The Moon & The Scarecrow — Brother Dege

#365Songs: March 19

Almost every post in this series is a joy to write.

Not this one.

Brother Dege passed away on March 8. It was revealed today that he took his own life.

If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

The life and art of Brother Dege is a story of American music. Of storytelling. Of the power of a guitar, a voice, a lyric, a song.

It’s not always a happy story. This country does not prize its troubadours. The system is wickedly rigged against everyone who treads this path.

In a country built on a mythology of independence, the independent artist is punished at every step, in every way. From taxes and healthcare to respect and recognition.

I make no claims on knowing why Brother Dege left the way he did. But I know far too much about the battle he waged while he was alive.

Armed with a thesaurus, a resonator, and a deep belief in the power of story to reveal the stories of those who go without and still get by, Brother Dege emerged from—and has now returned to—the linage that gave us everyone from Townes Van Zandt and Chris Whitley to Nelson Algren and Charles Bukowski.

If his name sounds familiar to, I might be because of Django Unchained. His song “Too Old To Die Young” was a highlight of the soundtrack, and it brought Brother Dege some hard-earned attention, and a Grammy nomination to boot.

But that was 2012. Twelve years ago. A Grammy nomination only keeps food on the table for so long.

Artists like Brother Dege sing us the stories that help us understand the pain and confusion of life on the edges. The anger, the sadness, the madness, the fear. The glory and the misery. The perseverance in the face of indifference. The ruin under the weight of the waiting.

Troubadours like Brother Dege breathe in our lives for us, and exhale them in the form of stories we can absorb and understand.

They live our lives for us, so they can explain them to us.

It’s a terrible burden sometimes, and sometimes, you have to remember it’s not always you they’re talking about, after all.

I only met Brother Dege in person once, and we connected over social only infrequently. I got him a solo acoustic show once in Northern California at a little spot I was booking, and I was proud as hell about that. I still am. And he was brilliant.

In a way, meeting him once was enough. I know a brother when I see one. I know a brother when I hear one.

Brother Dege was a brother.

Deep bows, Brother Dege. Deep bows.

THE MOON & THE SCARECROW
I got to hear her cry
I got to hear my angel calling
Such a long goodbye
(Hope the sound to break me)
It all comes down
When you’re lost in the middle in a bad way
And broken like an old vow

But don’t cry for me, baby
We’re all out here alone
Who even know where
Our souls are born
Or where they may be going
From on high to below
With the moon and the scarecrow
But don’t let it get you down
With the Moon & the Scarecrow
Don’t let it get you down

Got to hear her cry
Got to hear my angel calling
And give a long sigh
(the sound may shake me)

They put the old man down
And they cried to the lord with a fury
Only flesh & bone will allow

But don’t cry for me, baby
We’re all out here alone
Who even know where
Our souls are born
Or where they may be going
From on high to below
With the moon and the scarecrow
But don’t let it get you down
With the Moon & the Scarecrow
Don’t let it get you down
With the Moon & the Scarecrow
And if truth ever be told
Will we go mad?
With the Moon & the Scarecrow
The Moon & the Scarecrow
In the Farmer’s Almanac
I saw the signs

I split my palm
Against his whispering cheek
Down in a dark cove
I fasted with the scarecrows
And the whole town
Ran with the killers and cutters
And got down
Double did my time in a cold hole
Right where the law man caught me
In the dark glow
Then I hear my song
And I want more
If you keep on coming
You gonna get shown
Get him get him,
Before I forget them
And ditch them
Disempowered and pulling the trigger
A riddle
I’m a skinny chicken
My mind my legs my whole
Head’s on fire
Along the way
Skull jammed it’s doomed and damned
you a real man?
Like a child that’s born & raised & hazed
And kicked around by maggots
And now I’m crazy
Do I live or die
Along the way
With the Moon & the Scarecrow

~

Start following the #365Songs playlist today, and listen to each new song with each new article. “The Moon & The Scarecrow” by Brother Dege is Song #79.