Chords for A message from Tyler.
Tempo:
150.3 bpm
Chords used:
Bb
G
Ab
F
Abm
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
Back in June, when I wrote the song, Long Violet [E] History, it was my original goal to
[G] continue to make fairly legible sounds on the fiddle [Ab] and put this album out [Am] with no
announcements [G] or press.
I had planned [A] to package it as [E] an old-time fiddle [G] album and let the piece make its statement
on its own, taking the listener by surprise at the end.
However, there [Ab] has been concern that the album could run the [Db] risk of being [A] misinterpreted
if not given [F] some sort of accompanying explanation [Ab] to set it in [Bb] context.
[Ab] A writer can write an essay, but the writer can never predict [G] or control how [Eb] that essay
is interpreted by the reader, be it in a tone of level-headed calmness or a preachy, holier-than-thou,
condescending way.
[C]
As a recovering [G] alcoholic who was drunk and drugged himself around the world playing music
for the better part of eleven years and now has six months of sobriety, I can say with
clarity [D] that I have no soapbox to stand on to talk preachy to anyone on anything, be
it the word of God or the condition of the world.
But as a person who has been given a platform by providence, luck, [G] support, and working
at it, I would [Eb] feel undeserving of the grace this world has given me and I would find [G] it
a waste [Ab] were I not to try and use it to make [Eb] some good.
[Ab] Long Violet History is a collection of [A] instrumental pieces intended to create a sonic [G] soundscape
for the listener [C] to set the tone to reflect on the [Gb] last [D] track, which is my own observational
piece [Eb] on the times we are in.
COVID has been a strain on all of us in some form [D] or fashion.
People have been cooped up and [F] quarantined.
People have lost their jobs [Bb] and are struggling to [D] make ends meet.
People have lost their family members.
The country [Abm]
is feeling a general [G] angst.
All the while, we've all witnessed violent acts of police brutality happen around the
nation that have gone [A] unaddressed.
In response, we have seen [Bb] protests turn to riots, and [Fm] riots culminate in acts of violence
and destruction of property.
From the outsider's perspective, it's hard to see where all this visceral anger is coming from.
What I believe to be one of the biggest obstacles [F] in pinpointing the cause of this is our inability
to empathize with another individual or group's [Bm] plight.
In the midst of our own [Eb] daily struggles, it's often hard to share an understanding for [G] what
another person might be [Bb] going through.
[Ab] With that in mind, at the [Bb] risk of mistakenly [Gm] analogizing two groups of people, [F] I would
ask my white rural listeners to think on [Bb] this.
I don't mean to imply that many of you aren't already doing [Abm] good self-examination [Fm] on this
issue, but I have heard from many who have [Bb] not.
What if we were to [Fm] constantly open up our daily [G] paper and see a headline like,
[Ab]
East Kentucky [G] man shot seven times on fishing trip, and read on to find the man was shot
while fishing with his son by a game [B] warden who saw him rummaging through [Bb] his tackle box
for his license and thought he [C] was reaching for a knife.
What if we read a story that began North Carolina [Bb] man rushing home from work to take his elderly
[Ab] mother to the ER [G] on stop sign and is pulled over and beaten [Abm] by police when [Bb] they see a
gun rack in the truck.
Or a headline like, [Abm] Ashland Community and Technical [Bb] College nursing student shot in her sleep.
How would we react to that?
[D] What form of upheaval would that create?
[F] I venture to say if we were met with [N] this type of daily attack on our own people, we
would take action in a way that hasn't been seen since the Battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia.
And if we want to stand for it, why would we expect another group of Americans to stand for it?
[Bb] Why would we stand silent [G] while it happened?
Or [Abm] worse, get in the way of it being [Gm] rectified?
I've heard [Db] people from my Appalachian [Bb] region say that we want to act the way [Ab] we've seen
depicted on various [Bb] media outlets.
But I've [Gb] also seen grown folks beat each other up [G] the day after Thanksgiving [Bb] for TVs and teddy bears.
And these aren't things [G] this community has lost.
These are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters and cousins, mothers and fathers.
Irreplaceable [Bb] threads within their family fiber, torn from their loved ones too soon
with no justice, and they are demanding change.
Same as I expect we would.
Life is hard enough [F] without being worried about the smallest [Bb] interaction with a public servant.
So what can [G] the rest of us who feel seemingly outside of these issues [F] do?
First, we can use our voting power [Ab] to get rid of the people that have been in power
and have let this go unnoticed.
Chances are [F] the people allowing this to happen are the same people keeping opportunity [B] out
of reach for our own communities that have watched job opportunities shipped out and
drugs shipped in, eating up [Bb] our communities and leaving our people desperate in what some
folks would deem a food desert.
We [Db] can stop being so taken aback [G] by Black Lives [Fm] Matter if we didn't need to be reminded
there [G] would be justice for Breonna Taylor, a Kentuckian [Bb] like me, and countless others.
[D] We can start looking for ways to preserve our heritage outside lazily [Abm] defending a flag
[C] with history steeped in [Bb] racism and treason.
[B]
Things like hewing a log, [Fm] carving a bowl, learning a fiddle tune, growing a garden,
[F] raising some animals, [A] canning our own [Bb] food, hunting and processing the animal, fishing,
blacksmithing, trapping and tanning the hide, sewing a quilt.
And if we did things like that, [Bm] we'd have a lot [Abm] less time to argue [Bb] back and forth over
things we don't fully know, facts by news we can't fully trust.
Love each other, no exceptions, and remember, united we stand, divided we fall.
[G] continue to make fairly legible sounds on the fiddle [Ab] and put this album out [Am] with no
announcements [G] or press.
I had planned [A] to package it as [E] an old-time fiddle [G] album and let the piece make its statement
on its own, taking the listener by surprise at the end.
However, there [Ab] has been concern that the album could run the [Db] risk of being [A] misinterpreted
if not given [F] some sort of accompanying explanation [Ab] to set it in [Bb] context.
[Ab] A writer can write an essay, but the writer can never predict [G] or control how [Eb] that essay
is interpreted by the reader, be it in a tone of level-headed calmness or a preachy, holier-than-thou,
condescending way.
[C]
As a recovering [G] alcoholic who was drunk and drugged himself around the world playing music
for the better part of eleven years and now has six months of sobriety, I can say with
clarity [D] that I have no soapbox to stand on to talk preachy to anyone on anything, be
it the word of God or the condition of the world.
But as a person who has been given a platform by providence, luck, [G] support, and working
at it, I would [Eb] feel undeserving of the grace this world has given me and I would find [G] it
a waste [Ab] were I not to try and use it to make [Eb] some good.
[Ab] Long Violet History is a collection of [A] instrumental pieces intended to create a sonic [G] soundscape
for the listener [C] to set the tone to reflect on the [Gb] last [D] track, which is my own observational
piece [Eb] on the times we are in.
COVID has been a strain on all of us in some form [D] or fashion.
People have been cooped up and [F] quarantined.
People have lost their jobs [Bb] and are struggling to [D] make ends meet.
People have lost their family members.
The country [Abm]
is feeling a general [G] angst.
All the while, we've all witnessed violent acts of police brutality happen around the
nation that have gone [A] unaddressed.
In response, we have seen [Bb] protests turn to riots, and [Fm] riots culminate in acts of violence
and destruction of property.
From the outsider's perspective, it's hard to see where all this visceral anger is coming from.
What I believe to be one of the biggest obstacles [F] in pinpointing the cause of this is our inability
to empathize with another individual or group's [Bm] plight.
In the midst of our own [Eb] daily struggles, it's often hard to share an understanding for [G] what
another person might be [Bb] going through.
[Ab] With that in mind, at the [Bb] risk of mistakenly [Gm] analogizing two groups of people, [F] I would
ask my white rural listeners to think on [Bb] this.
I don't mean to imply that many of you aren't already doing [Abm] good self-examination [Fm] on this
issue, but I have heard from many who have [Bb] not.
What if we were to [Fm] constantly open up our daily [G] paper and see a headline like,
[Ab]
East Kentucky [G] man shot seven times on fishing trip, and read on to find the man was shot
while fishing with his son by a game [B] warden who saw him rummaging through [Bb] his tackle box
for his license and thought he [C] was reaching for a knife.
What if we read a story that began North Carolina [Bb] man rushing home from work to take his elderly
[Ab] mother to the ER [G] on stop sign and is pulled over and beaten [Abm] by police when [Bb] they see a
gun rack in the truck.
Or a headline like, [Abm] Ashland Community and Technical [Bb] College nursing student shot in her sleep.
How would we react to that?
[D] What form of upheaval would that create?
[F] I venture to say if we were met with [N] this type of daily attack on our own people, we
would take action in a way that hasn't been seen since the Battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia.
And if we want to stand for it, why would we expect another group of Americans to stand for it?
[Bb] Why would we stand silent [G] while it happened?
Or [Abm] worse, get in the way of it being [Gm] rectified?
