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The Weighty Apparatus

from No Unifying Theme by Walter Ehresman

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about

This song was experimental for me in several ways. I'd never tried to do any kind of Irish music before, and was triggering backing loops off the keyboard (MIDI's to an EmU Planet Earth module) to create the skeleton of the middle and harp sections and then layering instruments over the top. It would have been nice to have an Irish bodhran player handy, but it was not to be. And I must admit to cringing a bit when hearing my "quality control lapse" in the faux-Irish vocals in the last verse.....

See the video here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3DouAjZAds

lyrics

The Weighty Apparatus
(© 1999 Walter Ehresman)

When I first came to this country from among the lonesome plain,
a weighty apparatus was shackled to my brain;
The purpose of this miller's stone, as it was told to me,
was to keep my body safe from harm and keep our country free.

The magistrates did loudly crow of how small sacrifice
by every man would lead us to a freemen's paradise;
But when a rich man's purse means more than human currency,
there's bloody little difference from the boot of tyranny.

Now I've said the things I had to say, and done the things I've done;
And I've shed the apparatus, and I showed it to the sun;
And I'm going from this country, for it is no place to be
for any man with half a hope of standing straight and free.

credits

from No Unifying Theme, released January 1, 2004
Walter Ehresman: vocals, acoustic guitars, electric bouzouki, electric mandolin, keyboards, sampling, key loop triggering.

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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

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