I’ve been so fortunate to find musical kin in the folk and singer/songwriter world over the past couple of years. The Kerrville Folk Festival, Folk Alliance conferences, and acoustic listening rooms are places where I’ve felt so welcome and appreciated as I’ve embarked on this experiment that mixes drag, songwriting, and spirituality. I’m so inspired by people who cultivate and care for this time-honored craft of songwriting, and this song is my homage to the song itself. I wrote my first one when I was 9 years old, and the art form hasn’t failed me yet. It’s always where I go when I need to make sense of the world, put the pieces together, and find hope. Songs are my sacred space, and Do It for the Song serves as a sort of invocation at the beginning of CHURCH: this is why we’re here, hun. Kneel at the altar, get baptized in the beauty of the song.
Lyrics
I don’t do it for the rush
I’m not tortured by a wild, insatiable lust
I’m not chasing a thrill
It’s not a hole I need to fill
I don’t do it for the rush
I ain’t in it for the praise
I’m not exchanging my art for accolades
Be it critical or kind
The feedback’s never on my mind
I ain’t in it for the praise
I do it for the song
The way a melody can make an orphaned soul belong
A broken heart that is stirred
The simple act of being heard
I do it for the song
I don’t do it for the cash
I was writing long before I ever had a smash
Hit me with full body chills
It don’t gotta pay the bills
I don’t do it for the cash
It ain’t about getting famous
After I’m gone it won’t matter if they knew what my name was
I know what is real
How the music makes me feel
It ain’t about getting famous
I do it for the song
The only way I know to right what has all gone wrong
Better than a battle cry
Lose your weapon and live by
The healing power of a song
I ain’t writing for the radio
Not gonna lie, I kinda hope they play it though
Cause you might think I’m a star
If this came on in your car
I hope they play this on the radio
I still do it for the song
Nothing better than a whole room singing along
Forget the after and before
Baby, nothing matters more
To me than a song
I do it for the song
All I want is for the whole world to sing along
Leave your trouble at the door
Baby, nothing matters more
To me than a song
Forget the after and before
Baby, nothing matters more
To me than a song