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about

This song is lyrically very dear to me. I originally wrote it in high school about 1989. The meaning of the song is fairly simple. It's me picking on myself for feeling that the things I write about are going to be changed by my writing them down. What is the point I thought to myself in the middle of this song and I went ahead and let that sentiment become what I like best about it. My self-aggrandizing save the world stump speech gets perfectly balanced out by some dullard wisdom. The song was a bit too slow because it was conceived on my mom's yamaha g 321 classical nylon string guitar and I was convinced that I had to run a picking pattern through every chord. In my mind and far from my abilities I saw it as having to be a cross between the Doors version of "Spanish caravan" and Jeff Beck's version of "Greensleeves" on the"Truth" album. I loved my lyrics, but the song just lacked real steam. Being altogether too headstrong, I would not even consider changing tempo or style so I was stuck. I kept it under wraps until I formed the band "Slight Return" with David Parsa. The song underwent electroshock in the presence of a full band and the helpful change-up to my electric ovation U.k. 2 guitar (the one with 24 frets! ;) ..it was all I needed to de-pussyfy the song enough to play it live with out shame. It never got recorded. Not to my satisfaction anyhow. So I almost had a superstition going with this song that kept me away from it. I think I liked the song too much to even touch it until I had the right elements in place. No I'm a liar! I did cut a version with Scott K. and Davey Miller and it was o.k. I think. At any rate. Well shit, there might be another one floating around under the "Agave blues" name...hmm life gets blurry. Anyway, cut to twenty years later and I finally have the studio of my greedy dreams. I put my superstitions aside a few years ago and it took about three days to put enough real focus and love into the song to make it be what I think it should be.
P.S. a few months ago I played this song with "The Skeleton Brains" (old friends from round Ventura way) and the new, new 2012 versions we are jamming at Eric's house are sick.
Deep JB funk style. "So What" has some evolution to go and some good tread on its tires me thinks. You might want to come and see us play it sometime if we get around to it again. Peace, B.E.B.

lyrics

Things will get worse far before they get better
We got a long way to go
And all you can do in between the confusion is
Lie down and go with the flow

...and so what? and so what? What what
...and so what? and so what? What what

Well, the birds and the bees are just a few of these that could
Stand up and teach us a lesson.
That a wrinkle in the face of disgrace is bound to
Leave us a permanent impression

...And so what? And so what? what what
...And so what? And so what? what what

And your babies
Why they crying now?
Start thinking maybe
Maybe you ought to come, well
Maybe you ought to come home

A room full of mad men playing with numbers drawing
Pictures of jungles with crayons
Thinking, maybe it's safer to hide in a box than be
Shot down with poisonous arrows

...and so what? And so what? What what
... And so what? And so what? What what.

And your babies
Why they crying now?
Start thinking maybe
Maybe you ought to come, well
Maybe you ought to come home home home

Things will get worse far before they get better
well you better know what you know what you know
If you look to the sky to try to find heaven
Well, I know you ought to feel low

...And so what? And so what? What what
...And so what? And so what? What what

credits

from On The Shine, released October 2, 2012
Brandon Earl Bristow

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Brandon Earl Bristow Ventura, California

The Lost surfer hiding in the trees talking to himself.

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