A dazzling burst of fresh folk, Frances Luke Accord’s “Thank You Derrick Watson” is a rollicking addition to any Autumn playlist paying tribute to the judge who blocked Trump’s Muslim travel ban.
“Thank You, Derrick Watson” – Frances Luke Accord
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Autumn has finally arrived in the US: People are going apple picking, drinking cider and pumpkin spice lattes, and turning over their closets to the fall collection. Like clockwork comes music to accompany the colorful season, today in the form of Frances Luke Accord’s breezy, heartwarming new single. A dazzling burst of fresh folk, “Thank You, Derrick Watson” is a rollicking addition to any Autumn playlist paying tribute to the judge who blocked Trump’s Muslim travel ban.
my mother brought me into this garden first
taught me to weed by working deep down in the earth
and while I was clutching dirt, I was struck, I was hurt:
all that grows so thirsts
once my father said he would read me to bed
worn down from the job he had to keep me fed
but I was too old and I, blushing red, yelled instead
never was the same ahead
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Thank You, Derrick Watson,” Frances Luke Accord’s latest single of 2019. Following the duo’s EP Silver & Gold released earlier this year, “Thank You, Derrick Watson” finds Nicholas Gunty and Brian Powers back in the fold with a delightful, expansive, and harmony-rich attitude. Their new song finds the Chicago-based pair singing a poetic tale of growth, discovery, and appreciation in tandem, whilst around them guitars glisten like red and yellow leaves on a tree.
now, every night I come to town
all I ever think about
are all the times I let you down
for all the times I let you down
thank you, Derrick Watson,
in a hundred years you’ll be read
for shade ‘neath and orange sun
with a mighty pen and a level head
and although it may be little praise,
my friends and I think you’re great
for what you’ve done today
The premise of this new song is quaint and easily accessible: The pair harken back to Simon & Garfunkel in their narrative voice, telling of the daily process and how an action had, for its moment in time, a recognizable and positive impact. “Thank you, Derrick Watson, in a hundred years you’ll be read for shade ‘neath and orange sun with a mighty pen and a level head,” the pair sing sweetly in a jubilant chorus. Largely apolitical, this song exists in dedication to the judge without diving too far into what Judge Watson wrote or did back in 2017.
now I spend most my time in this room, writing tunes
locked up in my point of view, feeling blue
but as soon as I put on my shoe
and walk outside, and I’m with you
that’s when I learn something new
At the same time, there is no masking the morals and principles “Thank You, Derrick Watson” upholds: “”In the face of an evolving world, there are those who see value in collective interdependence and there are those who do not,” Frances Luke Accord tell Atwood Magazine. “Watson is a model, a hero who fights on the side of inclusiveness and faith over greed and fear. Nothing could be more important to us now, both personally and collectively.”
Watson is a model, a hero who fights on the side of inclusiveness and faith over greed and fear. Nothing could be more important to us now, both personally and collectively.
What a shame, that inclusivity has seemingly become politicized; that the idea of sharing and brotherhood, a community that is greater than the sum of its parts, is now something to be debated, rather than celebrated and embraced. Perhaps it’s been this way for longer than we think, and now everyone’s feelings are simply more visible and out in the open; maybe it’s always been this polarized, and we just didn’t know it.
It didn’t feel that way in the past, but thankfully there are brave, emboldened folks like Judge Watson who continue to stand up to such malice, prejudice, isolationism and insular thinking every day. Our world isn’t perfect, but people are working to make it better still.
After all that, autumn has arrived and with it comes a delightful foray into gorgeous acoustic pastures. Stream Frances Luke Accord’s “Thank You, Derrick Watson” exclusively on Atwood Magazine!
still every morn I stumble through
a silver light so bright and true
’til it turns a-gray rain coming soon
yeah, turns a-gray rain coming soon
“Thank You, Derrick Watson” – Frances Luke Accord
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