The Ballad of Davids Nelson
Single CD release, 7.01.03
Written by Patrick Short and Amy Gray, BMI
Based on an Oregonian column by Margie Boulé
The Ballad of Davids Nelson
(Single, 2003)
René Berblinger: mandolin
John Breen: hand drum
Amy Gray: backing vocals
Bill Haas: guitar
David Levesque: violin
Patrick Short: piano, bass, drum program and lead vocal
The Ballad of Davids Nelson – Full Version (4.3 MB .mp3)
The Ballad of Davids Nelson – Sample Excerpt (800 KB .mp3)
The story behind the song:
April, 2004 A real David Nelson has quoted our song in his statement as a plaintiff in the ACLU lawsuit over the “No Fly List”. Read it on the ACLU Website.
7.15.03: The Ballad of Davids Nelson was used in the national PBS show, Flashpoints USA, with Bryant Gumbel and Gwen Ifill. The song bumpered into a segment on the David Nelson story. Wicked cool! http://www.pbs.org/flashpointsusa/20030715/
6.21.03: We’ve recorded and mixed The Ballad of Davids Nelson, a Patrick and Amy penned song about one small corner of the state of the nation. Let us know if you’ve heard it anywhere. We think it’s topical, and not in the ointment way of thinking. This is the first time we’ve played a song live before recording it. Davd Levesque left his cruise ship at Astoria, drove two hours, recorded his violin part and drove back to the ship. That’s dedication!
Ballad of Davids Nelson – lyrics
They call me David Nelson and my name has been besmirched
When I fly across my country I will always be strip-searched
Somewhere a David Nelson is allegedly quite mean
And the TSA ain’t able to declare my person clean
Search me, you can search me
But if you’re searching me, who is getting off free?
Who is getting off free?
My TV father Ozzie’s honored in my middle name
but the jihad David Nelson didn’t bother with the same
So every David Nelson’s treated guilty every day
You reckon old John Ashcroft wants it any other way
repeat chorus
I missed my flight from Texas and I missed my flight to Spain
You’d think my second cousin was a Tikrit named Hussein
I’m scrutinized and sanitized by security and then
The next time that I fly, they got to do it all again
I flew United Airlines from Seattle to LA
They asked me for my passport in a threatening kind of way
I didn’t know I needed it to fly domestically
You reckon old John Ashcroft wants us feeling not so free?
repeat chorus
If it’s in the old computer, then, by God it must be true
The boys suspect your actions, no matter what you do
You’re on the list on stuck there, forever and a day
A dead man beat John Ashcroft and he gets us back this way
repeat chorus
© 2003 Amy Lynn Gray and Patrick Short, BMI
Patrick Short's Extended Family 