On Tyranny Exclusive: Texas’ Jim Ward Gets Emotional at Sparta Concert While Addressing Lone Star State Turning Blue
As any fan of Jim Ward’s rock trio Sparta or his former band At the Drive-In can attest, the guitarist/vocalist almost always keeps his stage banter to a minimum when performing in concert. He appeared to stick to his tradition during Sparta’s Friday night concert at Neurolux in Boise – until the last 10 minutes of the show.
After only uttering a brief “thanks” once or twice during the first dozen songs of the set, Ward paused at the mic stand before embarking upon the next tune.
Paraphrasing Ward’s words, he meekly said, “I want to address something,” to a captive crowd that was clearly unsure what he would utter next. “I grew up in a town in West Texas where, if you didn’t go to college, you were [essentially destined to a miserable life]. I wanted to see the world, so I did everything I could to join a band. I did, and I saw the world. I was able to do that in America, but I’m not sure I could have in other countries.”
He continued, starting to get emotional as he said, “I love America.” He remarked that he wished he had brought the Texas state flag on tour to have onstage while Sparta performed their set. “Texans are independent. We are the only state that can secede from the country.”
Ward then drilled down to specifics, commenting on the historic blue wave that resulted in Democrats’ sweeping victories throughout the state of Texas during the Tuesday midterms, winning a superabundance of seats in the local, state and federal government for the first time in many, many decades.
“Sanity prevailed,” Ward said, as the audience – which resides in Idaho, an even redder state than Texas – cheered him on and nary an attendee was spotted walking out of the venue in protest. “[Senator-elect James] Talarico is a decent person. [Governor-elect Maria] Hinojosa, who I’ve met before, is a decent person. Now we can hold [the Republicans] accountable.”
Seeming to choke back tears, he concluded: “At the end of the day, love is going to win – and we’ll all be the better for it. So we’re going to play you a love song.”
With that, and with smiles visible even in the darkened club, Sparta launched into their penultimate song of the night, “Shimmer.”
Here are the lyrics to the song:
Before you, I couldn’t breathe
I couldn’t stand on my two feet
Before you, I couldn’t feel anything
A part of a puzzle that couldn’t be seen.
I stood alone, a grey stone wall
In a field exploding with color
Then you came along, opened my eyes
And changed this forever
Before you, I couldn’t see
I couldn’t feel the sun on me
Before you, the music seemed meaningless
A soundtrack unplayed
A lifetime of loneliness
And I stood alone, a grey stone wall
In a field exploding with color
Thеn you came along, opened my еyes
And changed this forever
And I couldn’t believe
That I, I could be seen
And I, I couldn’t breathe
And I, I couldn’t breathe
And I, I couldn’t breathe
Go here for more installments of On Tyranny, an ongoing series in which musicians address Authoritarian America.
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