Ten million American children are exposed to violence and abuse each year. The vast majority of abusers are law-abiding citizens without criminal records. However, the trauma that they inflict can last a lifetime. Chances are that you may even know someone who abuses children. They could be a relative, coworker, or neighbor, someone you go to church with, even your child’s teacher or coach. Perhaps you want to dismiss that as an unlikely possibility or as someone else’s problem, but’s it not. One way you can help spread awareness about the epidemic of child abuse is through music.
That is exactly what singer-songwriter, musician, producer, and CEO / Owner of Pryor 2 What? Records and Music Publishing, Doug Cash has done, on his single and video, “Child Alone”, which premiered at the end of August. The song is an outspoken backlash against child abuse, and spares no details in the lyricism. Doug comes out and says it like it is, raw and unfiltered: “Power rangers and cookie monsters. Not oral and anal abuse. Another runaway not bi or straight or gay. Leave that little child alone.”
The verse continues to unfold the atrocities suffered by the victims: “Chasm created soul mutilated. Low self-esteem substance abuse. Scarred and damaged a life of the one. Who could have been my wife. Leave that little child alone.” Doug Cash has always been an astute writer with an immeasurable passion for his themes and subjects. On “Child Alone”, he is particularly loaded with wrath and scorn. This is evident not only in his words, but in the actual performance.
In the right circles, Doug Cash already has enough of a reputation as one of contemporary underground Americana’s finest songwriters that for him to drop a single as subtly stunning as “Child Alone”, shouldn’t really be a surprise. What marks Doug’s greatest strength as a writer is his sense of empathy – his knack for humanizing his characters and bringing straight to your door.
On the bluesy Americana-tinged backdrop of “Child Alone”, Doug Cash rolls out the urgently gritty tones in his voice, which feel burnished and sanded back just enough to give the song, both the clarity and the punch it needs. It helps matters that Doug is an emotionally expressive singer, able to describe his characters and observations in one single line. The lyrics are a stark, shockingly honest view of human nature and the world as it is.
Both Americana and Blues based music, are genres where authenticity is paramount, and there is no question that when Doug Cash sings, it sounds like it comes from a place of experience and knowledge. I have always had a great respect for this artist in the underground music system. His latest solo effort, “Child Alone”, shows a songwriter putting it all on the table, and it’s absolutely remarkable.
Both contextually and sonically. Doug Cash’s narrative and vocals have never sounded so powerful. I have always been blown away by Doug’s ability to pull listeners into a song, as though they were an integral part of it. He repeats that on “Child Alone”.
OFFICIAL LINKS:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsod5qKJgMKbHtrnnEvsimQ
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2BpVClvJSIxOLzBrI9cuuQ
Apple: https://music.apple.com/bs/album/doug-cash-blues/1436092601
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