In the preface to his play Man and Superman, George Bernard Shaw wrote the following:
The only real tragedy in life is the being used by personally minded men for purposes which you recognize to be base. All the rest is at worst mere misfortune or mortality: this alone is misery, slavery, hell on earth; and the revolt against it is the only force that offers a man’s work to the poor artist, whom our personally minded rich people would so willingly employ as pandar, buffoon, beauty monger, sentimentalizer and the like.
This refusal to be exploited by others is the theme of “This Is Not the Hill I Want to Die On,” the seventh authorized leak from my forthcoming solo album, My Name Is Will. Press play above and sing along:
I'm a soldier of love, not a soldier of fortune And love can't be conscripted as the means to every end I will not sacrifice myself on the altar of passion Unless the cause be one that reason can defend Even had I the strength of godlike Achilles I wouldn't waste it on a pyrrhic victory I will seek glory only if and when it should suit me To perish without purpose is no hero's destiny This is not the hill I want to die on And I won't saddle up for your campaign This is not a battle in which I choose to engage I can't believe I still have to explain I'm an army of one and an artist of war Serving at the command of a sacred inner light I may attack or retreat but I will never surrender Autonomy is the prize for which I pledge to fight This is not the hill I want to die on And I won't saddle up for your campaign This is not a battle in which I choose to engage I can't believe I still have to explain How could I contend over a straw or an eggshell Or risk life and limb for some empty trick of fame? Why should I spill my blood among the ranks of the foolish Or march like a berserker towards an everlasting shame? This is not the hill I want to die on And I won't saddle up for your campaign This is not a battle in which I choose to engage And I've no obligation to explain La la la la la la la la . . .
The track obviously echoes the Stones’ “Paint It Black” in some respects, but it may remind one of The Smiths as well. The scat singing at the end has received mixed reviews, but it felt right to me and I elected to keep it as is. What do you think, audiophile?
Looking forward to listening to the album in its entirety. Another cracking tune!