I wrote my first song about gun violence in 2012.
On December 14, 2012 I was spending the day at the Flynn Theater watching my girls, who were then 7 and 4, rehearse for the annual Nutcracker Performance. It was dress rehearsal and it was loud, chaotic, and joyful, and every once in a while I had to step away and cry because the news of the day was too awful to comprehend. The contrast between so many young kids in sparkly outfits dancing on Burlington’s biggest stage, and so many young kids dead in Connecticut was so sickening and disorienting. It was one of those moments where I can’t believe anyone is able to do anything, myself included. How is it possible to be rehearsing for a ballet when it feels like the world has changed so indelibly?
I thought that surely now was the time for a meaningful discussion about our unfettered access to guns in America, but I was deeply disappointed. The suggestions that we add more armed guards to schools or give all the teachers firearms were put forth instead. We didn’t reduce access to guns. We didn’t increase the amount of money spent on mental health services. We just make our kids practice active shooter drills.
I wrote a song called “Babies to War.”
We don’t sent our babies to war, by letting them walk out the door,
And some things make no sense no more……So tell me now if it’s true that you still believe
Babies to War, Milton Busker 2016
That the cure for sickness you see is more of this disease…
As is my modus operandi, I think I softened the language a bit too much; so much so that when it was reviewed in Seven Days back in 2016, the writer described it as “…a cautionary tale of growing up too fast and facing the cruel world before you’re ready…”. It’s not about that. It’s about kids being slaughtered in their classrooms, and I failed to make it explicit.
I tried not to make the same mistake after the Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting. As sad and hopeless as Sandy Hook made me feel, Stoneman Douglas made me angry. So many kids’ lives lost because the people who could do something about it are beholden to companies that make ridiculous amounts of money convincing people that their freedom to own as many guns as they can is more important than the social contract to keep citizens safe – the social contract to keep OUR KIDS safe!
“Good Guys with Guns” is my response to the massive numbers of people who don’t see the disconnect between saying they follow the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, and using deadly force to protect their personal belongings. Who think that any barrier, minor or not, to owning a gun is tantamount to tyranny. Who believe that if they were in an active shooter situation, they would have the presence of mind to go full John McClane and kill all the bad guys without any collateral damage.
The words came pretty quickly. The music was originally much angrier – I imagined a lot of distorted guitars and a bit more shouting than what we ended up with. Thankfully The Grim Work heard the early versions and decided that it needed to be more from the Bill Withers school of social commentary than the Rage Against the Machine school of social commentary (which honestly I could never pull off). The anger is still there, but it goes down a little easier. We were even able to add some bongos to the recording (from the always game Dave Simpson, who doesn’t play bongos, but we made him do it anyway). It also includes the funkiest mandolin solo ever courtesy of Jom Hammack. Yes, you heard that right. The FUNKIEST MANDOLIN SOLO EVER! I will accept no argument otherwise.
As I said, this isn’t the first song I’ve written that talks about gun violence. But I do keep hoping it will be the last. I woke up this morning to news of a mass shooting in Colorado Springs, at a nightclub for LGBTQ+ patrons. Reports this afternoon indicate over 20 people injured and 5 dead. I’m so heartsick for these people. And I’m so sick of it still happening. Was this the worst shooting this year? Fuck no, that would probably be the Uvalde massacre. Was it the worst shooting this month? Maybe, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t. How messed up is that?
Good guys with guns indeed…