The complete title for this particular piece is "Brother Dave's Safety Song for the American Proletariat (God Love 'Em)." Whew!

With the exception of its lengthy full title, this is really a short ditty. I wrote it on spec for an industrial safety video project with which I was peripherally affiliated at the time. The client liked the demo. So the song became the intro theme for the production. The focus of the video was on the safe operation of "powered industrial trucks" — fork trucks, etc. But because I was writing on spec, I kept the song generic enough so that it might be viable for almost any safety-oriented audio-visual project.

The first line is a quote from Ben Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanac." The rest of the lines are a string of safety-related homilies and clichés. I'm not apologizing for them. I think they work well for the targeted audience and intended application.

There's lots of alliteration here. And to get through it all in 80 seconds, the beat is up-tempo. So, yep, it can be a tongue-twister. I don't recommend trying to sing this song while operating any "powered industrial trucks." But it's your call.

Read the lyrics below or skip to the Lead Sheet for the words and music. —BD