Adam Olson of Giantslayer Records & Publishing sent Sprawl-Busters the following lyrics this week from a new song by Danny Green. Here are the lyrics, followed by excerpts from Danny Green’s account of the song itself:
“Martin Leedy”
My name’s Martin Leedy, I was born in this town
I live a half a mile from where you plan on breakin’ ground
I’ve been sittin’ here quiet all night in my seat
While you high falutin’ lawyers tell us what this town needs
Mister, let me make myself perfectly clear
We don’t want another Walmart here
That land you say you’re buyin’ that ain’t worth a dime
Was an 80 acre farm of real good friend of mine
Till you sent those jobs to China, and drove up the price of wheat
He lost it pennies on the dollar tryin’ to make ends meet
He told me to tell you ‘for he died last year
We don’t want another Walmart here
We’ve got Earl’s discount grocery store
They’ve been here 40 years, we want to keep ’em 40 more
Hank’s Hardware and Betty’s bakery shop
And a half a dozen other little Mom and Pops
If we don’t want to lose everything we hold dear
We don’t want another Walmart here
Last summer down in Dixon, you put one up there
Now there’s a for-sale sign in every window at the square
Hey I’m the kind of man who likes a deal any day
But not at the price that you’re makin’ folks pay
You can take your bargain bin and stick it in your ear
We don’t want another Walmart here
Spoken: Well I was sittin’ in the backrow of that ol’ meeting hall
When my grandpa finished speaking, and sat down in his overalls
It started as a whisper, then people everywhere
Started yellin’ ‘that’s right Leedy’, comin’ up out of their chairs
As that meeting was adjourned, everybody stood and cheered
‘We don’t want another Walmart here’
Danny Green writes, “. I had no idea what the story was about. Literally. But in a few lines, I realized that this guy was angry and was standing in a room or meeting hall speaking his peace. I didn’t know what he was angry about or who he was angry with. I thought maybe it was about the war or about politics… until I got to the line… “Mister, let me make myself perfectly clear… “, then it hit me: “We don’t want another Wal-Mart here.” I personally had never really had much of an opinion on this subject, so I was surprised and excited to find out that that was what the song was going to be about. (I’m like most people; I kind of know a little bit about the negative effect that Wal-Marts are having on small businesses and little towns. I hear that there’s health care issues, but for the most part, I’m like a lot of Americans. I may have some questions, but the bottom line is they’re cheaper and a big store makes shopping easier… so it’s usually where my family and I go to buy our “stuff.”) I continued writing and letting the story unfold… smiling and giggling to myself as Martin Leedy kept firing away at those lawyers and getting his whole town, and me, fired up right along side him… Over the next month or so I spent a lot of time thinking about the song and the dilemma that came with it. The problem was that I knew no one was going to record the song even if they wanted to because their record company would never let them. I also knew that the majority of all Country records are sold in Wal-Mart stores. And no major record company would risk losing Wal-Mart’s business, whether the song was good or not. That problem is what intrigued me most about the song… still is.”
To hear “Martin Leedy”, go to http://www.giantslayerrecords.com/. To hear another anti-Wal-Mart, see the story above.
