Andy and Renee + Hard Rain

Free Bird
(© James Vermilya)
“It all seems to boil down to that one word…or is it two?”
Go to the poll on our website at www.andyandrenee.com to weigh in.

Well my momma always told me: “Someday son, you’ll go far”
As you can see she was right, I’m on stage in this bar.
I aspire to be an artist but in the meantime I’d like to eat dinner.
But there come those moments in every bar musician’s life
When he wonders why he’s doin’ it every Saturday night
And those moments come to me
Courtesy… of a man… by the name….. of Lynyrd.

It was a pretty tough crowd at the Swallows Inn
But we were winnin’ them over and they were startin’ to grin
And even a big mean biker-lookin’ fellow comes up to me and says,
“You guys are the best band we’ve heard!”
So we dropped our defenses and we rocked with pride
And by the end of the set we had ‘em on our side
‘Till somebody had to spoil it all by yellin’ out “Free Bird!”

We didn’t know that song, so we tried to play it off
Meanwhile our drummer mutters something 'bout a “Dummkopf”
And someone else hears him and asks,
“Hey what you guys got against Skynyrd?
Now I’ll tell you what, they’re an American band
I saw you pansies drive up in your lily-white van
But this is our bar here, and G-d damn it, we wanna hear Free Bird!”

“Free Bird!” - They yelled it all night long
“Free Bird!” - Man, I resent that song
No matter what else you play, it all seems to boil down to that one word (or is it two?)
“Free Bird!” -- Don’t say “I’m sorry man” cause
“Free Bird!” - They’ll take their rebel stand
No matter where you go, someone’s always gotta yell out:
“Free Bird!”

Now, at the Swallows Inn they don’t mess around
So we knew we’d better do their song or leave town
‘Cause we had three more long sets to go, and we hadn’t been paid yet
So we huddled ‘round the jukebox during the break
Wrote down the chords and the words as if our lives were at stake
‘Cause sometimes it’s the things you don’t do
You learn to regret

We worked harder in ten minutes to learn that song
Than we had in rehearsals all year long
So like a hot babe with the goods we decided to tease ‘em
And it got pretty scary in there for a while, but we held our ground
And we just had to smile as we taunted them one more time before we appeased them

Finally, Andy yells out (in his Canadian drawl)
“Now I know what you want, but it’ll cost y’all
So fill up that tip jar there, and while you’re at it,
Bring the boys some beer"
So they filled up that jar and our beer mugs too
And that tension kinda puckered like a bubblin’ stew
Until he shouted out, just like on the live version (y’all know the live version):
“What song is it…you wanna hear?”
“Free Bird”
“What”
“Free Bird”
“I can’t hearrr yewww.”

Vocals: Renee & Andy
Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Piano & Organ: Andy
Electric Guitar, Pedal Steel, Bass: Marty
Drums: Edoardo Tancredi
Drunken Bar Patrons: New Hard Rain Singers