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NEW for 2016. This is my favorite of the new songs. The title and some of the concept (especially in the first verse) is lifted from Chris Bachelder's novel "US!" That novel imagines a world in which Upton Sinclair is resurrected from time to time to try to bring about a Socialistic society. And each time, he is inevitably murdered. There's a character in there that is supposed to be Sinclair's son, a musician who calls himself "The Last Folk Singer." I started writing a concept piece about just the idea of a "Last Folk Singer," but I couldn't crack how to do it without just stealing from the novel...so this song happened instead.

Aside from that, it's an excuse to name-check some of my heroes and get out a handful of my views. It's a fun one for me. And I like that it appears in this format, rubbing shoulders with some of my very Christian stuff. I like the balance of how I describe Jesus here placed against how I talk about Him in "Fall Apart."

Plus, this one feels relevant with Donald Trump entering the White House soon.

lyrics

I thought I saw Upton Sinclair today,
sitting in a park.
And I thought that I heard old Upton say
that the times are getting dark.
He said something about the right and something about the left
and how these days it's hard being Socialist.
Thought he died in '68, I'd have never guessed
that we'd still need old Upton right now.

I thought that I saw Kurt Vonnegut
singing in a church.
He was singing about life being beautiful
and how none of it ever hurt.
He said this about that
and that about this...
And the whole thing came with an asterisk.
You'd have to be a robot to be a Humanist.
So it goes and so it is.

Here's a prayer to Saint George Carlin...
How in the fuck are we supposed to go on living?
And where is Brennan Manning
when we really, really need him?
When did we turn from saints into sinners?
Hear the songs of the last folk singers.

I thought that I saw Jesus
sitting in the court.
He looked pretty sad to be filing
for the Great Divorce.
He said, "I told you to love, I told you to give.
You told me to go to Hell.
So I packed up my things and to Hell I went,
I fought it hard and I fought it well."

He said, "Folks you could still have a victory.
All you must do is try..."
And somebody said, "Nah! That sounds like too much work!"
and spit right in His eye.
Nobody was surprised.

I thought that I saw myself in a crowd,
but I must've been somebody else.
He looked pretty shallow and empty,
or maybe just full of himself.
He said something about money and how far he had come
and I shudder to think of myself that way;
as somebody who has become so numb
with so little left to say.

When did we turn from saints into sinners?
Hear the songs of the last folk singers.

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Derek Brink St Louis, Missouri

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