I've heard [Db] people from my Appalachian [Bb] region say that we want to act the way [Ab] we've seen
depicted on various [Bb] media outlets.
But I've [Gb] also seen grown folks beat each other up [G] the day after Thanksgiving [Bb] for TVs and teddy bears.
And these aren't things [G] this community has lost.
These are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters and cousins, mothers and fathers.
Irreplaceable [Bb] threads within their family fiber, torn from their loved ones too soon
with no justice, and they are demanding change.
Same as I expect we would.
Life is hard enough [F] without being worried about the smallest [Bb] interaction with a public servant.
So what can [G] the rest of us who feel seemingly outside of these issues [F] do?
First, we can use our voting power [Ab] to get rid of the people that have been in power
and have let this go unnoticed.
Chances are [F] the people allowing this to happen are the same people keeping opportunity [B] out
of reach for our own communities that have watched job opportunities shipped out and
drugs shipped in, eating up [Bb] our communities and leaving our people desperate in what some
folks would deem a food desert.
We [Db] can stop being so taken aback [G] by Black Lives [Fm] Matter if we didn't need to be reminded
there [G] would be justice for Breonna Taylor, a Kentuckian [Bb] like me, and countless others.
[D] We can start looking for ways to preserve our heritage outside lazily [Abm] defending a flag
[C] with history steeped in [Bb] racism and treason.
[B]
Things like hewing a log, [Fm] carving a bowl, learning a fiddle tune, growing a garden,
[F] raising some animals, [A] canning our own [Bb] food, hunting and processing the animal, fishing,
blacksmithing, trapping and tanning the hide, sewing a quilt.
And if we did things like that, [Bm] we'd have a lot [Abm] less time to argue [Bb] back and forth over
things we don't fully know, facts by news we can't fully trust.
Love each other, no exceptions, and remember, united we stand, divided we fall.
Key:
Bb
G
Ab
F
Abm
Bb
G
Ab
_ Back in June, when I wrote the song, Long Violet [E] History, it was my original goal to
[G] continue to make fairly legible sounds on the fiddle [Ab] and put this album out [Am] with no
announcements [G] or press.
_ I had planned [A] to package it as [E] an old-time fiddle [G] album and let the piece make its statement
on its own, taking the listener by surprise at the end. _ _
_ _ However, there [Ab] has been concern that the album could run the [Db] risk of being [A] misinterpreted
if not given [F] some sort of accompanying explanation [Ab] to set it in [Bb] context. _
_ _ [Ab] A writer can write an essay, but the writer can never predict [G] or control how [Eb] that essay
is interpreted by the reader, _ be it in a tone of level-headed calmness or a preachy, holier-than-thou,
condescending way.
[C] _ _ _ _
As a recovering [G] alcoholic who was drunk and drugged himself around the world playing music
for the better part of eleven years and now has six months of sobriety, I can say with
clarity [D] that I have no soapbox to stand on to talk preachy to anyone on anything, be
it the word of God or the condition of the world. _ _
_ _ But as a person who has been given a platform _ by providence, luck, [G] support, and working
at it, I would [Eb] feel undeserving of the grace this world has given me and I would find [G] it
a waste [Ab] were I not to try and use it to make [Eb] some good.
_ _ _ [Ab] Long Violet History is a collection of [A] instrumental pieces intended to create a sonic [G] soundscape
for the listener [C] to set the tone to reflect on the [Gb] last [D] track, which is my own observational
piece [Eb] on the times we are in. _
_ _ _ _ COVID has been a strain on all of us in some form [D] or fashion.
People have been cooped up and [F] quarantined.
_ People have lost their jobs [Bb] and are struggling to [D] make ends meet. _
People have lost their family members.
_ The country [Abm]
is feeling a general [G] angst. _ _ _
All the while, we've all witnessed violent acts of police brutality happen around the
nation that have gone [A] unaddressed. _
_ In response, we have seen [Bb] protests turn to riots, and [Fm] riots culminate in acts of violence
and destruction of property.
From the outsider's perspective, it's hard to see where all this visceral anger is coming from.
_ _ _ What I believe to be one of the biggest obstacles [F] in pinpointing the cause of this is our inability
to empathize with another individual or group's [Bm] plight.
_ _ In the midst of our own [Eb] daily struggles, it's often hard to share an understanding for [G] what
another person might be [Bb] going through.
_ _ _ [Ab] With that in mind, at the [Bb] risk of _ mistakenly [Gm] analogizing two groups of people, [F] I would
ask my white rural listeners to think on [Bb] this.
