Anthony Joseph - Tony

Taken from the forthcoming album: "Rowing Up River To Get Our Names Back"
Out Feb.7th pre save here : https://idol-io.ffm.to/rowinguprivert...
Stream the single Tony : https://idol-io.ffm.to/tony

Lyrics
That night in Paris at La Belle villoise,
The master drummer was propulsive.
— with a skitter and a shudder
and a rattle of the snare.
As if a band of drummers
on brekete drums
were playing in a circle,
a cypher, a region.
It was a militant soundtrack
for rowing up river
to get our names back.
This is the ghost note
and the flam.
The drummer who flicks his wrist
and the fluttering
unfurls into islands.
Even the stick tips are speaking
a secret language.
This is the mystery note.
A paradiddle for Tony Allen
— a map of stars
to light the night path
through the desert.

In some far place
we are still riding through space,
still searching for Africa.
Still sending emissaries
still appearing to us now
as UFOs — afronauts.
They are wizards of sound,
manipulating the spaces
between time
with laughter
Someone like
Tony Oladipo Allen
— who always had a smile.
I stood backstage in Marseille
watching the drummer on the sly.
He was duplicitous. A conjure man
with seven hands swirling,
and yet aware of every nuance and spell.
So this is a poem for Tony Allen
— a praise poem, a plea for peace —
as if the band were swinging and singing the same hymn
We be too, we be too, we be too
— impertinent.

We be too, we be too
— impatient.
We be too, we be too,
— violent.
Ready to jump out bus an fight.
Ready to jump out car an’ fight.
Ready to fight to death tonight.
My brother, my sister.
Ready to throw we life away
like water.
Throw we life away
like it not precious,
like it not nothing.
We used to meet in Zurich.
We might’ve both been playing in Rome
We used to meet in Marseille
every summer.
And the drummer would call my name
across a hotel lobby
as if he hadn’t seen me for a long time.
He’d say, ‘Peace, brother’
And he always had a smile
for me.

Credits
Richard Spaven drums
Dave Okumu guitars, bass, programming, percussion, Fender Rhodes, background vocals
Aviram Barath Fender Rhodes, Moog
Eska Mtungwazi background vocals, vocal arrangement
Byron Wallen trumpet
James Wade Sired trombone
Colin Webster saxophone

Lyrics Anthony Joseph
Engineered by Nick Powell and Dave Okumu ‪@daveokumu6185‬
Mastered by Shawn Joseph - Optimum Mastering
Recorded at Unit 9