Songs inspired by Matthew Shepard
By Leslie Simon
After the murder of Matthew Shepard rocked Laramie, Wyoming, and subsequently the nation, there was an outpouring of songs influenced by the tragic event. Particularly poignant are the heartfelt songs written by LGBTQIA+ musicians. Listen and read some lyrics below of songs written about Matthew Shepard both directly and indirectly. The Laramie Project plays at the Arvada Center September 29 - November 5: The Laramie Project event page
Melissa Etheridge “Scarecrow” Showers of your crimson blood Seep into a nation calling up a flood Of narrow minds who legislate Thinly veiled intolerance Bigotry and hate But they tortured and burned you They beat you and they tied you They left you cold and breathing For love they crucified you I can't forget hard as I try This silhouette against the sky Scarecrow crying Waiting to die wondering why Scarecrow trying Angels will hold carry your soul away This was our brother This was our son This shepherd young and mild This unassuming one We all gasp this can't happen here We're all much too civilized Where can these monsters hide But they are knocking on our front door They're rocking in our cradles They're preaching in our churches And eating at our tables I search my soul My heart and in my mind To try and find forgiveness This is someone child With pain unreconciled Filled up with father's hate Mother's neglect I can forgive But I will not forget Scarecrow crying Waiting to die wondering why Scarecrow trying Rising above all in the name of love
Janis Ian “Matthew” Footsteps on gravel at the neighborhood bar Things start to unravel, then they go too far The sound of pain written on the wind Fades to grey and then goes dim A boy is tied to a barbed wire fence For the crows to ride and the claws to clench For the sweet bouquet of blood and bone To undermine the scent of collegiate cologne What makes a man a man? The cut of a coat, the hint of a tan? It's not who you love, but whether you can What makes a man a man? Who did he harm, what was the crime? Did he walk too lightly, did he seem too shy? Did he make them wonder deep inside? Did they feel like real men when he died? Did the waning moon look down from on high? Did the twinkling stars try to catch his eye? Did the wind caress his flesh and bone? Did they leave him there to die alone? What makes a man a man? The cut of a coat, the hint of a tan? It's not who you love, but whether you can What makes a man a man Now the stars are nailed to an empty sky The moon is pinned like a butterfly And I'm afraid to shine too bright Since the day they took his life So mothers, teach your children this Don't overreach, don't run the risk Hide in the shadows, don't expect Your good heart to save your neck What makes a man a man? The cut of a coat, the hint of a tan? It's not who you love, but whether you can What makes a man a man?
Neutral Milk Hotel "Little Birds" Little birds born without a mother or a father I can feel their feathers forming in the running water Now there is another in the middle of my mouth A hundred altogether inside of me now Little birds, little birds, come into my body Mother, they're within me every moment I'm awaking Bodies multiplying till they finally overtake me Put your ears up to my mouth and you can hear them singing Put your hands within me and you'll know what I am feeling I just want to swallow up and promise to protect them Daddy, come towards me, I could see his hands are shaking Put his hands against me, he could feel their bodies breaking Pushed me to the floor and put his hands up for a beating "I don't want to hear it anymore" he kept repeating "Do you really want the burning hell to come and get you?" "Did you see the burning hell? It took your baby brother? Did you see how far he fell and how he made us suffer? Another boy in town at night, he took him for his lover And deep in sin they held each other So I took a hammer, nearly beat his little brains in Knowing God in heaven no could never could forgive him So I took a hammer, nearly beat his little brains in" Little boy born without a mother or a father Taken to the river and then pushed into the water And the priests are singing that the hell was getting hotter La, la-la la la Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the only ones to save him From the thing he loves the most but we know will betray him Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the only ones to save him And here beneath the water I can see how the light Distorts so strange And this is how I would like to leave my body And start again
Elton John "American Triangle" Seen him playing in his backyard Young boy just starting out So much history in this landscape So much confusion, so much doubt Been there drinking on that front porch Angry kids, mean and dumb Looks like a painting, that blue skyline God hates f*gs where we come from 'Western skies' don't make it right 'Home of the brave' don't make no sense I've seen a scarecrow wrapped in wire Left to die on a high ridge fence It's a cold, cold wind It's a cold, cold wind It's a cold wind blowing, Wyoming See two coyotes run down a deer Hate what we don't understand You pioneers give us your children But it's your blood that stains their hands Somewhere that road forks up ahead To ignorance and innocence Three lives drift on different winds Two lives ruined, one life spent