Each Monday I take the opportunity to share music I’ve written with you. The selections are usually from musical theatre, health information put to music, or music to either uplift or lower stress and anxiety.
This week will be different. I’ve been troubled by the video revealing the death of George Floyd since seeing it. Shortly after that, I wrote a poem entitled, “I Can’t Breathe,” to express my feelings about that event.
But I also wanted to create music to use as a backdrop so that I could speak the poem over it. I wrote several options that would work, but remembered a piece I had written and recorded several years ago to commemorate Memorial Day called “Remember the Fallen.” Since George Floyd’s death happened at the time of Memorial Day, I remembered this soundtrack and it seemed to fit just perfectly. On piano is Ben Schwendener; on sax is Ewe Steinmetz; on bass is Bridget Kearney; on drum Mike Calabrese. Bridget and Mike are now in Lake Street Dive.
It’s a powerful piece with a powerful message that is enhanced greatly by the music. The poem is below. If you want to hear me narrate it over the music I wrote, Click Here.
I Can’t Breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
Please get off of me
I can’t breathe
Derek Charvin took a knee
on George Floyd’s neck
as he lay handcuffed and
face down on the ground
Two more police
took a knee on his back
and his legs, while a fourth
just stood around…
And 400 years
and 600 pounds
weighed down George Floyd
where he lay
And for 8 plus minutes
he pleaded “I can’t breathe,”
Till his last pleading breath
slipped away
Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, White
saw the video that night
and a broken world lay naked
for their eyes
And George Floyd’s last breath
traveled east and west,
saying racism, not blacks
must die
‘Cause I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
Time to get off me
I can’t breathe
And all across the nation
outrage and condemnation
marched the streets together
side by side
They said, Systemic and endemic
Racism is pandemic,
it’s time to change
before more people die
And 400 years
and 600 pounds
weighed down George Floyd
where he lay
And for 8 plus minutes
he pleaded I can’t breathe
’till his last pleading breath
slipped away
Black Lives Matter
Equality matters
Justice matters
Change is long overdue
It’s time to be clear
Time for you to hear,
We just want
the same chance as you
‘Cause We can’t breathe
No one is free
We can’t breathe
Till everyone is free
Just get off of us
So we can breathe
