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.

Mediocre Savior (2021 Version)

from Quarantine Tunes Volume 4 by Robert Parker

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $0.50 USD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

I think this is the third time I’ve uploaded a version of this song to this account. I also think I’ve been unhappy with the mix of all three. Oh well. I might remix this. I say that a lot when I post new recordings, but it might actually happen with this one.

I can’t remember when this song was written but I remember the circumstances. It may have been in 2008, but it was probably 2009. The title was a weekly prompt at songfight.org. I never submitted the song, but I wrote the lyrics on the same day the prompt went up. Who is the Mediocre Savior? Why The Boy King, George W Bush, of course.

I always envisioned this as an acoustic song, but for this round of re-recordings I want to see how it flies when it’s all electric. I think three or four songs from this group will be the same. I had a really hard time with the verse parts. I suffer from fat fingers, and I had a bad flare up while working on this. The melodies are also a little bit different this time. On previous recordings I split the verses into two parts, alternating lines, because I forgot to give myself room for breaths. I monkeyed with the start of each line this time so that I could get in a quick gasp.

The guitars are all Gibson ES-335 Pro into both a Fender Bassbreaker 15 and a Vox AC15. Pedals for the fat fingered rhythm was just a Klon KTR. The lead was the Klon into a Keeley D&M Drive. The cleanish solo in the middle was a Mooer ElecLady into the Klon, and the noise in the background of that solo was a Wren and Cuff Tri Pi ’70 into the KTR and a Wampler Faux Tape Echo… and I played with a slide (gasp!). I am the worst slide player in history, but I was only making noise so it was okay.

lyrics

ask for a weekend takes at least 5 years
talk about us winning falling on deaf ears
future is dying surging ever on
cant bring them home now drop a few more bombs

talks like a leader sounds like a putz
stands like a giant falls like a clutz
swings a mighty saber sticks it in his guts
roars like a lion babbles like a

mediocre savior to save us all
he’s gonna spin us dizzy until we fall
he’s a mediocre hero to keep us safe
tells us we’re moving forward while we’re running in place

credits

from Quarantine Tunes Volume 4, released October 30, 2021

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Robert Parker Methuen, Massachusetts

This is what happens when a former music major gets a job and quits his band. He gets his musical ya-ya's out by making records at home.

contact / help

Contact Robert Parker

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Robert Parker, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featured guests are the golden-voiced Baby Rose and psyche soulsters Brainstory.
listen now