Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Young man stood, gold badge in hand
Ambition, pride in his gun made him stand tall
A street cop righting invisible wrongs
Armed with heart and mind, yet he stood alone
Isolation, sadness, he did feel
Defending the world with that broken shield
[Chorus]
Oh, fighting soldier
What you gonna do, how you gonna keep marching on?
Oh, when the feeling leaves you
You'll know what it's like to truly be alone
'Cause now that comforting feeling is all gone
'Cause now that comforting feeling is all gone
Song Background
In 2021, I watched an Andrew Huang video on YouTube, signed up for his music theory course, and started learning how to produce music. I’d been writing joke songs since college, and I was happy to perform them. I’d always left the composing and arranging to somebody else.
“Broken Shield” was the third song I ever produced. I remember jabbing out this simple melody on a piano, bringing the recording into Ableton, and thinking I’d made something pretty great. I think this is my third crack at it. The first version felt like a fallen-hero song, drawn from my time as a cop and in the military. For Escape From Okinawa, I slowed it into a funeral march.
The other thing that changed was how I felt about hearing myself sing. Years of karaoke helped with that. Singing reminds me of writing. You start out trying to sound like the people you admire, and eventually you figure out what your own voice can do. I use AI in my production workflow, but I’ve never liked the sound of AI vocals. On this track, I wanted to hear my own voice, shaky notes and all.
I think that little bit of shake made the march more haunting. You be the judge.