WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER | The Memory Brothers

CLICK BELOW TO PLAY SONG:

words and music: Doug Koempel

album: For Always / 1997 (BOF-64)

publishing: Blue Baker Music BMI

produced by: Doug Koempel

artists: the Memory Brothers

label: Memento Records

• lead and background vocals: Doug Koempel
• electric guitar: Mike Williams
• background vocals: Doug and Mike
• backing tracks programmed and played by Doug
• sequenced on Korg M1's internal sequencer
• instruments: Korg M1 (keyboard) and Alesis SR-16 (drum machine)
• recorded at: Bird-On-Fire Recording Studio / West Union, Iowa

DOUG'S NOTES:

Let's see, we have "Blowin' In The Wind", "Why Can't We Be Friends", "We Can Work It Out" . . . that's just a few "why can't we get along" songs. I suppose most songwriters eventually write one.

So here is my offering in that category - this week's featured song, "We're In This Together." I wrote it twenty years ago for our For Always album.

By the early '90s I was sensing a change - a very noticeable shift in our cultural climate and attitudes. TV and movies were different, the music was definitely different; and the "younger generation" seemed to be becoming more and more self-absorbed.

At the same time, there was this technology revolution: the emergence of home-based entertainment; hand-size cell phones and PDAs; email and AOL - arguably the precursors to "social media." Simple people skills were conspicuously eroding being replaced by insincere and even passive-aggressive behavior (e.g."Your call is important to us. Please hold.", "Have a nice day.", etc.)

Was society and culture as I'd known it all my life really changing? Or was I, a child of the '50s, simply transitioning to the "older generation" - on a collision course with middle age? My philosophical muse kicked in, and I climbed on my high-horse and wrote a highfalutin song - which at the time seemed wrought with significance. But now looking back, it's clear that the subject of cultural dissonance has been broached by writers and musicians for time immemorial.

To play "We're In This Together" click below: