The Lord is my Shepherd

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

Track 6 from Smokin’ Joe Cotton, The Blues'll Never Be The Same.

“I've listened to the church,

I've seen the devil,

but I know that the devil is you and me.”

Joe Cotton is around eighty years old now, looking back across a lifetime shaped by music, faith, experience and change.

He remembers the church of his childhood and the lessons he was taught. But he also remembers the world beyond its doors — a world in which faith and compassion could exist alongside segregation, prejudice and inequality.

In The Lord Is My Shepherd, Joe does not pretend to have found all the answers.

Instead, an old bluesman looks back at the things he has witnessed and arrives at a characteristically simple conclusion: perhaps good and evil were never as easy to separate as he was once taught.

CONTENT NOTE

The Lord Is My Shepherd contains language relating to racism, segregation and prejudice that some listeners may find confronting or offensive.

This language is used within the context of a fictional character reflecting on the discrimination and inequality of his lifetime. Its inclusion is not intended to endorse or normalise those attitudes, but to confront the prejudice being questioned within the song.

Smokin’ Joe Cotton is a work of historical musical fiction. Its characters and narrative are fictional, set against real periods of migration, segregation and cultural change. The album draws inspiration from African American blues and gospel traditions and encounters spiritual beliefs and traditions beyond Joe’s own musical journey. The Rock and Roll Rewind Project does not attempt to speak for those lived experiences. Through original music and storytelling, the project seeks to acknowledge, celebrate and explore the people, creativity and cultural influences behind the music.

Your download includes:

The Lord Is My Shepherd in high-quality MP3 format,

Official Track 6 artwork,

Lyrics,

and a Track Welcome Read Me.

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