Can a song be about something if it's an instrumental?

I mean – it used to be in the days of the great composers. Most of them had entire narrative storylines that unfolded bar by bar.

But what about pop music? The answer is moot, as I'm not even sure an instrumental song can even be definitionally considered pop music to begin with. The vocal is there for a reason. In addition to carrying the topline - its overarching function is to inform the listener what the song is "about," and for the most part, the listener's thumbs up / thumbs down on the call centers primarily on whether they identify with the lyrics and melody.

But because I know that people that like my music tend to be more sophisticated, disciplined listeners with terrific asses and flawless complexions - I feel like it goes without saying that you can be trusted with an instrumental with a melodic narrative storyline. I know you people. You are all awesome.

That being the case - this song didn't start life with the end goal of being an instrumental. Truth be told - Lyrics are always the last thing I write in the process. The topline melody usually writes itself during the arrangement process. Then, I'll pick a theme and begin the word puzzle of writing lyrics that must fit into a pretty rigid syllable count. Imagine having to write three haikus that all have to rhyme and still be hella clever - and that's usually what goes into writing a set of lyrics to a song.

In this case - I just ran out of room. The top line ended up getting stolen by the Baritone Guitar, and it sounded so cool - I didn't want to take it out for fear that the song would collapse without it.

So what's it about then? Well - I started working on this near the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and then it got shelved for a while as I got distracted by other songs that were more cooperative to write. I recently returned to it on the first anniversary of the invasion.

Musically - the overt spaghetti western tropes in this song are probably the result of having worked with the band Sheverb from Austin, Texas, and more recently on the musical Steers and Queers, but moreover - As an Italian-American working in definitionally American musical idioms - I've always had a soft spot for Ennio Morricone.

It's also a nod to the notion of what has been called "cowboy diplomacy," which has usually been that American power has always flowed outward from the barrel of a gun.

In the case of Ukraine, for once, we're getting it right (mostly. for now.) As the nation with All the Guns - I can think of nothing better we can do with them than give them to the most punk rock people on Earth as they beat back an empire that showed up on their doorstep. Additionally, from a diplomatic standpoint, we managed to get the band back together vis-a-vis NATO.

Who knows where this will end, but I believe in the inherent righteousness of the Ukrainian cause. They have more than proved themselves to be some of the toughest people on Earth, and no amount of assistance is too much in their struggle for all the things we've been shooting our mouths off for 250 years regarding freedom and liberal democracy.

Anyways - that's what's up.
Slava Ukraini. Heroiam Slava.
Wishing everyone in Ukraine peaceful skies.