, never varies] [LAW: every accent lands on beat ONE. Nothing resolves anywhere else.] [LAW: the music never fully stops until the last bar. Silences are counted through, not rested in.] [THE STRONGBOX: a bass drum built from a steel cash box. Struck only on the one. It rings open and hollow because it is empty.] [INTRO — 0:00-0:35] [a steel cash-box bass drum struck alone, open and ringing, once every four beats] [a circular-breathing didgeridoo enters underneath, very low, and does not stop again] [spoken, close, unhurried] Dig in the yard. That is where it is. [spoken] Box come up empty, you can hear it ring. That is the sound of nothing. [spoken] Prettiest sound there is. I do not want pretty. [THE COUNT — 0:35-1:05] [spoken, commanding, over the strongbox] Horns. You are not horns tonight. You are drums. [spoken] Guitar, you are a drum. Bass, you are a drum. Organ, you are a drum. [spoken] Everything in this room is a drum and all of it hits in the same place. [shouted] GIVE ME THE ONE — [full band slams in on the downbeat, tight muted guitar, stabbing horns, organ] [VERSE ONE — 1:05-1:45] [lead, rasping] Four years old and the door went quiet [lead] Nobody sat me down and said where [lead] Aunt's house, every room in it working [lead, harder] Sent me home from school for what I was not wearing [lead, screamed] And I have been paying that school back ever since [CHORUS — 1:45-2:15] [shouted, band hitting hard on every one] ON THE ONE [lead] I do not stop [band] ON THE ONE [lead] I can not stop [band] ON THE ONE [lead, screamed, held] STOP IS A WORD FOR PEOPLE WITH SOMEWHERE TO GO BACK TO [VERSE TWO — 2:15-2:50] [band drops to guitar, strongbox and didgeridoo] [lead] Fifteen years old and a car window [lead] Three and a half years up the road at Alto [lead] Built a choir in there out of nothing but boys [lead, rising] Walked out singing [lead, screamed] WALKED OUT OWING [THE FINE — 2:50-3:15] [the band keeps playing, the lead speaks across it] [spoken, cutting in, hard] That is five. — Crease in your sleeve. That is five. [spoken] Flat note, that is five, and you knew it before I did. [spoken] You think I am hard. [spoken, quieter, worse] Hard is the shack. This is a job. [THE BLUE LIGHT — 3:15-3:55] [everything at full force, horns screaming on the one] [lead, shouted] Blue light behind me, blue light on the other side of the line [lead] Two states could not agree whose road I was on [lead] They put it in the paper in their own language [lead, screamed] RUNNING A BLUE LIGHT [lead] Like running was a crime they wrote down for me personally [lead, screamed, held] I WAS ALREADY RUNNING WHEN THEY GOT THERE [THE CAPE — 3:55-4:25] [the band thins out, then collapses, the lead's voice gives way mid-word] [spoken, exhausted, almost gone] ...That is it. That is all of it. That is all I have got. [everything stops except the didgeridoo, held very low] [a long silence, counted through, not rested in] [the strongbox is struck once, alone, ringing] [lead, screamed from nothing] NO — [full band slams back in on the one, louder than before] [FINAL — 4:25-5:10] [lead, screamed] I never stopped and I am not going to [lead] Do not tell them I got free of it [lead] Do not tell them it let go [lead, hard, level] I got paid. That is a different thing. [band] ON THE ONE [lead] I do not stop [band] ON THE ONE [lead, screamed, held] I CAN NOT [OUTRO — 5:10-5:30] [the band cuts out dead on the one, all at once] [the steel cash-box drum is struck alone, open and ringing, three times, slowing] [spoken, quiet, close] Hear that. [spoken] Still empty. [the didgeridoo breathes once and stops]

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