“Not the point,” Dave threw in.
“Huh. I’m new and all but—”
“Pierce, man, it has nothing to do with that. We all want to put out the best music. That’s all,” I reassured him. I didn’t want him walking before we had contracts signed, but I wanted to curb the attitude.
“One more time. From the top.”
I exhaled loudly but played along.
You came trying to seize control but you can’t rule rock and roll
If you don’t want a citizen protest clown around dick down
You stole the vote and tanked the election political drop
Portray me with a black heart
“That is a lot.” Joe scowled. “I don’t like the politics of it. Not that I agree or disagree, but I don’t think we should go there.”
“Adding controversy isn’t bad,” Pierce defended his position.
Wolf’s voice came over the speaker. “I don’t get it. You should maybe work on it more, make it concise—”
Pierce stood and put the guitar on the floor. “Well, it ain’t a party anthem.”
“That’s for sure,” Joe snarked.
Pierce turned and glared at him. “It doesn’t have to be. We’re not Midnight Hunt. No offense.” He turned back to the glass,and Wolf held up his hand as if to say he wasn’t mad about the comment. “We can add substance.”
“Agreed. We have a different style, and we’re evolving.” I ripped through his melody. “More now. But we have to trim this. Maybe cut the more political aspects. A compromise on this one won’t hurt.”
Pierce sighed. “Fine. I’ll work on the lyrics.”
“Let’s hit the chorus real quick,” I suggested, and Pierce nodded, picking up the guitar again.
You’re keeping us down boot on the throat
Kicked around your scapegoat
What will it take to stand up to say no—no more
What are we fighting for
No more
Wolf chimed in. “That I like.”
Pierce smiled, showing a little of the charisma I knew he had. “Thanks.”
“Let’s see the other one. Didn’t you say you had something?” Randy asked.
I picked up the notebook and handed it around. “It’s not ready to record either. A few notes and scratches, but Joe and I hammered out a riff.”
“Let’s do it.” Joe slid his fingers up the neck of his guitar, making it screech. Then we played the bit we’d worked out, after we sang the chorus, I kept going with what I felt for the next part.
I wanna be brilliant
I wanna be hot
