SF Bay Folk Singer Songwriter Patrick Ames Releases Revitalizing, Politically Charged "Reawakened 2020" Single
SF Bay Folk Singer Songwriter Patrick Ames is releasing his new single "Reawakened 2020" on June 19, 2020. Hot off the heels of his "Liveness" EP, Patrick brings us a song for the times with "Reawakened 2020". Patrick will also be donating his Bandcamp proceeds from this weekend to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
New energy and new mastering is given to the classic political song of the Trump era. Jon Ireson has taken Ames' rockhouse gospel and amped it up, just a little bit, for the upcoming 2020 elections. TURN this one up and see if your heart isn't beating a little faster by the ending salvo. It's a reminder to vote! #AreYouReawoke?
"I wrote "Reawakened" in January 2017 during Trump's Inaguration Day ceremonies in Wash.D.C. I couldn't watch the proceedings so I went into the music studio and locked myself in. Wrote the song, wrote the lyrics, and recorded about a third of the tracks. It appeared on my EP "Four Faces", released March 2017. Listen to the EP here: "Rockhouse gospel is part of my music memory (which goes way back). Jon has given the track even more of a that big rock band sound. Something Joe Cocker should have sung. My vocalists, Chana Matthews and Mikaela Matthews (mother and daughter), had a lot of fun with it once we got the various melodies going and brought them into the studio for vocals. There's a YouTube video about this. Three years later, and the country is still fighting good against evil, love against hate. At the height of the pandemic, April 2020, I made over 14 studio recordings of the best of Patrick Ames, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgDm6fSQ19THMIg-II-ZN7W5WZ-J-bF6R. The last one I was never able to record, "Reawakened." It's a tough song to belt out by one's self in quarantine while the recording camera is on. I tried a couple of acoustic versions and then realized that what I needed was someone else going the exact other way, to Produce a remixed and remastered version of the classic song. I turned to Jon Ireson, who had done the M&M for my last EP, "Liveness". He asked what I wanted, and I said I wanted it modernized and to amp up the crescendo even more in the last minute and a half. I wanted to make it a "2020" version, and get those reawoken lyrics back out there with a successful and creative producer. Jon Ireson's "Reawakened 2020" hits every brain dopamine receptor there is! Jon Ireson kept the core song exactly as it was recorded, including myself and Chana and Mikaela's voices, and the parts of the score such as the piano (which is actually my MIDI guitar synth). But Jon did the bass and some other instruments and wove them together on this new track. He remixed the whole thing to make it and then remastered it all into the new "Reawakened 2020". FYI: Just before the 2:00 minute mark, you can hear Finnegan, the cat, shakes his collar bell. And Jon amped that up, too!) Finally, the U.S. has a theme song for the year 2020, the year of the great Pandemic, the year of hate and violence, the year of the grim reaper. The song is the antidote to Trump and to his hate and hate-filled politics. Its time for the "good in us all" to simply out-weigh the fear and hate and greed and ignorance.#AreYouReawoke?" - Patrick Ames
"At the beginning of May, Patrick approached me to rework this track he had originally written and recorded around the time of the changing of the guard in 2017. Inspired by all the positive reactions to this unfortunate president, he wrote an anthem to hail and support the small acts of good that woven together, will ultimately see this administration defeated and removed. Obviously, I'm very happy to help support that cause. I cleaned up the track, gave the verses some good punch and the choruses some drive. Tossed in a little organ for that gospel flavour. Ultimately, I wanted to pave the way for Patrick's message to get through, flanked by his great backup singers, Mikaila and Chana Matthews. America is once again in turbulent times, still reeling from the pandemic and the protests over racist police brutality and murder, but the force of good has been reawakened."- Jon Ireson (Producer, Bass, additional Guitar)
The social commentary isn't new to Patrick. His "Liveness" EP opened with a song called "Bang Bang Bang", a spoken-word blues number paying tribute to the message and music of Gil Scott-Heron.
Lyrics - Reawakened 2020
© 2020 by Patrick Ames. All rights reserved.
The force of good it has been reawakened
The Force of good it has been it's been reawakened
The hour has come for the power of belief
That the good in us all /is about to be released
The force of good has been reawakened
Don't be fooled by the lies in the tweets
Don't be cajoled by politicians on TV
Don't be silent about dividing families
Because the good in us all / is about to be released
Reawakended, reawakened, reawakened
The force of good it has been reawakened
Don't be shy about your equality
Don't be quiet when they fence in the free
Don't be violent when they interrupt the peace
Because the good in us all / is about to be released
Reawakended, reawakened, reawakened
The force of good it has been reawakened
The hour has come for the power of belief
That the good in us all / is about to be released
The hour has come for the power of belief
That the good in us all / is about to be released
The force of good it has been reawakened
The Force of good it has been reawakened
Are you reawoke?
Read about Patrick Ames's "Liveness in Quarantine" series.Posted in Tagged Best New Music, Artist interview, bandcamp, folk, folk music, folk singer, Folk singer songwriter, lyricist, musician interview, new music, Patrick Ames, political music, Reawakened, Reawakened 2020, singer songwriter, trump editorial, Featured, Indie Music News, Most Recent
