Country at War

Yes, I’m making this live today. Yes, I know it’s January 6th. But honestly, for me anyway, this song is about the constant struggle between living for yourself and living for someone else, between honesty and compromise, diplomacy and raw emotion, personal and political and all the other divides and chasms we try to work through in the course of a lifetime. Over and over again.

When I wrote it my heart was pounding, my palms were sweaty and I was grieving. When we recorded it, it felt like a jubilee. And therein lies the answer. Somewhere between grieving and jubilee we figure out our way forward. May we walk well.
xox s

  1. 1 Country at War Sarah Dashew 3:58

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P.S. This is the first track on the new album The Snowmass Sessions, which will be live everywhere January 18th.

Music, lyrics, vocals, acoustic guitar: Sarah Dashew
Electric guitar, keys: Danny T. Levin
Bass: JP Maramba
Drums, percussion: Michael Villiers
Tambourine: Denise LaVey
Recorded at MadDog Ranch & Studios in Snowmass, CO
Engineered and mixed by Marc Meeker
Mastered by Kim Rosen Knack Mastering

Lyrics:

Well I woke up this morning with a feeling of dread
And the words lead with love running through my head
But that line don’t work if the line’s gone dead
There are some things that I think need to be said
So I’m gonna say ’em

You used to ask me around when it was good for you
And then punch out the lights leave me black and blue
Took the last of the cash like it was your due
There are some bills you could pay if you wanted to
But you’ll never pay ’em

This was a family
This is a family no more
This was a nation
This is a country at war
You called me godless and you called me a whore
Do you remember

Well the battle lines were drawn around blood and pain
In a boxing ring covered with spit and stains
Determined to fight until the last one was slain
And when I wanted out and said never again
Instead I got christened
And you stole my car and drove it till it ran out of gas
Panhandled for more so the good times could last
Smashed it and crashed it and called it a blast
And I listened

This was a family
This is a family no more
This was a nation
This is a country at war
You asked me to stand up so you could knock me to the floor
Do you remember

The truth is I wish I didn’t have to leave
I wish it weren’t easier to be blind than to see
But if I’m gonna be self-righteous I guess that’s what I’ll be
It’s a long-standing root holding up a dead tree
That’s just rotten
And I thought about trying to write you a letter
But I did this instead and it made me feel better
‘Cause maybe some things that stay unsaid stay unfettered
And now you won’t have to crawl through the gutter to get her
Maybe this way it just gets forgotten

This was a family
This is a family no more
This was a nation
This is a country at war
I said all I had to say
I ain’t gonna say anymore

4 Comments

  1. You sing this with passion, as it should be done for this type of song. Your lyrics are simultaneously rich metaphors and sharply to the point. A great performance of a great song. I love it.

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