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CURE THIS TOWN

from SOMETHING GIGANTIC by Brett Miller

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about

There’s a line in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird where Atticus Finch is concerned his kids will grow up with the racism and prejudice of their hometown, what he calls “Maycomb’s usual disease” (for a deeper report on that, check out Lee’s underrated follow-up, Go Set a Watchman…that book also inspired a song called “Acres and Acres,” but it didn’t make the album). Atticus’ layered reaction to the community he loved got me thinking about the complicated relationship we often have with the place we call home (“Should I stay or should I go, now?”). I know what it means to hate a place while simultaneously loving the community within it. Managing that kind of cognitive disssonance can be exhausting. But in a culture where we sort ourselves by tribe, where we build walls between them and us, managing the illnesses of our communities might be time better spent than looking for a cure. Sure, there’s a resignation in this song, but the sadness isn’t defeat. You might even call it the raw material of love.

lyrics

Closed up the house don’t wanna talk no more
Not a word walk on by
You’ll never know ‘em ‘til you stand in their shoes
And even then you don’t ask why
We’re not the kind of people who ask why

Pulpits and politics turn us to ghosts
We become enemies
The songbird’s sound can soothe our souls
But we can’t cure this town’s disease
We can’t cure this town’s disease

CHORUS We can’t cure this town
And we can’t leave

We got nothing left to learn ‘cept maybe history
A little science wouldn’t hurt
Nothing left to kill but the demons in our heads
And nothing lost we can’t convert
Nothing lost we can’t convert

This paradise we were promised
Rests in the hands of these thieves
The songbird’s sound can soothe our souls
But we can’t cure this town’s disease
We can’t cure this town’s disease

CHORUS

credits

from SOMETHING GIGANTIC, released March 19, 2020
Brett Miller: vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica
Barak Hill: electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Dallas Jones: bass
Brandon Moore: drums

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Brett Miller Springfield, Missouri

Brett Miller is a singer-songwriter from Springfield, Missouri. After over 15 years writing songs, singing, playing rhythm guitar, and recording three studio albums with his band Brother Wiley (also known as Mincks & Miller), Miller released a solo album of 14 original tracks, recorded and produced by fellow Midwest musician, Barak Hill. ... more

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