"Safe and White" - The Fear of the 'Other'

Getting back to breaking down the songs from "Out of Orbit". Next up is track two titled "Safe and White".

The melody for "Safe and White" came to me early on in the days when I began song writing again, originally revolving around a perky drum 'n bass pattern. I believe it was the second piece I wrote, immediately after I came up with the basic song structure for "Without You". I remember listening to both pieces and thinking "how and I going to fit both onto the same album" as they are so different from one another. The task I gave myself was to view those two songs as if they were opposite ends of a spectrum and the rest of the material I'd write for the album should fall in between.

It would take a year of searching for the right lyric and title for the song, but one day while out at the 'Temple of Consumerism" (the local mall), I was given inspiration. I was hanging at The Grove, an outdoor shopping complex which is popular with tourists visiting Los Angeles, when I briefly overheard conversation of two older white women, dressed as if they were going to church. It was evident from their accent that they were from the midwest and apparently they hadn't gotten out of the house much. Judging from the comments I overheard them making, lets just say they were shocked at how many people were present who didn't share the same skin color as them. Our paths crossed very briefly and I threw them a look of shock at their comments, though I doubt they absorbed my disagreement as they moved through the sea of diversity.

That was all it took to inspire me. I grabbed a cup of coffee, opened my laptop and sat down to begin writing sketches for the lyric.

"Safe and White" Lyrics

Your blowing bubbles in your yard
Close your eyes while keeping guard
You’re having trouble making sense
Of what happens out beyond your fence

Here come the nines but you are a ten
It’s more about than you comprehend
Replace the TV every year
But never watch it out of fear

Some people ride through life
Some people steer
Some people speak words
But they never hear

Some people fly through life
While others just walk
Some people complain
But they never talk

Mr Jones is acting strange
You prey that someday he will change
Try and try with all your might
To keep your life safe and white

When every single line from you
Starts with “I’m the kind of person who”
You talk and talk but never hear
You’re the same old sucker every year

Some people . . .

Try and try with all your might
To keep your life safe and white
Try and try with all your might
You'll never keep it safe and white

Purchase a copy of "Safe and White" on iTunes