Photo "Little dude in mismatched boots" by yours truly

Here’s my latest submission in the Masters of Song Fu challenge:

The Only Way I Know – Download

Vote for your favourite tracks in Masters of Song Fu #4 Round 1
(Voting closes 11:59pm EST on Sunday, June 14th, 2009.)

The challenge this time around was a little odd to say the least. We were asked to:

Write a march.

A march is “a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to” – and that is your challenge. You can write on any topic. Your song must run no shorter than 1 minute 15 seconds.

For inspiration, I turned to my mother, who has been telling me all my life that I marched “to the sound of a different drummer.” It wasn’t until I was a little older that I found out that she wasn’t really that poetic and was in fact paraphrasing/misquoting/severely mangling the words of Henry David Thoreau:

Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

In the past, I’ve written far too much “woe is me” material about being the misunderstood outsider who doesn’t have a chance of sitting at the “cool kids” table in the cafeteria, so for this one I decided to celebrate the freedom of being on the outside instead.

Let’s face it – being on the outside is pretty awesome. It’s the new inside. All the preppy kids secretly want to be freaks but their uptight parents won’t relinquish control of their laundry. So they suffer inside while the rest of us run around in unfashionable clothing listening to really cool music reading very interesting books and having the times of our lives not giving a toss what the neighbours might think.

Conformity has never made the world a better place. It’s a fact. Look it up.

The instrumentation’s a little different than my usual fare. I figured if I had to convince the listener that this tune could be marched to it should be played all on portable instruments. So I’ve scored this puppy for acoustic guitar, tuba, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, accordion, flute, glockenspiel and about 50 voices when you factor in all the fricking vocal overdubs. I must learn to edit myself better.

Also, this my first fade-out, thereby simulating the effect of the band eventually marching away from you. Get it?

Now without any further ado, here are the lyrics:

These boots were made for marching
They go left-right, left-right-left
To the beat of a different drummer
My mother’s favourite jest
No one said that she was funny
But her assessment’s on the money

So let me go
Back & forth & to & fro
‘Cuz it’s my way
And it’s the only way I know

I can’t keep pace with my companions
I keep falling out of step
And I don’t want to get in line
Or settle down just yet
No one said that I’d fit in
And my chances are mighty slim

So let me go
Back & forth & to & fro
‘Cuz it’s my way
And it’s the only way I know

The only was I know
To get things done is on my own
If you really want to help
Leave me alone

Buh-ba, buh-ba, buh-ba, buh-ba,
Buh-ba, buh-ba, buh-ba,
Buh-ba, buh-ba, buh-ba-ba
Buh-ba, buh-ba, buh-ba, buh-ba,
Buh-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba

They to call me a funny one
But now I’m the one that’s having fun

So let me go
Back & forth & to & fro
‘Cuz it’s my way
And it’s the only way I know [ad infinitum]