Witness

Album: Witness (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The title track of Benjamin Booker's Witness album, this is darker in tone than the other songs on the record. "Witness" asks two questions I think every person in America needs to ask," Booker said. "'Am I going to be a Witness?' and in today's world, 'Is that enough?'"
  • Booker told The Independent that despite the song's earnest message, he made sure it's not "preachy." He explained:

    "I don't think you can beat people over the head with that kind of stuff. I like people like Bruce Springsteen – you listen to 'Born In The U.S.A.' and it's got this party vibe but when you listen to the lyrics it's actually really dark. It's important to me for a song to be more than the vibe. Maybe you'll listen to the album 20 times and just dance, but on the 21st listen they'll start to think what the song is actually about."
  • The song features soul and gospel legend Mavis Staples. "We knew we wanted a strong female vocal [on this track], and we thought, 'Who else would be better than Mavis'?" Booker recalled to Billboard magazine.
  • Staples recorded her portion in her hometown of Chicago. "She's someone who was very strongly involved in the Civil Rights Movement in the '60s," explained Booker. "So I thought it would be nice to connect the generations, and point people towards someone who has been in [that] place before, and did something about it."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Annie Haslam of Renaissance

Annie Haslam of RenaissanceSongwriter Interviews

The 5-octave voice of the classical rock band Renaissance, Annie is big on creative expression. In this talk, she covers Roy Wood, the history of the band, and where all the money went in the '70s.

Mark Arm of Mudhoney

Mark Arm of MudhoneySongwriter Interviews

When he was asked to write a song for the Singles soundtrack, Mark thought the Seattle grunge scene was already overblown, so that's what he wrote about.

Petula Clark

Petula ClarkSongwriter Interviews

Petula talks about her hits "Downtown" and "Don't Sleep In The Subway," and explains her Michael Jackson connection.

80s Music Quiz 1

80s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

MTV, a popular TV theme song and Madonna all show up in this '80s music quiz.

Jack Blades of Night Ranger and Damn Yankees

Jack Blades of Night Ranger and Damn YankeesSongwriter Interviews

Revisit the awesome glory of Night Ranger and Damn Yankees: cheesily-acted videos, catchy guitar licks, long hair, and lyrics that are just plain relatable.

Jonathan Cain of Journey

Jonathan Cain of JourneySongwriter Interviews

Cain talks about the divine inspirations for "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Faithfully."