re: Let us write a million selling country song

I’ve been doing a lot of old western style story songs in the vein of “el paso” and “Big iron” lately.

Here’s one

Six days out from Jericho


His skin is cracked and peeling,
His throat is full of sand,
He’s six days out of Jericho,
From where it all began,

Some hothead drunk on liquor,
Took offense, and drew his gun,
That night his hand was quicker,
But he’d slain a lawman’s son,

He knew his life was worthless,
And he knew he had to go,
The posse’s on his trail,
Here six days out from Jericho,


He’s six days out from Jericho,
And headed for a storm,
His mother named him Joshua,
But he ain’t got a horn,
He’s ragged from the runnin’
His horse is damn near dead,
He’s six days out of Jericho,
With a bounty on his head,

He’s sleeping in the saddle,
His horse is needing water,
But the posse’s hot behind him,
And they’re ready for the slaughter,

A ragged run for Austin,
He hopes his friend’s still there,
For if the posse catches him,
He’s sure to dance on air,

Across the sands of Texas,
A wicked wind doth blow,
He’ll make his final stand,
There six days out from Jericho,

He’s six days out from Jericho,
And headed for a storm,
His mother named him Joshua,
But he ain’t got a horn,
He’s ragged from the runnin’
His horse is damn near dead,
He’s six days out of Jericho,
With a bounty on his head,

Then suddenly before him,
Appears a ruined mission,
A refuge of salvation,
On this road of his perdition,

There’s no where left to run to,
For his horse beneath him falls,
He makes his final stand,
there upon those hallowed walls,

But within he finds a bugle,
Riders drawing close he knows,
So the sun breaks the horizon,
As The horn of Joshua blows.

So the sound rang out upon the seventh day,
And an orchestra of gunfire filled the fray,
Though outnumbered the defender laid them low,
As the thunder once more filled the Alamo,

With the battle raging there upon the walls,
One by one the sons of Jericho would fall,
None survived on either side, the story goes,
But legends say, that to this day, a horn still blows

Six days out from Jericho,
Six days out from Jericho,

Hell, here’s a challenge, give me something to write about, maybe some key points you want included, and let’s see what I can kick out?

Here's my contribution:

It's been ten years since I met you
Ten years of us that we've been through
Ten years of ups and ten years of downs
Ten years of you always around
I know that you've been there for me
But there's some things you fail to see
So tonight we can see things eye to eye
Give each other another try
You say that we need to talk it out
Need to know what this world's about
Say your part or hold your peace
Don't blame me when you fail to speak
The night is young but my thoughts are long
I love you but it's hard to keep going on
We could talk all night like lovestruck kids
Well-let's not and say we did

You’re missing the pop country reference to the old breed of Willie, Merle, Hank, etc. With one of them in it the song instantly becomes country.

Call it “This ain’t Dads America”.

Four verses. Each about how fricked the world has become in the past two years.

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Call it “This ain’t Dads America”. Four verses. Each about how fricked the world has become in the past two years.

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Hmmm…okay, I got the concept. Kind of a “are the good times really over.”

Title needs some tweaking. Give me…an hour. Hour and a half tops. I’ll be back before midnight. Let’s see if the OT likes it.

Rough draft no edits .


Here ya go

This Ain’t Dad’s America


Vs 1:
Great grandpa grew up poor as dirt,
In a shotgun, clapboard house,
Left 9 siblings behind him,
When he left to fight the krauts,
He returned to prohibition,
Moonshined just to pay the bills,
It wasn’t easy, lord,
But it was still, America, still,

Chorus:
And the flag, that flew above him,
You know that it’s seen better days,
Its sons were always far from perfect,
In this free, home of the brave,
And we could dwell on all their sins,
If all our own we just ignore,
Or we can try to see, what they,
Were fighting for,

Vs 2:
Well grandpa fought at Iwo Jima,
He lost a brother, down in Guam,
But With a Purple Heart, he made it home,
After we dropped, the second bomb,
And some might say they were offensive,
The names he called, the Japanese,
But he worked ‘til he was 80,
To support his family,

Chorus:
And the flag, that flew above him,
You know that it’s seen better days,
Its sons were always far from perfect,
In this free, home of the brave,
And we could dwell on all their sins,
If all our own we just ignore,
Or we can try to see, what they,
Were fighting for,

Bridge:
And you know they drafted daddy,
Sent him off to Vietnam,
then they sent him home with one arm,
And the nightmares of Napalm,
Oh but he still ran that old rag,
Up the flagpole, every day,
And when I asked him why,
He said son, “it’s the American way,”

Vs 3:
And now I’ve done my tours of duty,
Shedding blood, in foreign lands,
But to the ones that lead us now,
They hate most everything I am,
Much too fast, the world is changing,
And now I just don’t give a damn,
‘Cause this crazy life we’re living,
Ain’t why I served Uncle Sam,

Chorus:
And the flag, that flies above me,
You know that it’s seen better days,
Its sons were always far from perfect,
Are we free? Or even brave?
When they paint us all as evil,
Well it kills me to the core
I wonder if Red White and Blue
Is something still worth fighting for,



ETA: I know it’s not technically 4 verses but the bridge effectively works as an extra verse and eliminates a needless chorus while changing the tempo and kind of starting to change the tone and impact.
Anyway, what y’all think? Kind of what you were looking for more or less?

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Kind of what you were looking for more or less?

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It is cliched garbage so...it could be huge.

Fair enough, I think it excused the bad things because....the red, white and blue cliche.

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You didn’t get the part where the great grandfather came home and essentially became a criminal because of terrible laws? How a bloody, horrendous war turned grandpa into a racist by today’s standards but that didn’t necessarily make him a bad man.

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I give it to you, you can spin some shite. But like I said, it could be a hit....no matter that it excuses asian racism.