Influenced by friends, books, art, and other musicians such as Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and Willie Nelson, Brett Dennen’s music can be classified as “peace mongering folk/ pop”. His songs are filled with earnest, soulful love, and sweet, stirring peace, communicating his disgust for politics, prisons, and violence. His lyrics advocate peace and opportunity, all the while bringing hope to his listeners and the world. Dennen comments, “Songs should inspire you to start a revolution… it’s [our] job to put a message out there, to use [our] job to change the world. I mean, everyone has the opportunity to add to making the world a better place. But, we’re especially unique as artists because people look to us, people gather around us. We can really have an affect.”
In his song, “Ain’t No Reason”, Brett Dennen questions the way we as Americans live, commenting, “there ain’t no reason things are this way, that’s how they’ve always been and they intend to stay.” With this, he challenges us to see the irony in our world, and encourages us to make a change. In this song, Dennen flashes different scenes, or examples, in order to enlighten listeners of different plights in our society, highlighting our ignorance toward other nations. In one verse, he sings of the arrogance that surrounds Americans everyday, “…wearin’ paychecks like necklaces and bracelets…slavery stitched into the fabric of my clothes…” Dennen presents the oblivious nature of our nation towards the nations less fortunate than ours. In another verse. he suggests the precious value of life and how “people walk a tight rope on a razor’s edge, carryin’ their hurt and hatred and weapons.” Through all of this negativity, Dennen stresses that “love will come set me free”, indicating that love, the ultimate freedom, will unlock us from our downward slope.
As singer/ songwriter Brett Dennen puts it, “Music is the magic of change”. These six words epitomize his life and the messages that he puts forth. His song, “Ain’t No Reason” emphasizes the songwriter’s appreciation for struggle, while ultimately encouraging optimism throughout hard times.
LYRICS
There ain't no reason things are this way
It's how they've always been and they intend to stay
I can't explain why we live this way
We do it everyday
Preachers on the podiums speaking to saints
Prophets on the sidewalk begging for change
Old ladies laughing from the fire escape, cursing my name
I got a basket full of lemons and they all taste the same
A window and a pigeon with a broken wing
You can spend your whole life working for something
Just to have it taken away
People walk around pushing back their desks
Wearing pay checks like necklaces and bracelets
Talking 'bout nothing, not thinking about death
Every little heart beat, every little breath
People walk a tight rope on a razor's edge
Carrying their hurt and hatred and weapons
It could be a bomb or a bullet or a pen
Or a thought or a word or a sentence
There ain't no reason things are this way
It's how they've always been and they intend to stay
I don't know why I say the things I say,
But I say them anyway
But love will come set me free
Love will come set me free
I do believe
Love will come set me free
I know it will
Love will come set me free
Yes
Prison walls still standing tall
Some things never change at all
Keep on building prisons, Gonna fill them all
Keep on building bombs
Gonna drop them all
Working your fingers bare to the bone
Breaking your back, make you sell your soul
Like a lung is filled with coal, Suffocating slow
The wind blows wild and I may move
But politicians lie and I am not fooled
You don't need no reason or a 3 piece suit
To argue the truth
The air on my skin and the world under my toes
Slavery is stitched into the fabric of my clothes
Chaos and commotion wherever I go
Love, I try to follow
But love will come set me free
Love will come set me free
I do believe
Love will come set me free
I know it will
Love will come set me free
Yes
There ain't no reason things are this way
It's how they've always been and they intend to stay
I can't explain why we live this way
We do it everyday
1 comment:
i loveeeee brett dennen :)
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