Tuesday May 11, 2021 “Diamond Studded Shoes” Yola

This tune is just darned good fun but it also carries a serious message.

Don’t get this confused with Paul Simon’s “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,” it is definitely not the same song or the same idea, except for the diamond studded shoe parts.

 Yola Quartey, famous enough to recently be known by only one name, Yola, has been playing and singing for years in a number of UK bands as well as performing solo, just her voice and her guitar. Then she came to the attention of Dan Auerbach the guitarist/singer/songwriter for the Black Keys in 2018 and he invited her to his Nashville studio to produce her debut solo album Walk Through Fire which would earn her six Grammy Nominations in 2020.

 Auerbach assembled an all star cast to write and record with Yola and the results are impressive.  In addition to being an exceptional musician Dan Auerbach has quite a resume of production credits which includes acts as diverse as the Pretenders, Lana Del Rey, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Marcus King, Cage the Elephant and many others.  And among his several awards Auerbach has three Grammys.

 Stay safe and well...and this lady can sing, check out some of her other tunes as well here.

Everybody's saying that it's gonna be alright

But I can't help but wonder

If it's gonna be on my dime

We are the poor ones

Rowing up against the tide

Burning our reserves of courage

And working just to make it alright

When we know it isn't

 We know it isn't, we know it isn't

We know it isn't, it ain't gonna turn out right

We know it isn't, we know it isn't

We know it isn't, that's why we gots to fight

 You and I are trying

But we don't get to decide

When the man comes for our paychecks

Don't you tell me it'll be alright

We aren't the rich ones

Some of us'll barely get by

They buy diamond studded shoes with our taxes

Anything to keep us divided, you know it isn't

 We know it isn't, we know it isn't

We know it isn't, it ain't gonna turn out right

We know it isn't, we know it isn't

We know it isn't, that's why we gots to

Fight, for the life and soul of the world we know

Fight, cause the promise is never gonna be enough

 Watching and waiting for answers

Hoping we might see the light

You beat it into us like a hammer

So don't you tell me it's gonna be alright

When we know it isn't

 We know it isn't, we know it isn't

We know it isn't, it ain't gonna turn out right

We know it isn't, we know it isn't

We know it isn't, that's why we gots to

Fight, for the life and soul of the world we know

Fight, cause the promise is never gonna be enough

 Oh yeah

You know it

You know it

Ah ha yeah you know it