I wrote this song for the songwriter's challenge a couple of years ago, and I loved the lyrics, but hated the way I played the guitar in the original.
I had listened to it a few times recently, and decided that the song needed a makeover.
I have written songs that I don't like enough to play all the time. If I never just play the song out of love, then the song never evolves. Playing a song over a number of years allows you to find counter melodies, new lyrics, and new ways to say the things in the song.
It happened during the songwriter's challenge that I would write the song, and perform it before the song had a chance to grow. Version 1.0 was shared, and that was it.
This is version 2.0 of Because we can. I like this version way more than the original, and I like it enough to just pick up the guitar and play it, so it will continue to evolve.
Full Lyrics:
We've heard you ask, just why we do
all the things we do to you
Meaning is so hard to find
when to our nature you're truly blind
In Florida we can blend in with the Floridans
We'll grab on your cows and take their sensory organs
We'll grab on you while you sleep
install a microchip you can keep
and turn invisible when we creep
Because we can
Because we can
that's really the truth about why we do it
Because we can
we'd hate for you to misconstrue it
It's not such a bad agenda
We're not trying to stop or upend ya
Although we'll put your DNA in a blenda
There's no need for to be such a bunch of spazzes
When Rowdy Roddy Piper gets you to put on the glasses
We'll be bedding all of your ladies
Making half us half you babies
Then we'll warp back to the Pleiades
Because we can
Because we can
that's really the truth about why we do it
Because we can
we'd hate for you to misconstrue it
It's not such a bad agenda
We're not trying to stop or upend ya
We can be just as sweet as Splenda
Because we can
It's not such a bad agenda
we're not trying to screw or suspend ya
But we'll torture and then we'll befriend ya
Because we can
I wonder if the other songwriters from the challenge still play those songs...
There are 2 that I will never play again, but 5 that I really like.
It would be interesting to hear the modern versions of the songs from the other writers.