Name: 13. Failed State by davidrovics
Duration: 3 min 3 s
Description: 2017 album recorded at Big Red Studio with Billy Oskay, Elona Planman and others.

Spent a half hour in a Nazi Bar,
In my white home town playing folk guitar,
Got a luke warm pint in a nasty glass
And there’s some blokes outside doing Krav Maga,
I just play it cool, talk ‘bout Judas Priest,
Then my phone goes [grindr noise], heart skips a beat,
Caught a look from a gammon, and he speaks to me,
Like “Fuckin’ hell, you a poof?” then it dawns on me,

Takes one to know one,
No, I’m not DTF,
Takes one to know one,
I might tell your mates

He spills Doombar on his Sunday Times,
And he begs me please, don’t tell the guys,
I’m like fine, though I had half a mind,
To tell his UKIP pals he wants a femboy wife,
I just make him pay, like please donate,
Half your wage to an Anti Raids,
And I spat in his glass, and said “On your bike”
And then he called me a bitch, and so I replied,

Takes one to know one,
No, I’m not DTF,
Takes one to know one,
I might tell your mates

Spoken:
And it got much hairier from there,
I’ll tell you that much for free,
Like all these blokes stood up with their fuckin
Iron Cross badges, gross,
I felt like I wanted to puke right there on the spot,
And they got their knives out
But then one of my girlies recognised their ringleader,
She said,

“You’re that chaser from the other night,
Who got his jaw smacked right by that 6 foot dyke,
You can’t fight, all you do is talk shite,
Bout your white boy dreams for a new Third Reich,”
He said “Sorry, miss, I mean, bro,
Would she hit me again?” Nah, I don’t think so,
Like, it’s not so fun if you’re having fun,
And forgive me Hun, I hate Nazi scum

Takes one to know one,
No, I’m not DTF,
Takes one to know one,
I might tell your mates

Floralis - i might tell your mates

“Broken Promises Town” is a working-class protest anthem aimed squarely at the hollow ritual of modern politics — campaign slogans, staged concern, and carefully rehearsed empathy that evaporates the moment power is secured. It speaks for the towns that get remembered every four years and forgotten the rest of the time.

Set in the lived reality of underfunded schools, decaying infrastructure, and families holding the line through grit rather than government rescue, the song rejects performative leadership and exposes the widening gap between words and action. This isn’t nostalgia, and it isn’t rage for rage’s sake — it’s accountability set to rhythm.

Musically rooted in Appalachian Americana and outlaw Southern rock traditions, the track leans on grit, restraint, and forward momentum rather than polish. The tone is defiant but grounded, reflecting a community that has learned self-reliance not by choice, but by necessity.

“Broken Promises Town” is part of the Basically Done Original Soundtrack — the official musical companion to Donald E. Pickett’s novel Basically Done and the upcoming Basically Done series/franchise. Together, the music and narrative form a shared cultural chronicle of integrity tested, systems exposed, and people choosing resolve over resignation.

This song doesn’t ask for reform theater.
It demands receipts.

Broken Promises Town

Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike

Underdog World Strike

Super Taranta!

My Strange Uncles from Abroad

Written after an incident with a fanatical George W Bush supporter I encountered at the Whole Foods Market on Kirby in Houston, Texas one day.

Who Would Jesus Bomb?

'The Social Power of Music' AVAILABLE 2/22/2019: folkways.si.edu/the-social-power-of-music

MUSIC HAS THE POWER TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER

From parties to protests to prayer, music is a powerful catalyst for celebration, for change, and for a sense of community. Through making music together, we become bigger than ourselves. Whether singing with our families and friends or with thousands of strangers in an arena, music transforms lives, engages individuals, and connects local and global communities. The Social Power of Music chronicles the vivid, impassioned, and myriad ways in which music binds, incites, memorializes, and moves groups of people. This richly illustrated 124-page book, with 80+ tracks on 4 CDs, invites listeners into musical practices, episodes, and movements throughout the U.S. and beyond. These songs of struggle, devotion, celebration, and migration remind us that music has the potential to change our world.

The Social Power of Music

The Almanac Singers - Which Side Are You On?

"Bella Ciao" is an Italian protest folk song that originally documented the struggles of the "Mondina Women", the field workers in the late 19th century who sang it to protest against harsh conditions in the paddy fields of North Italy. The song was modified and adopted as an anthem of the anti-fascist resistance by the Italian partisans between 1943 and 1945 during the Italian Resistance, the resistance of Italian partisans against the Nazi German forces occupying Italy, and, during the Italian Civil War, the Italian partisan struggle against the fascist Italian Social Republic and its Nazi German allies. Since then, it has been adapted, into countless languages, modified to fit specific struggles, and evolved into a worldwide anti-fascist hymn of freedom and resistance.

I was asked to make my own version of this song as the theme for the Robert Evans podcast "Women's War", which tells the story of YPJ, the all female Kurdish fighting force from Rojava on the frontlines against ISIS. Because thousands of miles away from the farms of Northern Italy, a hundred years after this song was first sung, they are singing "Bella Ciao" on the battlegrounds of Northern Syria.

I am astoundingly proud to be able to make this song for this project. Robert's reporting is really valuable, and shows a part of the story of Syria, that is never documented in the media today. Do yourself a favor, and search for "Women's War" wherever you get podcasts from.
credits

Vocals: Astronautalis
Guitars/Bass: Rickolus
Drums/Programming/Mixing: Subp Yao

Astronautalis - Bella Ciao

Ultra Mono

Kill Them With Kindness

2017 album recorded at Big Red Studio with Billy Oskay, Elona Planman and others.

13. Failed State

Singer/songwriter, writer, podcaster (on Spotify, Substack & Patreon), libertarian socialist, dad, lover of life.  I also write songs as part of Ai Tsuno, which you can look up on all the streaming platforms.

13. Failed State

davidrovics

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