Chords for A message from Tyler.

_ 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.