I don't mean to imply that many of you aren't already doing [Abm] good self-examination [Fm] on this
issue, but I have heard from many who have [Bb] not.
_ _ _ What if we were to [Fm] constantly open up our daily [G] paper and see a headline like,
[Ab]
East Kentucky [G] man shot seven times on fishing trip, and read on to find the man was shot
while fishing with his son by a game [B] warden who saw him rummaging through [Bb] his tackle box
for his license and thought he [C] was reaching for a knife.
_ _ _ What if we read a story that began North Carolina [Bb] man rushing home from work to take his elderly
[Ab] mother to the ER [G] on stop sign and is pulled over and beaten [Abm] by police when [Bb] they see a
gun rack in the truck. _
_ _ Or a headline like, [Abm] Ashland Community and Technical [Bb] College nursing student shot in her sleep. _ _ _ _
How would we react to that?
_ [D] What form of upheaval would that create?
_ _ _ [F] I venture to say if we were met with [N] this type of daily attack on our own people, we
would take action in a way that hasn't been seen since the Battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia.
_ And if we want to stand for it, why would we expect another group of Americans to stand for it?
[Bb] _ Why would we stand silent [G] while it happened?
Or [Abm] worse, get in the way of it being [Gm] rectified?
_ _ I've heard [Db] people from my Appalachian [Bb] region say that we want to act the way [Ab] we've seen
depicted on various [Bb] media outlets. _
But I've [Gb] also seen grown folks beat each other up [G] the day after Thanksgiving [Bb] for TVs and teddy bears. _
And these aren't things [G] this community has lost.
These are sons and daughters, _ brothers and sisters and cousins, mothers and fathers.
_ _ _ Irreplaceable [Bb] threads within their family fiber, torn from their loved ones too soon
with no justice, and they are demanding change.
_ Same as I expect we would. _ _
Life is hard enough [F] without being worried about the smallest [Bb] interaction with a public servant. _
_ _ _ So what can [G] the rest of us who feel seemingly outside of these issues [F] do?
_ First, we can use our voting power [Ab] to get rid of the people that have been in power
and have let this go unnoticed.
_ Chances are [F] the people allowing this to happen are the same people keeping opportunity [B] out
of reach for our own communities _ that have watched job opportunities shipped out and
drugs shipped in, eating up [Bb] our communities and leaving our people desperate in what some
folks would deem a food desert.
We [Db] can stop being so taken aback [G] by Black Lives [Fm] Matter _ if we didn't need to be reminded
there [G] would be justice for Breonna Taylor, a Kentuckian [Bb] like me, and countless others.
_ _ [D] We can start looking for ways to preserve our heritage outside lazily [Abm] defending a flag
[C] with history steeped in [Bb] racism and treason.
[B] _
Things like hewing a log, [Fm] carving a bowl, learning a fiddle tune, growing a garden,
[F] raising some animals, [A] canning our own [Bb] food, hunting and processing the animal, fishing,
_ blacksmithing, trapping and tanning the hide, sewing a quilt.
_ _ And if we did things like that, [Bm] we'd have a lot [Abm] less time to argue [Bb] back and forth over
things we don't fully know, facts by news we can't fully trust. _ _
Love each other, no exceptions, and remember, united we stand, divided we fall.
[G] continue to make fairly legible sounds on the fiddle [Ab] and put this album out [Am] with no
announcements [G] or press.
_ I had planned [A] to package it as [E] an old-time fiddle [G] album and let the piece make its statement
on its own, taking the listener by surprise at the end. _ _
_ _ However, there [Ab] has been concern that the album could run the [Db] risk of being [A] misinterpreted
if not given [F] some sort of accompanying explanation [Ab] to set it in [Bb] context. _
_ _ [Ab] A writer can write an essay, but the writer can never predict [G] or control how [Eb] that essay
is interpreted by the reader, _ be it in a tone of level-headed calmness or a preachy, holier-than-thou,
condescending way.
[C] _ _ _ _
As a recovering [G] alcoholic who was drunk and drugged himself around the world playing music
for the better part of eleven years and now has six months of sobriety, I can say with
clarity [D] that I have no soapbox to stand on to talk preachy to anyone on anything, be
it the word of God or the condition of the world. _ _
_ _ But as a person who has been given a platform _ by providence, luck, [G] support, and working
at it, I would [Eb] feel undeserving of the grace this world has given me and I would find [G] it
a waste [Ab] were I not to try and use it to make [Eb] some good.
