"More Than I Do" - Alphanaut in Quiet Protest

"Holding back their swollen pride But they keep the hate inside It’s a gun in an innocent hand The baby boy playing the man. You understand this more than I do"

This is where "More than I Do" got it's start some 15 years ago. It was simply a small section of lyric that I jotted down one day, though I was never quite sure what the full story should be to support these lines. I visited the lyric from time to time over the years, searching for the right story to complete what I started but it wasn't until I began tying the words up against an untitled instrumental piece I had written that the song began to take shape.

At first I had discarded the original untitled song as a candidate for the album as it seemed a bit too mainstream stacked up against the other tunes. However after it became the catalyst for the rest of the lyric I knew the song had to make the cut.

Lyrically, I was venting my frustrations with the continuing conflict in Iraq. It was 2007 and we were four years in, with our former administration more obsessed with their own interests than those of the rest of the world. There was continuing issue with the US media being forbidden from showing certain 'controversial' footage on television, and I had just returned from a couple trips abroad in Australia and Turkey. I was shocked to say the least at the contrast in what the media showed in both places compared to ours at home. The blood of innocents, visceral images of destruction, bodies of US soldiers all inspired me to write.

The song starts with a calling out of our former President, moves into commentary about those who are left behind from the destruction of war, then moves to question authority to explain their actions.

I honestly didn't set out to write an anti-war song, though I'm extremely pleased with the results of "More Than I Do". In the end I feel it's more a peaceful protest piece rather than a rallying anthem and it by far my favorite song on the album.


"More Than I Do" Lyrics, by Alphanaut

You lit the fuse then you turned around
Running for glory from higher ground
With a smile doing as you please
To skew the world by a few degrees

Holding back their swollen pride
But they keep the hate inside
It’s a gun in an innocent hand
The baby boy playing the man

You say, you understand this more than I do
Comprehend this more than I do
So please explain to me
Why they are my enemy

And when your back is to the wall
When you live and give it all
The little girl fallen in her yard
Her father dealt the hardest card

You drop the bombs and start the war
Push the boys and ask for more
It’s the blood on some distant sand
Turns to black beneath the caravan

You say, you understand this more than I do
Comprehend this more than I do
So please explain to me
Why I am your enemy

You say, you understand this more than I do
Comprehend this more than I do
So please explain to me
Why I am your enemy

Purchase the Alphanaut song "More Than I Do" on iTunes