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Dennis

by Dean Batten

/

about

I was playing drums for a friend's project on a one-off show in Vegas back before Covid. After the set, a tall guy came up and said he liked my playing.
We stood outside for a while, chatting about life and music and he gave me the Cliff's Notes of his very wild life's story. Short version, he was a survivor of a suicide attempt by firearm and was partially paralyzed.

I asked if I could write a song about him, and he said yes.
This is the song that came out.

lyrics

The television's on
The phone is off the hook
Through the cigarettes and coke
Don't know where to look

You were in school when mama died
Lord knows how your mama tried
Even if she failed at certain times
She did her best to raise you right

Father, father, where are you going?
Do not walk so fast
If you leave now, your little boy,
Your little boy will be lost
Little boy is lost

Dennis, I'm glad that you survived
Dennis, I'm glad that you survived
Dennis, I'm glad that you survived
Dennis, I'm glad that you survived

Human folks are hard and mean
At-the-time or so-it-seemed
The only way to make it clean
Shoot for other pastures green

Blew a line and grabbed the grip
One way out now, let a rip
.38 Special didn't slip
But also didn't do the trick

Dennis, I'm glad that you survived
Dennis, I'm glad that you survived
Dennis, I'm glad that you survived
Dennis, I'm glad that you survived

Stuttered speech still erudite
Shivers home alone at night
Through the muzzle flash, he saw the light
Walking now is complicated
Not what he anticipated
But he found the strength, so so can I
So can I
Life is beautiful, life is meaningful, life is difficult
But that's the
Point
It's not the peak you seek to find
It's where you go along the climb
Along the climb

Dennis, I'm glad that you survived
Dennis, I'm glad that you survived
Dennis, I'm glad that you survived
Dennis, I'm glad that you survived

credits

released March 11, 2022
Written, recorded, mixed and produced by Dean Batten
Guitars, drums and vocals by Dean Batten
Bass by Chris Veilleux
Drums tracked at Dreamrack Studios in San Francisco, CA
Drum recordings engineered by Trent Berry
Mastered by Michael Mattice

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Dean Batten Daytona Beach, Florida

Often genre-bending, thought provoking and emotion stoking, Dean Batten's music is most concretely one thing: captivating.

Moving forward from his previous work, Dean has re-embraced the folk, early rock and country sounds of his childhood with 3 new albums: "Optimist Breakfast", an acoustic album; "Pessimist Lunch", a full band version with the same songs; and "Realist Supper", a live album. ... more

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