Patterson Hood--What It Means

[Jonicont]

From his FB page

I often walk around unable to figure out how to express what's really on my mind. I don't know any answers or solutions but at least I was able to articulate the question.

What It Means

He was running down the sidewalk when they shot him in the back
They shot him in the back and he fell dead in his tracks
They say they investigated but we all know how that goes
like in those old TV shows, the cops should remain heroes
and if you say it wasn't racial when they shot him in the back
well I guess that means that you ain't black,
it means that you ain't black
I mean I guess we have Obama
and you can choose where to eat
but you don't see too many white kids
lying bleeding on the street
It's some town in Missouri but it could be anywhere
it could be right here on Ruth Street,
in fact it has happened here
and it's happened where you're sitting,
wherever that might be
it happened last weekend and it will happen again next week
and when they turned him over,
they were surprised there was no gun
I mean he must have stolen something,
or else why would he have run
and they'll spin it for the anchors on the television screen
so we can shrug and let it happen
without asking what it means
What it means?
Then I guess there was protesting
and some looting in some stores
and someone was reminded
that they ain't called colored folks no more
I mean we try to be politically correct when we call names
but what's the point of post-racial
when the old prejudice remains
and that guy who killed that kid
down in Florida standing ground
is free to beat up on his girlfriend
and wave his brand new gun around
while some kid is dead and buried and laying in the ground
with a pocket full of Skittles
Astrophysics at our fingertips
and we're standing at the summit
some kid with a joystick lands a rocket on a comet
We're living in an age where limitations are forgotten
the outer edges can move and dazzle us but at the core there's something rotten
When we're running towards a darkness
of prejudice and fear
we trust science only as long as it
tells us what we want to hear
we want our truths all fair and balanced
as long as our notions lie within it
There's no sunlight in our assholes
and our heads are stuck up in it
and our heroes may be rapists
who watch us sleeping from our screens
but don't look to me for answers
cuz I don't know what it means
What it means?

Patterson Hood - November 2014 (kitchen table)

[Jonicont]

Thank You

[Tequila Cowboy]

Thank You

Yes Patterson thank you. I don't have words today but yours more than make up for it.

[acoxofrd]

Wow. I can't say anything more than wow and thank you.

[John A Arkansawyer]

I'm working on my own words, but these will do just fine for me in the meantime.

[headhunter]

I'm working on my own words, but these will do just fine for me in the meantime.

Exactly. Thank you Patterson.

[Vincent]

I may be way to the right of Patterson's political views, but this man speaks to me like no other songwriter ever has.

[beantownbubba]

Well said Patterson. Immediately brings to mind Springsteen's "American Skin," only better. I'd love to hear it done by this band that I really love called the drive by truckers.

I particularly like this part:

We're living in an age where limitations are forgotten
the outer edges can move and dazzle us but at the core there's something rotten
When we're running towards a darkness
of prejudice and fear
we trust science only as long as it
tells us what we want to hear
we want our truths all fair and balanced
as long as our notions lie within it
There's no sunlight in our assholes
and our heads are stuck up in it
and our heroes may be rapists
who watch us sleeping from our screens

[pa_heathen]

This is so well written, and speaks the truth.

Whether we want to admit it or not, prejudice is still out there. I can't imagine having to live with the subsurface pre-judgment that occurs today.

[jr29]

"Shot him in the back" ??????
Someone help me out.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

"Shot him in the back" ??????
Someone help me out.

Artistic license.

[jr29]

"Shot him in the back" ??????
Someone help me out.

Artistic license.

A very generous amount.

[dime in the gutter]

shot in head is much better.

[beantownbubba]

shot in the back as metaphor for breach of faith. acting improperly or underhandedly?

Shot in the back as a shorter, pithier way of getting at the same idea as "shot several times in the chest after having already been shot" w/out being anatomically correct? (aka artistic license per KG)

[jr29]

I get all that. In this case that seems to be a peculiar phrase to choose, in my opinion.
No big deal, just thought I'd get some feedback.

[Markalanbishop]

Powerful, and needs to be said. And repeated. Reasonable people can disagree about the specifics of an individual event, but unchallenged systemic racism/classism is unacceptable. If only there was a way that a group of citizens could weigh the conflicting facts and testimony in a public forum and then decide guilt or innocence. I'm now getting off my high horse before I get thrown off.

[Humboldt]

Patterson is getting hated on by a pretty big percentage of people on his facebook page. Seems like their true colors come out such that they can't see the obvious, that he is raising questions (not providing answers) about a difficult subject in a song, not a news report. He's rhyming about where "they" shot him. "Shot in back...dead in tracks".

He could have written "Shot in face...dead in place". That I don't think would have changed much of the tone though.

At first I was surprised how many fans carried such sentiment. Then I thought I shouldn't be because the same thing happened when Bruce wrote "41Shots". Many of his fans came out of the woodwork on that one.

I think Patterson accomplished something already, a dialogue. The only way to ever get to a potential place of understanding is to start communicating, no matter how divided it might be at the beginning.

