Words and Music by Nicolas Scott
© 2017
Verse 1
My great grandpa came from Italy
Because he loved his family
Looking for a recipe
To feed his soul
From ignorance was terrified
One wrong move could mean your life
Better keep watch with both those eyes
And follow the rules
Pre Chorus
Cuz’ he wanted more
You could hear him roar
He was sore, but the pain felt good
He was on his way
Chorus
One more bucket of mortar
One more pile of bricks
I’m gonna build this dream
Until I’m done, until I kick
It’s not for me, it’s for my kids (last time)
Verse 2
My pop pops grew up on the farm
Cultivating his quiet charm
The soil kept him out of harm
And rooted deep
For himself he made a name
Working hard through joy and pain
But never forgot from where he came
Lived the golden rule
Pre Chorus
Cuz’ he wanted more
You could hear him roar
He was sore, but the pain felt good
He was on his way
Bridge
It all starts with unfinished business
And the will to fight
Put aside the inhibitions
For the guiding light
And never lose sight
Through day and night
Verse 3
My daddy had big shoes to fill
Now they don’t fit, he’s growing still
He don’t play, he hunts to kill
Since he was 12
Now I don’t need to start from scratch
The dough is made and rising fast
Pre Chorus
But can I keep up and make it last
I guess we all want more
Are we always poor?
What is this lure that keeps us fighting
And moving up?
The Inspiration
I was working on tiling my shower when this chorus came to me. Sort of wanted it to have a folky-Americana vibe. I suppose the lyric was quite literal at first, but sort of exposed a greater meaning to me the more I thought about it. All of the sudden the tile job became a metaphor for the song (its great how real life works sometimes!).
The idea was to go through the progression of time and how a family works towards a greater goal of prosperity for their next generation. The verses go through the literal 3 generations before me. I used my own family as a muse and kept things pretty close to factual (you all can tell me otherwise–lol). And really my family has done a great job of fulfilling this “American Dream.”
I wrote this song on acoustic guitar which is where the funky sounding chords come from. Some has to do with sliding shapes up and down the fretboard. But, like most of my songs, they feel more comfortable to me on the piano.