You’ve gotta go all in, SINGLE: JESS WILLIAMSON – “Snake Song” [‘Heart Song’]
Jess Williamson – Heart Song is available @ Apple Music.
by Walter Price
Unfortunately, after a quick survey of friends, I was saddened by the fact that not many remember the name, Karen Silkwood. A pioneering union organizer, an activist who, in the early part of the 1970s, took on the Kerr-McGee Corporation in an effort to help regulate and bring forth saftey issues. Her plight was shrouded in controversy and, ultimately, her death in a mysterious car accident. An accident that occurred, allegedly, while Silkwood was on her way to meet a New York Times journalist, with a bundle of damning company documents in hand.
In a haunting ode to this nearly forgotten hero of worker’s rights, Austin singer-songer Jess Williamson’s “Snake Song” is an impassioned monument.
Do you know the stakes are the snakes of comfort?
And do you know the power of your fear?
Well, there is no one to take care of you
There is no on but you
And you gotta go all in and alone
You’ve gotta go all in
While Williamson has performed varied textured incarnations of the track over the years, one of the strongest is the version from the ‘Heart Song’ album. Listen to it and watch a special Jam In The Van performance below.
This message of empowerment will never waiver as it is even more weighty today.
JESS WILLIAMSON SNAKE SONG
Producer – Erik Wofford
Produced/Engineered @ Cacophony Recorders
Mixed – Jackpot! Recording Studio
Arranged By – Jess Williamson, Jesse Kees, Shane Renfro, Andrew Stevens
Artist photo via Facebook
Live video via Jam In The Van
bandcamp / website / instagram