Bits of this song have been floating around my head for a while now but with the recent swell in consciousness about racial inequality (lets be clear the issues are not new) it seemed like the time to try and write it. However, as a white person I had to take the time to think what I could add to the conversation rather than just throwing my voice in there and taking up space better reserved for a person of colour.

With this song I'm trying to highlight how important it is that white people participate in the fight for racial equality and how we can use our privilege to help. I also wanted to use the song as an opportunity to reflect on the debt that I owe, as a white musician, to the black community.

There is no popular western music genre that has not been immeasurably influenced by black culture. With some genres that influence and history is more obvious (like jazz and blues) but with many the influence and importance of black musicians has been obscured and erased. A fine example of that is all the work the wonderful musician and radical thinker Rhiannon Giddens has had to do to teach the world that the Banjo is a historically black instrument with it's ancestor being the West African Ngoni. It felt right to include the banjo in this piece in honour of that.

In introduction to her song 'Young, Gifted and Black', Nina Simone said "It doesn't address white people primarily... It doesn't put you down, it simply ignores you."

She was aware that simply being ignored would still bristle the white ego. It's this sensitivity that has lead to the infuriating and misinformed discussion about #ALLLIVESMATTER.

But she didn't ignore white people to annoy them. She wrote the song because black people were (and still are) devalued as individuals. She knew that for black people to effectively fight for the freedom they were due, they would need to believe in themselves and each other.

This song is, in a way, a response to 'Young, Gifted and Black' but one that does primarily address white people. There was a strong temptation to name it 'Old, Complacent and White' but to blame people of the older generation for racism is to ignore our own duty to make changes. It challenges white people to recognise and support the efforts of black people. It also challenges us to realise that it is our inaction and our lack of reaction to the continued atrocities brought upon black people that allows those atrocities to continue.

All proceeds from the song will be donated to Colour of Change, one of the many great organisations campaigning for racial justice.