For the past couple of decades, Cincinnati’s Jake Speed has carried on the American Folk tradition, not only in his rootsy musical base (shaped and performed with his band The Freddies), but also in lyrical musings that never shy away from addressing current “hot-button” social and political concerns in the spirit of Folk icon Woody Guthrie.
Earlier this month, Speed and his Freddies posted a new song that directly addresses the social injustice that has been re-entered the spotlight in Donald Trump’s America.
In “Take a Knee,” Speed addresses police brutality, racial injustice, income inequality, anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ sentiment and more. If Guthrie was still around today, “Take a Knee” is probably the closest to what kind of songs he’d be writing. Think of it as the intelligent answer to that weird faux-patriotic tune “Take A Knee, My Ass (I Won’t Take A Knee)” that everyone made fun of last year.
Watch a clip of the band performing “Take a Knee” and read the lyrics below:
Seen you on the roadside shoulder/Officer done pulled you over
Said your taillights broken, boy/Now step out in the street
Heard you ask ‘What’s this about?’/Heard the officer start to shout
Heard his gun come quickly out/Come on take a knee with me
Take a knee, take a knee, take a knee with me, everybody take a knee with me
If you believe this land is free, come on take a knee with me
Seen you down on Ellis Island/Far from home, a thousand miles
Tired, poor, yet still a-smilin’/Yearning to breathe free
Immigration agent frowns/Says your god is too dark brown
White House men done turn you down/Come on take a knee with me
Take a knee, take a knee, take a knee with me, everybody take a knee with me
If you believe this land is free, come on take a knee with me
Seen you down at the southern border/following the law and order
Working late for 8 and a quarter/Seven mouths to feed
Border agent hunts you down/Says you got to leave this town
He don’t care ‘bout hungry mouths/Come on take a knee with me
Take a knee, take a knee, take a knee with me, everybody take a knee with me
If you believe this land is free, come on take a knee with me
Seen you meet the baker man/Talking bout your wedding plan
Had your fiancé in hand/Two men finally free
Heard the baker man’s disfavor/Love like yours ain’t worth his labor
What happened to love thy neighbor?/Take a Knee with me
Take a knee, take a knee, take a knee with me, everybody take a knee with me
If you believe this land is free, come on take a knee with me
“Stand back up” you hear ‘em scream/“That’s disrespect! Can’t you see?!”
“Them soldiers died, now on your feet”/They say to make you weak
But I seen a tear drop from your eyes/Thinking about the sacrifice
All the men who gave their lives/So you could take a knee
Take a knee, take a knee, take a knee with me, everybody take a knee with me
If you believe this land is free, come on take a knee with me
Speed hosts the next installment of his “Signs and Songs” Americana music series at the American Sign Museum on Oct. 19 with jug-band greats Cincinnati Dancing Pigs. Tickets are available here.
Here is a short documentary about the series:
This article appears in Sep 19-26, 2018.