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about

I remember wanting to write a song for our lead guitarist Nate to sing, as he has such a sweet voice. I worked on this song for a while in late 2019. It was inspired in part by the sound of The Band (especially their version of “Tears of Rage”)—especially the combination of piano and Hammond organ—and the subject matter was the 1921 Tulsa race massacre: “you” in the title and chorus is, in a general sense, the white subject and agent of overt, explicit white supremacy. The narrative loosely traces aspects of that massacre as well as, in the final half-verse, reflects on it as a past, formerly forgotten event. Oddly enough, I wrote it just before seeing the television series Watchmen, and it resonates quite a bit with it. One of the lines invokes the title of the film In the Heat of the Night, also about white supremacist violence in the South, although I only saw that great film later (early in 2022, with my parents, after Sidney Poitier had passed away). There’s also an allusion to Randy VanWarmer's "You Left Me Just When I Needed You Most" in the prechoruses.

lyrics

You said don’t be late
As I passed through the gate
I was hoping I'd made it on time
The cops rushing forward,
The mob pushed me northward
I’d spoken in faith of no crime

They’d just left the war
And resented the poor
Who had still earned a place in this town
Then things went all sideways
They marched on our driveways
And burned every place to the ground

It helped me more when I
Dropped to the floor and I
Shut down the roar, then I
Counted back slowly from ten
’Cause it’s you, again

You said don’t be long
And I watched as the throng
Did advance from the top of the stairs
Those prodigal sons, yes we
Mounted our guns
And then fired while saying our prayers

The engines did putter,
The windows were shuttered as
Flames poured down from the sky
I tried not to choke
On the billowing smoke
I remember not wanting to die

It helped me more when I
Thought of our store and I
Reached for the door as I
Stopped them from pressing on in
’Cause it’s you, again

Oh, in the darkness and light
Oh, in the heat of the night

It still gives me pause
When I ponder the cause
And consider the whiteness of whales
My memory is blurred,
Though the spirit is stirred,
It devolves as a mess of details

I miss you most when I
Kiss your pale ghost and I
Wish you were close then I
Tally the bodies of men
’Cause it’s you, again
’Cause it’s you, again
’Cause it’s you, again
’Cause it’s you, again

credits

from The Honor and Glory of The Gated Community, released February 3, 2023
Nathan Knutson: lead vocals, acoustic guitar
Rosie Harris: backing vocals
Beth Hartman: backing vocals
Teresa Gowan: fiddle
Sumanth Gopinath: electric guitar, piano, Hammond organ
Cody Johnson: bass guitar
Paul Hatlelid: drums

written November–December 2019, recorded summer 2021–spring 2022

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The Gated Community Minneapolis

The Gated Community is a country/bluegrass/Americana band with rock influences based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in Minnesota and has been in existence since early 2006.

Bandmembers: Sumanth Gopinath
Rosie Harris
Beth Hartman
Paul Hatlelid
Cody Johnson
Nate Knutson ... more

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