Song Origins
Don't Tell The Band
Michael Houser: I wrote it on the road some time ago. We’ve had that saying, “Don’t tell the band” for a while and had already decided to name the record that a long time ago. So, we came up with the music in the studio and it all just happened to fit together.
John Bell: Well, mostly [Don't Tell The Band is] reflective of...separation of church and state. (Laughs) You basically have the band and you’ve got management. If the band is consulted on every little thing, and you treat everyone in the band as equal members as we do, things can get really bogged down in the democratic process. We have good folks that are working on our behalf and they know where we’re coming from, so they can interpret that. And they can make decisions that will reflect the decisions we would have made, even if it would have taken us two hours to kick around. (Laughs)
There are a lot of things that come across the table that requires the band’s attention and figuring out the way we feel. And there are other things that are just everyday business and those are like, “Don’t tell the band” because that will just bog us down, so just go ahead and take care of it. Things work out well. We have some folks that have been with us for a long time and we see eye to eye on most everything.
Read the articles:
'Michael Houser: Remembrances and An Archival Band Interview' http://www.jambands.com/features/2002/08/25/michael-houser-remembrances-and-an-archival-band-interview '73 Minutes with John Bell' http://www.jambands.com/features/2001/09/19/73-minutes-with-john-bell
John Bell: It's kind of a little running joke. So many decisions are made on our behalf, with people we trust. And a lot of times it's like, "Hey, we didn't know about that." But that's the policy of management -- you know, 'don't tell the band', and we'll just roll through. And some things, we should've known about, but it's like 'oh, no you forgot,' that was a don't tell the band kind of thing. Everybody that's working on our behalf, they really know what's up. They're taking care of business, so we can take care of just playing music.
The song was born out of -- Mike, he just started working on that theme. And, killer images, ya know, I thought it was great.
Ya know, and I think the underlying theme in that song -- this is heresy because I didn't write it lyrically. That, a lot of stuff goes on and the band can be oblivious to, or, people can be oblivious to, and if you just go ahead and live your life -- or as in this song, you just let the music play... well, ya know, things are just, they hadn't changed. That might be oversimplified, but for a song, it's a pretty neat premise.
Watch the interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C3uC4MT-LE
# of times played: 18
First time played: 06/23/01
Frequency: 1 in every 44.83 Shows
Longest drought: 726 shows (06/25/02 > Present)
Most common lead in: N/A
Most common lead out: Imitation Leather Shoes; Visiting Day (2 times)
Most common set position: Set 2, song 1 (6 times)
Notes: Appears on 'Don't Tell The Band’
Lyrics: http://everydaycompanion.com/lyrics/songs/dont_tell_the_band.asp
Chords: http://everydaycompanion.com/chords/songs/dont_tell_the_band.asp
Burnthday's Picks: 'Don't Tell The Band' album version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXH_g6MV3gI
11/21/01 UTC-McKenzie Arena, Chattanooga, TN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9umpqQjPY0 @ 1:04:29
Editor's Footnote: The first verse references a Confederate band, who's playing accompanied the hissing and bursting of shells, to encourage the troops at the battle of Gettysburg. The second is an ode to the musicians of the Titanic, who famously continued playing for passengers even when it became apparent the ship would sink. The final verse moves into the future, with a literary reference to the "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" from Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy series, where trumpets mysteriously sound before a profit appears and the Universe ends.