_ _ _ [Ab] Long Violet History is a collection of [A] instrumental pieces intended to create a sonic [G] soundscape
for the listener [C] to set the tone to reflect on the [Gb] last [D] track, which is my own observational
piece [Eb] on the times we are in. _
_ _ _ _ COVID has been a strain on all of us in some form [D] or fashion.
People have been cooped up and [F] quarantined.
_ People have lost their jobs [Bb] and are struggling to [D] make ends meet. _
People have lost their family members.
_ The country [Abm]
is feeling a general [G] angst. _ _ _
All the while, we've all witnessed violent acts of police brutality happen around the
nation that have gone [A] unaddressed. _
_ In response, we have seen [Bb] protests turn to riots, and [Fm] riots culminate in acts of violence
and destruction of property.
From the outsider's perspective, it's hard to see where all this visceral anger is coming from.
_ _ _ What I believe to be one of the biggest obstacles [F] in pinpointing the cause of this is our inability
to empathize with another individual or group's [Bm] plight.
_ _ In the midst of our own [Eb] daily struggles, it's often hard to share an understanding for [G] what
another person might be [Bb] going through.
_ _ _ [Ab] With that in mind, at the [Bb] risk of _ mistakenly [Gm] analogizing two groups of people, [F] I would
ask my white rural listeners to think on [Bb] this.
I don't mean to imply that many of you aren't already doing [Abm] good self-examination [Fm] on this
issue, but I have heard from many who have [Bb] not.
_ _ _ What if we were to [Fm] constantly open up our daily [G] paper and see a headline like,
[Ab]
East Kentucky [G] man shot seven times on fishing trip, and read on to find the man was shot
while fishing with his son by a game [B] warden who saw him rummaging through [Bb] his tackle box
for his license and thought he [C] was reaching for a knife.
_ _ _ What if we read a story that began North Carolina [Bb] man rushing home from work to take his elderly
[Ab] mother to the ER [G] on stop sign and is pulled over and beaten [Abm] by police when [Bb] they see a
gun rack in the truck. _
_ _ Or a headline like, [Abm] Ashland Community and Technical [Bb] College nursing student shot in her sleep. _ _ _ _
How would we react to that?
_ [D] What form of upheaval would that create?
_ _ _ [F] I venture to say if we were met with [N] this type of daily attack on our own people, we
would take action in a way that hasn't been seen since the Battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia.
_ And if we want to stand for it, why would we expect another group of Americans to stand for it?
[Bb] _ Why would we stand silent [G] while it happened?
Or [Abm] worse, get in the way of it being [Gm] rectified?
_ _ I've heard [Db] people from my Appalachian [Bb] region say that we want to act the way [Ab] we've seen
depicted on various [Bb] media outlets. _
But I've [Gb] also seen grown folks beat each other up [G] the day after Thanksgiving [Bb] for TVs and teddy bears. _
And these aren't things [G] this community has lost.
These are sons and daughters, _ brothers and sisters and cousins, mothers and fathers.
_ _ _ Irreplaceable [Bb] threads within their family fiber, torn from their loved ones too soon
with no justice, and they are demanding change.
_ Same as I expect we would. _ _
Life is hard enough [F] without being worried about the smallest [Bb] interaction with a public servant. _
_ _ _ So what can [G] the rest of us who feel seemingly outside of these issues [F] do?
_ First, we can use our voting power [Ab] to get rid of the people that have been in power
and have let this go unnoticed.
_ Chances are [F] the people allowing this to happen are the same people keeping opportunity [B] out
of reach for our own communities _ that have watched job opportunities shipped out and
drugs shipped in, eating up [Bb] our communities and leaving our people desperate in what some
folks would deem a food desert.
We [Db] can stop being so taken aback [G] by Black Lives [Fm] Matter _ if we didn't need to be reminded
there [G] would be justice for Breonna Taylor, a Kentuckian [Bb] like me, and countless others.
_ _ [D] We can start looking for ways to preserve our heritage outside lazily [Abm] defending a flag
[C] with history steeped in [Bb] racism and treason.
[B] _
Things like hewing a log, [Fm] carving a bowl, learning a fiddle tune, growing a garden,
[F] raising some animals, [A] canning our own [Bb] food, hunting and processing the animal, fishing,
_ blacksmithing, trapping and tanning the hide, sewing a quilt.
_ _ And if we did things like that, [Bm] we'd have a lot [Abm] less time to argue [Bb] back and forth over
things we don't fully know, facts by news we can't fully trust. _ _
Love each other, no exceptions, and remember, united we stand, divided we fall.