[jr29]

Patterson is getting hated on by a pretty big percentage of people on his facebook page. Seems like their true colors come out such that they can't see the obvious, that he is raising questions (not providing answers) about a difficult subject in a song, not a news report. He's rhyming about where "they" shot him. "Shot in back...dead in tracks".

He could have written "Shot in face...dead in place". That I don't think would have changed much of the tone though.

A different rhyme would have made a big difference to me. I don't know about others.
I'm not hating on him. I just think that was a poor choice.

[Iowan]

"Shot him in the back" ??????
Someone help me out.

I had an issue with that line too, because this is a pretty literal song about Ferguson, and it comes off as promoting the inaccurate, yet still disseminated idea that Michael Brown was shot in the back.

I like what Patterson is shooting for, but that line makes it sound like he's pushing an inaccurate agenda, which isn't really like Patterson at all. We're not going to solve this thing through clinging to misinformation that suits our agendas.

[Jonicont]

this is a pretty literal song about Ferguson,

Ferguson may have been the jumping off point but I think you're missing the message

It's some town in Missouri but it could be anywhere
it could be right here on Ruth Street,
in fact it has happened here
and it's happened where you're sitting,
wherever that might be

[PeterG]

Proud of Patterson for speaking his mind and taking so much heat on FB from his 'fans'.
Hard to imagine you could be in to his work and not have an idea of his views.

It's hard to accept that racism is alive and well in the US and no one ever wants to talk about it...
that is the shame of the situation.

[Eyes Above It]

"Shot him in the back" ??????
Someone help me out.

I had an issue with that line too, because this is a pretty literal song about Ferguson, and it comes off as promoting the inaccurate, yet still disseminated idea that Michael Brown was shot in the back.

I like what Patterson is shooting for, but that line makes it sound like he's pushing an inaccurate agenda, which isn't really like Patterson at all. We're not going to solve this thing through clinging to misinformation that suits our agendas.

I agree

[Cole Younger]

"Shot him in the back" ??????
Someone help me out.

I had an issue with that line too, because this is a pretty literal song about Ferguson, and it comes off as promoting the inaccurate, yet still disseminated idea that Michael Brown was shot in the back.

I like what Patterson is shooting for, but that line makes it sound like he's pushing an inaccurate agenda, which isn't really like Patterson at all. We're not going to solve this thing through clinging to misinformation that suits our agendas.

I agree with this. Patterson's use of that line was a mistake. I get that it's not only about Ferguson but Ferguson is what inspired it and it's just too easy for the message to be confused here. Everybody makes mistakes. Even great lyricists like Patterson but I think that particular line caused a lot of the negative comments and I don't think that has anything to do with anyone's "true colors".

[Humboldt]

And the song also addresses the bigger issue of prosecutorial power to decide what cases to pursue..."They say they investigated it, but we all know how that goes". Which is a huge issue when the prosecutors office has ties to the police department and further when the prosecutor decides to start the case behind the closed doors of the grand jury as opposed to the courthouse via a preliminary hearing open to the public.

Grand jurors are appointed for terms, not like regular juries who sit for one specific case. They are people that have the ability to take usually 6-12 months off their work, or they are financially independent. Grand jurors get to know the prosecutors and develop a relationship with them over the months or year of their term. When convened, there is only the prosecutor, a witness and the grand jurors. There is no judge to keep things impartial and more importantly there is no adversary attorney there for CROSS-EXAMINATION. The whole thing has the potential to stink if the subject prosecutors office is doing a lax job of pushing the evidence because behind the scenes he is not motivated to try the case in front of a real jury.

A prosecutor can pretty much get a probable cause to go forward from a grand jury anytime he wants. If this particular set of facts had played in front of a judge or jury open to the public, maybe the officer rightly would have been found innocent. Maybe not. None of us can really know though because of how this prosecutor chose to investigate the case. The public is just left a 'take our word for it' from the prosecutor that there was no crime. "We all know how that goes".

[Swamp]

I don't think that has anything to do with anyone's "true colors".

I think "true colors" is a metaphor for being a racist if you don't agree with Patterson

[LagoonField]

Those words from Patterson were spot on and beautiful. As we read the post, Annie and I could see Patterson sitting at his kitchen table writing. I'm grateful and thankful to have shared the same beautiful room with Patterson and Mike and EZB and Jay and Matt for three nights at the Fillmore. "It's great to be alive!"

[LBRod]

Some folks don't understand the concept of a DBT song being the "movie version".
As for the Facebook replies, Jenn wins.

[CooleyGirl]

Thank You

x2

[Smitty]

I don't think that has anything to do with anyone's "true colors".

I think "true colors" is a metaphor for being a racist if you don't agree with Patterson

Y'all must be reading different comments than I. I do get a kick out of the "fans" who seem surprised at The political stance of DBTs.

[Jonicont]

. I do get a kick out of the "fans" who seem surprised at The political stance of DBTs.

Seriously. With such a large part of the DBT canon being heavily dependent on the narrative, I'm wondering if these folks are listening to the same records that I am