NOTE: THIS TRACK HASN'T BEEN MASTERED YET, AND SO YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR SPEAKERS UP A BIT.

Two things caused me to write this song one Saturday in the middle of this March: 1) I saw the coverage of the shameful ambush by Trump/Vance of the Ukrainian president in the Oval Office; 2) immediately after than, I watched the new Dylan movie "A Complete Unknown." I don't think any songwriter could do those two things, and not immediately write something that tries to matter.

So this was what I wrote......I wanted it to have that immediacy of some of Dylan's mid-60s material, where evidently he would be burning with a song idea, grab the first musicians he could find and drag them into the studio and lay down the song in one take, rough or not.

Special thanks to my Canadian friend Ron Van Dyke for laying down some Zimmerman-like harmonica on this song!

Cut Through This Web (© 2025 Walter Ehresman)

We’ve sure hit our quota of shameful displays;

It’s more than a man can keep up with these days;

It’s like there’s a veil that confuses some eyes,

and squeezes their spleens ‘til the damn things run dry.

[chorus]

But we’ll stand up this time, ‘cause if not now—when?

To delay leaves us nothing to rebuild again;

Open the floodgates, let truth flood the zone;

You don’t have to cut through this web all alone.

My marrow is sick with these poisonous lies,

designed to dispirit and infantilize;

No “profiles in courage” as their reps go along—

just Rule By The Sword for a dream that’s gone wrong.

I’ve learned in this life there will always be those

who would sell their own mothers for a rich set of clothes;

They slot in like shark’s teeth if the front one should fall,

with an endless supply of no conscience at all.

We see many paths that let evil run free—

the grip of inertia, greed and bigotry;

The ignorance willful, the meanness laid bare;

And that selfish obsession that clings to the air.

Walter Ehresman: vocals; acoustic archtop guitar; synth bass. Special guest: Ron Van Dyke: harmonica.

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p. 2025 Walter Ehresman. Snipe Bog Records. All rights reserved.