I bought Chickenfoot's second album,
Chickenfoot III, when it first came out. For whatever reason I never got around to listening to it. As a matter of fact I had forgotten that I bought the album until I was going through my iPod the other day. I came across the song "Three and a Half Letters" which is a very powerful track about the jobs situation today.
Sammy Hagar and Joe Satriani were interviewed about why they wrote this powerful song:
Carter (the band's manager) had been asking Sam (Hagar) to write a topical song about the economic situation. 'I need a job' was the line that was being used...Sam started going through letters that he had received from fans, and a lot of them were pretty desperate.
They are not kidding when they say the letters are
desperate:
I'm 37 years old
Married to my childhood sweetheart
Two beautiful girls, two and a half and four
Worked nine years at the plant where my father worked
And his father before him
[...]
Can you help, brother?
Can you help?
At the end of each of Hagar's three virtually spoken parts he starts screaming, "I need a job" as the rest of the band hammer on their instruments. Each verse of the song becomes more emotional as he reads different letters from people who have mailed Sammy Hagar letters asking, begging, for help.
When Hagar was first approached to write this song, according to published reports, he thought the idea sounded like something you find in the country genre of music.
Then came the letter from a soldier who had just returned from Afghanistan...and the song took on a life of its own. Hagar, who is known for his support of the military, knew he had to write this number.
I just returned from Afghanistan
Spent four years in the military service
I'm 24, strong and I can't find work in my hometown
I'm married with one beautiful son
Seven months old today
Never had a chance to buy a home
Can't afford the apartment we've been living in
Moving in with Debbie's parents, whose home is now in foreclosure
If the first three verses/letters do not impact you in any way the finality desperation of the final verse/letter will. Only one sentence of the letter is used in the song...it is the only sentence needed.
And the last letter said:
I'm nine years old and homeless.
Fuck!
Nine years old and homeless ... that is something that should never be in the United States of America.