Darker Side
Long before Star Wars popularized the concept, rock stars were making The Dark Side fashionable. Jim Morrison comes to mind. Others followed suit.
Morrison, of course, was a great, or at least interesting poet to many and an anathema to some. It was his fascination with the dark side that made people flinch.
Tim Pepper’s song focused on the dark side too, but it came from a different angle. It made me think the reality is bigger but maybe less threatening than we imagine. The lyrics have an entertaining rhythm and a playful sound but from the title to the last chorus it’s thought provoking.
The Darker Side is not a place we hold dear. We avoid it or think we do. The effort we make to not talk about it is obvious. But it’s there. It’s not so far away. It’s closer than we think and brushes with it are inevitable.
Some, like Morrison, did more than brush. He absorbed the dark side. It was his choice and we all know the end of that story.
Not everyone admits their dark side brushes. We like to think it didn’t really happen to us but we’ve all been there. Fortunately, the dark side doesn’t obliterate the bright side and doesn’t make our choices for us. This song is a poetic illustration of that truth.
Lyrics
Faith was gone when the air turned cold.
The leaves were red and my prayers were old.
I was tired of my voice, and asking, “why?”
Hope followed before the green
Ice turned to rain and washed the roads clean
I was left with a mess of half truth and half lies
On the darker side
When things get weird.
And love has all but disappeared
There seems to be a path that’s clear
And a voice that calls that you can’t hear.
It’s buzzing just inside your ear.
You long to leave but you’re stuck here
On the darker side.
Young and Dumb became my friends,
I’d sit with them on the porch again,
Almost every night ’til half past two.
Close behind were Lost and Alone.
Folks steered clear; We were on our own,
They sucked the life from me and I called it home.
On the darker side
When things get weird.
And love has all but disappeared
There seems to be a path that’s clear
And a voice that calls that you can’t hear.
It’s buzzing just inside your ear.
You long to leave but you’re stuck here
On the darker side.
My Savior came in the shape of a child,
She looked like me and made me smile,
And I began to believe that I’d been blind.
On the darker side
When things get weird.
And love has all but disappeared
There seems to be a path that’s clear
And a voice that calls that you can’t hear.
It’s buzzing just inside your ear.
You long to leave but you’re stuck here
On the darker side.
Credits
Tim Pepper not only recorded this song but also performed all the parts. It’s entirely a solo effort. Every harmony, sound effect, guitar part, drum beat was produced and synced by Tim.
Download this song, as well as many others, for free from Tim’s account on SoundCloud.Com. Share it with your friends on your favorite social media site. Enjoy!
Contact Tim
Tim’s website shares bio and contact details. It also has links to more of his songs and contains chapters from his book, Wrestling The Rhinoceros.
THINK!AboutIt
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