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About a year ago, on a routine walk through the old suburb in Salem, VA, I stopped to observe one of those black plastic garden owls people stick up to scare away garden pests including smaller birds, tiny mammals, ground hogs, rabbits and starving force fields. I thought a song from the point of view of this slightly faded sentinel, already cracking a bit from the sun and heat, might be fun to write. It had a different, too-obvious second section, which I threw out when I suddenly came up with a new one. The new chorus is the true glory of the song. It came very quickly and I added some of the words from abandoned verses.

lyrics

I am the black owl/ they don’t get past me
I sit forever the king of all I see
You plant your garden, but its safety’s up to me
I am the black owl/ they don’t get past me

I am a stand-in for the real thing
Just like a scarecrow/ we really make ‘em scream
Look at your harvest! A suburban farmer’s dream
I am the black owl/ they don’t get past me


Just one look at me and the field mice all flee back under the mass-produced shed
Withered stalks of corn, tomato loss forlorn / Am I to blame for this mess?

Though I am mighty I’m cracking in the sun
Soon I will splinter/ My workin’ days are done
When talking about me be sure to say I’ve won
I am the black owl (line ends here)


But I am still here projecting wild fear frightening your tiniest foes
Just one look at me and the field mice all flee (back under the mass-produced shed)

credits

from Songs from the Old House​/​MADRID, released August 1, 2018
Acoustic Guitar and Lead Vocals: Scott Brookman
Recorded “live” to smashed Samsung cell phone as .mp4 video file. No edits. Location: Empty Closet in Empty Bedroom in the Old House, Salem, VA. 18 June, 2018

Yani Martinelli: lovely harmony vocals, various percussion. Location:Samuel Gómez Batres' wooden house in Boadilla, Madrid.
July 18 and 20, 2018

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