We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/

about

--from the Walter Ehresman album "Well......Let's Look at Your Track Record, Shall We?" (2010).

Purchase download of whole album on this website, or the physical CD here:

store.cdbaby.com/cd/walterehresman

See video here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYKKPRzQw8A

This song bops along in a very Steely Dan sort of way, but with subtle electronica burblings in the rhythm track to update the sound. “This is a song idea that percolated in my brain for a while, but I finallly found a handle on it last year,” Ehresman recalls. “The song is about what's called the Republican Party’s ‘Southern Strategy’, which was to use the wedge issue of civil rights during the LBJ administration to turn the once-solidly Democratic Deep South into a GOP stronghold based on the ingrained racism that is still such a strong part of Southern culture.......and that strategy is still what keeps the Republican base energized to this day......That the policies of the Far Right are terrible for most people in the south (which is by and large a poor area no matter what color you are) seems to matter less to these white voters than their strong desire to reclaim their antebellum past with blacks in a subservient role.....There seems to be this ongoing bitterness that they can't sit on the plantation porch, beneath the high white columns, and have a black man in livery bring them a mint julep each time fingers are snapped..... And so they vote their hate and bigotry, and shoot themselves in the foot every time.”

So a little light listening there.

lyrics

Some Old White Dudes
(© 2009 Walter Ehresman)

Things in the Old Dominion got a little run down;
White column paint is peeling, and the stores have all left town.
But deep in this comedy of manners
there's a tragedy of hubris and blame;
Some old white dudes gave morality a bad name.

Clinging to a tattered flag, grey flannel stained in beer;
This "Southern Pride" diversion ain't the reason it hangs here.
Your antebellum daydreams are apparent,
and it strips our gears to see you don't feel shame;
Some old white dudes gave morality a bad name.

[break]
But, oh--those Southern nights (crosses on the lawn)
Cicadas and magnolia fill the air for you and I;
And we dance on your veranda (fires burning bright)
and close our eyes to all but what's behind,
what's behind.

That little church up on the hill--now busting at the seams;
A heater for the pool; put in an ATM machine.
The red light says the satellite is ready,
but you know we'll have you home before the game;
These old white dudes gave morality a bad name;
Some old white dudes gave morality a bad name.

credits

from The Best of​.​.​.​.​.​.​.​Electronic Rockers, track released October 31, 2010
--Walter Ehresman: vocals, guitars, electric 5-string bass, keyboards & key percussion, key-controlled vocals, sequencing, drum machine programming.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Walter Ehresman image

Walter Ehresman San Miguel De Allende, Mexico

Called "the quintessential Austin DIY artist" by famed local disc jockey Charlie Martin , Walter Ehresman was an eccentric presence in the Austin music scene from the '80s until his 2015 move to Mexico. A prolific songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording artist...and a restless musical spirit, always looking for something new, expressed with fearlessly honest, socially-conscious lyrics. ... more

contact / help

Contact Walter Ehresman

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Walter Ehresman, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Fabiana Palladino stops by to talk about her mesmeric debut LP.
listen now