Written on 7/21/2001.
when the events of 9/11/2001 happened, Patrick wanted to retire the song, because of the subject matter, but in time, Tina persuaded him to keep it alive, citing a love of the song, and belief in the quality, including the lyrical content, so it remained a part of the album.
The title was sort of self-mocking, because it seems every songwriter eventually writes a "protest song", so he named it with all lower case letters, and put the title in parentheses to further de-emphasise the title, but the lyrics expressed his genuine feelings, and was not altered from its original version.
The idea behind the sounds of traffic, in the recording, was to give the literal sound of people just passing by, not paying any attention whatsoever, let alone listening to this person singing his protest song. That may sound a bit esoteric, and not necessarily obvious to infer by the listener, so it also just works as an odd backdrop of sound, if no meaning is placed upon it.
lyrics
(protest song)
============
Look at the clouds
In the smoke-filled sky
Look at the disbelief
In my eyes
I set no fire
flames consume
The hatred of brothers
Will burn the room
Too many people
In too tight a space
No one stops to help us
Avoid any answer
Destroy our living space
There's a fire on tonight
And it's not the sun
Who sets this fire?
Smoke consumes
No time to retire
No man on the moon
No one is certain
Who owns this place,
Does it even matter?
Deaf to the answers
Survival is a race
There's a fire on tonight
And it's not the sun.
credits
from LUCK,
released September 23, 2003
Patrick: Vocal, Guitar
Tina: Champion and savior of the song
Recorded by Patrick and Tina
Mixed and Mastered by by Patrick
Produced by Tina and Patrick
Formed in the beginning of 2001, Wide-Eyed is Tina Lambright and Patrick Pyne. Despite being a duo, they rotated instruments
for recordings to make full, band-oriented songs of varying sounds and styles. Their music can be generally described as experimental pop, or psychedelic rock, but avoiding cliches of any genre. Serious, funny, abstract or direct, despite the dressing, enjoyment is the focus...more
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