Download & Donate: Free Music, Help Japan

To keep people thinking and doing something about the tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, I’ve setup something I’m calling Download & Donate. The idea is this: download a free song of mine and then donate to a relief charity that’s working to put Japan back together. No catch. One act of good will to help inspire another act of good will.

1. Download

   Download “A Tragic Story” for FREE
   
   To get started, simply download the FREE MP3 of my song “A Tragic Story” by clicking the album cover. The ZIP file should begin downloading immediately. If not, right-click and save the file. Let me know if you have trouble downloading.

2. Donate

   Donate to Tsunami Relief

   Help our fellow humans in Japan by donating to one of the reliable charity/relief organizations listed on this page Google has compiled. The link will take you to http://www.google.com/tsunami_relief.html.

   Thank you for your donation!

The Tragic Story Behind “A Tragic Story”

In the days and weeks after Hurricane Katrina ripped up the southern states on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, many people were talking about what to do, what should’ve been done, and how they would have handled things differently. I overheard conversations and debates, in which both the victims and repairers of this tragic story were criticized for every decision, word, thought, and effort. From the safety of comfortable living rooms, self-righteous judgements were freely doled out by “armchair experts” watching the action unfold on the evening news via large screen televisions. Condescending words were spoken about the “foolish” residents that made their home below sea level in New Orleans, the “short-sighted” poor that didn’t prepare for such obvious disaster, the “disobedient” stranded that did not, could not, or would not evacuate, the “welfare hand out” dependent that had no family to turn to, and the “whiny” beggars that had lost everything. Harsh judgements were also placed upon the leaders at all levels of governance that suddenly found themselves at the helm of a rescue operation for one of the largest natural disasters the United States has ever faced. A hurricane had pummeled millions of our fellow citizens and we were kicking them while they were down. I felt ashamed to be an American.

Though the hurricane had died in August of 2005, just days after its own birth, the storm continued to rage on around me and within me. Out of this terrible noise of argument, bigotry, hatred, and judgment came the song, “A Tragic Story,” as featured on my debut EP Somewhere Between Nicaragua & New York.

At first, I resisted writing about these events. I’m terribly afraid of how others perceive me (a paralyzing character flaw that often impedes my forward progress). I feared I might write horrible lyrics that sounded sappy, opportunistic, topically trendy, or tragically ironic. (Maybe I did?) Multiple times I caught myself toying with a lyric or composing a melody in my head that somehow dealt with Hurricane Katrina, but every time I intentionally cast them back. It seemed that no matter how hard I fought the urge, the song kept fighting back.

On July 15^th of 2006, nearly a year after the hurricane, I could keep the song contained no longer and found myself writing the music and lyrics for “Katrina” (as the song was originally titled). Once I finally gave in to the process, the songwriting happened quickly. Below are the lyrics of that final struggle. You can listen to the track via this SoundCloud player as you read along.

“A Tragic Story”

by Scott Troyer, Copyright © 2006

Old faces, restless broken souls
All these old faces and young ones without homes

Though the waters rise and our spirits fall,
the Lord our God, He is watching over it all
and He’s watching us now.

We say,
“Oh, what a tragic story!
But only they can be blamed.
But oh, what a different song we should have sang
when the floodwaters came.”

Don’t wait to give them higher ground.
No, don’t you wait to feed their hungry mouths.

Though the waters rise and our spirits fall
the Lord our God, He is watching over it all
and He’s watching us now.

We say,
“Oh, what a tragic story!
But here’s what we would have done.
But oh, what a different song we will sing
when the floodwaters come.”

Rescue the tired, the sick and depressed.
Give them, give them your very best.

Though the waters rise and our spirits fall
the Lord our God, He is watching over it all
Though the waters rise and our spirits fail
the Lord our God, He is with us all the while
and He shall prevail.

I don’t know what you believe about God, whether you believe that He exists or not, gets involved in our lives or doesn’t. But I do know that we are all related (that’s Biblical and scientific), so it does us no good to stand by while our brothers and sisters struggle. My hope is that we move forward with humility, recognizing all human beings as people, that handed a different set of circumstances, could very well be us. Or as it has been said, so very poetically, many times before:

“There, but for the grace of God, go I.”

One day the waters will rise. One day the floods will come to us. Our troubles may not come in the form of a hurricane, but we are certain to face trials some day. I hope that when that day comes, someone will come and rescue me.

Thank you,

Scott