.
American Fools
"Keep flying and don't look down"
Cathy D lives at 25 West
In a drafty place where she tries to rest
From her two jobs, night school, and the same old song
From the kids she’s raising from a love gone wrong
Every day she wakes at 5 AM
Her whole world is a fight between her and them
60 hours work is always just part time
The ends never meet – she can’t save a dime
She just breaks even but there’s no complaint
She could give up but there’s no restraint
She could say no, but there ain’t no ain’t 'cuz
She’s plain old school – she’s an American Fool
J and J live with upscale renters
Building low load funds for one percenters
Every day they drive their Porsche Macon
To work and to lunch and on and on
They still rent, and their savings ain’t growing
The bills get paid, but the money’s still flowing
They catch the things that life is throwing
In their 14 carat golden rules – they’re
American Fools
Options for Buying This Song (Not Ready Yet!)
All content created, developed, produced,
and futzed with obsessively by Rick Thorne
Placeholder for
eGrat link
All lyrics, music, and related creative content
Copyright © 2023 by Rick Thorne
All Rights Reserved
Next
Song...
Video will go here
"American Fools" is performed by
Rick Thorne and Relatively Few Friends
Rick Thorne: all stringed and percussive noises and
continuing vocal abuse
Creative advisor: Nicole Lamm
Mountain dreams – high expectations
Wide chasms – deep frustrations
Hard working, reaching for the prize
Don’t blink for second it’ll run from your eyes
Ivy Leagues and fortune tellers
High rises and deep cold cellars
Keep flying, and don’t look down
It’s up or done – there’s no middle ground
RPT’s kickin’ back with a beer
Had his children and a house and a long career
Getting time to cash out all his debt
But he shrugs a says “I don’t think I’m quite
done yet”
He’s almost 60 but he’s no where near it
Time to to retire – he won’t even hear it
He’s still got a dream – time to engineer it
Since when does common sense rule – with an American Fool
Video will go here
Songwriter’s Notes
.
Before I get started on the songwriter’s notes, let me offer some thoughts on definitions. Commonly used words rarely have a single meaning. Sometimes, some definitions of a word mean very different things. In rare cases, they can even mean opposites (e.g., “dusting” could be removing dust or applying dust). The word “fool” is no exception. Here are several accepted definitions of the word:
.
1. One who is deficient in judgment, sense, or understanding.
2. One who acts unwisely on a given occasion
3. One who has been tricked or made to appear ridiculous; a dupe
4. One with a talent or enthusiasm for a certain activity
5. A member of a royal or noble household who provided entertainment, as with jokes or antics; a jester.
6. One who subverts convention or orthodoxy or varies from social conformity in order to reveal spiritual or moral truth
7. A dessert made of stewed or puréed fruit mixed with cream or custard and served cold.
8. A mentally deficient person; an idiot.
.
Definition 4 is a common one. A person who loves dancing is a “dancing fool”. A person head over heals for someone is a “fool in love”. Remember Foghat’s great 70s rocker “Fool for the City”? And someone like me who’s in love with the American Dream is legitimately called an “American Fool”. It’s not a slam against people who believe in and love the promise of prosperity and freedom; it’s about people who live it and work it and strive for it. People like many of my best friends. People like me.
.
Got that? I don’t mean definition 1, 2, 3, or 5 though 8. They’re not expressed, implied, or otherwise open for that interpretation. Definition 4 and only definition 4 applies here. Got it? Can we stop the jaded patriotism before it starts? I’m not gonna defend myself beyond “read the damned website” after this.
.
On to the song.
.
“American Fools” is a basic rocker that grooves along simple lines. The verses are tonic G major chords with no dirty tricks or sucker punches thrown. It’s effectively a standard major I-IV-V, II-VI-V roll that repeats for 16 measures. Like the American Dream itself, the verse rolls along with a predictable flow. The melody, describing the song’s protagonists, rolls up and down almost an octave over the familiar harmonic rumble, expressing the roller coaster rises and falls of the dreamer’s reality.
.
After the verses express the dreamer’s confrontation with reality, then the choruses - which dip into a modal change from the G major to a phrygian cadence in B minor - express the dreamer’s resolution as he fights back to keep the dream alive and well. The melody changes from a mountain range of up and down to a gentler but firmer roll - it’s easier, but less vulnerable, and less willing to find excuses for failure. Reality ultimately beats us all, but putting up a fight against the inevitable is one of life’s most strangely wise decisions.
.
The bridges offer a bit of a caricature of that struggle. “High rises and deep cold cellars” might seem to offer a bit of a fallacious dichotomy, but honestly, no one enters the American Dream Thunderdome hoping to do anything but make a dream come true. It might be a modest dream, but it’s their dream and they want it their way.
.
The people in this song are based on real people I’ve known. They’re real people, people who believe wholeheartedly in the American dream, people who work relentlessly to better their lives financially and/or socially and/or emotionally and/or any number of ways. And while I don’t wanna beat a dead horse, let me offer one last thought to verify the integrity of my claim that “American Fools” was written about people in love with the American Dream: the last verse is about someone I know better than anyone else does. And for the record: he's also an honorably discharged veteran of almost tens years of American military service, and a guy who devoted his life to the defense industry. OK? So anyone who accuses me of hating America because of this song or its title can eat worms. Cheaply manufactured worms, made from unwashed chicken feet, and assembled in Chinese prison labor factories. Eat ‘em, fool (definition 1). And no ketchup.
.
Production and Musician’s Notes
.
The dual cowbell in this recording is a Latin Percussion Black Beauty and an old generic one I've been dragging around for yours. On the LP-BB: it's a perfect instrument for the song - the brightness and rich tone are perfect to cut through the rhythm section, and besides: it’s an American made instrument from one of America’s great musical instrument lines.
.
Typical for my rhythm section productions, the guitars build with the verses. The first verse is all acoustic guitar and bass, then the electric joins the part in the second verse and stays with the band for the rest of the song. I love the percussive scraping of both the acoustic and electric in almost separate channels; they worked better together than I expected. They even more add percussion to the song.
.
“American Fools” is a bass player’s song. As you may have realized listening to it, it’s an opportunity to be a lead solo instrument for two beats in every other measure in the verses. Even the lead guitar leaves the bass part alone in the verses; I take my leads for a measure and a half, then step a away and let the bass player have the stage. I really discovered my inner bass player with this song; I had a blast with those moments. I did my best. I’m dying to hear what other bass players will do with it.
.
When I take the true guitar solo after the first bridge, I step wherever I want to step. It’s that moment when you’ve unleashed your American Dream moment and it soars unfettered by competition and the constraints of development. The bass will have the driver’s seat again, but for now, the lead guitar is on display. I must say - it’s one take, and it’s one of my better solos. Other than EQ and some compression, I haven’t changed a note of it since I recorded it the first time.
.
The roller coaster verse vocals cover a lot of vertical real estate and were a true a challenge to create, rehearse, and record. Here again, I harken to one of the best decisions I made in the process of recording my music and finding - and taking seriously - an excellent and experienced voice coach. Nicole was a joy to work with on this (and every) song, and she really helped me focus my vocal energy effectively. The harmonies are pretty dense, but I wanted the full impact of thick harmonies. In the last verse and bridge, it’s five full parts with the lead vocal.
