Hi, Stone Birds (and perhaps others!),
In fact I *am* done with the cheese song! Thank you for asking. I finished the lyrics several days ago. I was planning to share them after I completed the full recording, but since you asked about the cheese song I'll go ahead and post it and the lyrics now, although my recording still lacks the drum part.
First, though, some background information on the cheese song for readers who may be new to this thread. Stone Birds posted several pictures to inspire songwriters in the Songwriter Inspiration thread. I chose the picture of the cheese on a plate, because cheese on a plate in front of a vegan is like baiting a bear. I combined this with the discovery that AwwSugar thinks the only rhyming poem that works with death as a theme is "Ring around the Rosie."
Hmmm, thought I. How shall I combine cheese, death, and "Ring around the Rosie?" The result was the song "Wring." The song is in the metal genre, I believe, which is a new one for me to try.
Here is additional information about the song that may be helpful in understanding it. As you may already know, people kill all the male calves of dairy cows as well as the male chicks of the egg-laying hen breeds. So, every egg someone eats comes from a hen whose brother, typically, was killed by people when he was a hatchling (since he would never grow up to lay eggs and is thus considered worthless). In the U.S., people kill approximately 200 MILLION male egg-type chicks per year
(source: Bell, Donald D., and Weaver, W. D. (2002) COMMERICIAL CHICKEN MEAT AND EGG PRODUCTION, Kluwer Academic Publishers, p. 20).
Similarly, cheese comes from milk that would have gone to male calves whom people slaughter at a young age since they will never give milk and have not been bred to put on weight efficiently.
Yet before pasting in the lyrics, there is BREAKING NEWS!! Alas, my backup vocalist (and trombone player) decided that the "cheese song" was the final straw in our diverging musical/lyrical tastes, and so (since he did not want to take responsibility for it and some other edgy songs I've written) he has amicably withdrawn from our fledgling band! (We still maintain civil discourse over breakfast, though,...well, actually, we don't, because we get up at different times to go to work). Meanwhile, my recorder player and my keyboard player are going to be out of town frequently, and so will just be able to help record a few tracks when available.
So, the "VEGANGELICA band" has become the "VEGANGELICA b." However, I will valiantly continue on with my stellar career as a solo vegan musician.
One advantage is that now I don't have to edit my lyrics or tame them down anymore (hehe).
THE MUSIC RATING SYSTEM Rating for "Wring" is DDD for "Death and Destruction with a dash of Demonism." The song is about a farm child who is being indoctrinated into the meat-eating culture she is forced to accept.
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“
Wring” by Erica
The cow is in the parlor,
her calf confined in squalor
so we can have, we can have
milk and cheese. Yum!
Her little baby boy
will never know the joy
of Mommy’s love, Mommy’s love.
We’ll eat them up. Yum!
Dad says that we don’t need them.
It costs too much to feed them.
Cut their throats! Cut their throats!
String them up. Yum!
Now eat what’s on your plate, Dear.
Don’t think about their fate, Dear.
Chew them up! Chew them up,
with pus and blood. Yum!
(brief musical interlude)
The hens are laying eggs
that drop between their legs
in cages, cages
we stuff them in. Yum!
The wire cuts her toes.
Darkness, all she knows.
Lay eggs, lay eggs,
so we have omelets. Yum!
This little hen is spent.
She’s crippled, weak, and bent.
Daddy, Daddy
will cut her head off. Yum!
She’s running through the yard.
I blink my tears back hard.
She’s running, running,
she’s headless, running. Yum!
Wring their little necks,
for God gives and protects.
Eat them up! Eat them up!
Thank your god. Yum!
Wring their little necks,
for God gives and protects.
Eat them up! Eat them up!
Thank you, God. Yum!
See the trays of chicks
stacked like living bricks.
Hatchlings, hatchlings.
You’re going to die. Yum!
Sex the egg layers.
Send them down conveyors.
Run, chicks. Run chicks,
who can’t lay eggs. Yum!
Daddy says God made
the eggs the chickens laid.
Kill the chicks! Kill the chicks,
so eggs are cheap. Yum!
Dump the males in aisles
in fluffy yellow piles.
Suffocate! Suffocate
so we have eggs. Yum!
Wring their little necks,
for God gives and protects.
Crush them up! Crush them up!
Thank your god. Yum!
Wring their little necks,
for God gives and protects.
Crush them up! Crush them up!
Thank you, God! Yum!
The cow is led to slaughter.
Now we will milk her daughter
so we can have, we can have
chuck and cheese. Yum!
A child says she won’t eat
anyone as meat. They tell her,
“Starve then. Starve then,
or eat their flesh, yum!”
“Dance in delight.
You’re having pizza tonight.
Say ‘Cheese! Cheese!’
Smile, everyone.”
The blood drips from my chin
from someone’s intestine.
Swallow, swallow
tripe and arms and dung.
Wring their little necks
for God gives and protects.
Eat them up! Eat them up!
Thank you, God. Yum!
Kids dance in delight.
We’re having pizza tonight!
Cheese! Cheese!
Smile, everyone!
REPEAT x 3:
Feed them, sell them, ship them, lead them,
Stick them, Slice them, Hang them, Bleed them,
CUT them, SKIN them, HACK them, BEAT them,
GRIND THEM, CHILL THEM, COOK THEM, EAT THEM!