Hear Aaron Lewis Sing 5 Minutes of Conservative Subtext in ‘Am I the Only One’
Staind fans these days know that frontman Aaron Lewis has created an entirely parallel persona to the angsty nu-metal rocker many listeners grew up with starting in the ’90s. Having now been a part of the country music scene for several solo releases, Lewis has become known for his outspoken political views as much as his musicianship.
That much was on full display last month during an acoustic show that Lewis performed at Billy Bob’s Texas, a music venue and indoor rodeo arena in Fort Worth, Texas. There, the entertainer played an unreleased song called “Am I the Only One.” The tune’s a conservative-minded anthem — it mentions the removal of Confederate monuments, it disses Bruce Springsteen — that seems to have the singer ad-libbing on some lines. Still, it shows that Lewis’ beliefs are just as strong as they ever were. [via Blabbermouth]
Read the lyrics and listen to the song down toward the bottom of this post.
This isn’t the first time that Lewis has debuted a new number with politically charged lyrics in a live setting. Last year, the Staind singer played the solo song “If I Was a Liberal” at a gig in Hampton Beach, N.H.
That tune ends with the closing lines, “If I was a liberal, when all is said and done / I’d be the coward that I am, and I’d tuck my tail and run / I’d hide out in the darkness I’m destined to regret / ‘Cause if I was a liberal, hell, I’d be scared to death.”
With the addition of “Am I the Only One” to his solo repertoire, it looks like the Staind frontman is staying his dogmatic course as country artist in 2021, even though he, guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist Johnny April and drummer Sal Giancarelli reformed Staind just two years ago.
“It was just a matter of enough time having gone by,” Lewis told Loudwire in 2019 as the band announced their most recent return. “We decided that we were gonna put a couple shows on the books and just start there. Just kinda dip our toes and see what happens, and look at this from a distance.”
Am I the only one here tonight
Shaking my head and thinking something ain’t right?
Is it just me?
Am I losing my mind?
Am I standing on the edge of the end of time?
Am I the only one?
Tell me I’m not
Who thinks they’re taking all the good we got?
And turning it back
Hell, I’ll be damned
I’m turning into my old manAm I the only one willing to bleed
Or take a bullet for being free?
Screaming ‘What the fuck!’ at my TV
For telling me
Yeah, are you telling me?
And I’m the only one willing to fight
For my love of the red and white and the blue
Burning on the ground
As the statues coming down in a town near you
Watching the threads of Old Glory come undoneAm I the only one?
Am I the only one not brainwashed
Making my way through the land of the lost
Who still gives a shit
And worries about his kids
While they try to undo all the things he did
And I’m the only one who can’t take no more
Screaming, ‘If you don’t like it, there’s the fucking door’
This ain’t the freedom we been fighting for
It was something more
Yeah, it was something more
Am I the only one willing to bleed?Am I the only one willing to fight
For my love of the red and white and the blue
Burning on the ground
As the statues coming down in a town near you
Watch the threads of Old Glory come undone
Am I the only one?
I can’t be the only oneAm I the only who quit singing along
Every time they play a Springsteen song?Am I the only one still sitting here
Still holding on, holding back my tears
For the ones who give, with the lives they gave
God bless the USA
I’m not the only one willing to fight
For my love of the red and white and the blue
Burning on the ground
As the statues coming down in a town near you
Watching the thread of Old Glory come undoneI’m not the only one
I can’t be the only one
I’m not the only one