&

&
Written by	Joe Hawley
Appears on	Good & Evil
Sung by	Joe Hawley
Duration	3:14
Genre	Indie rock
Language	English
Links:	YouTube Spotify

& (pronounced "and") is a song by Joe Hawley. It's the second track on the Tally Hall album Good & Evil. It shares the same melody as track 8: A Lady (also by Hawley), which acts as a reprise on the album.

History

& was one of many songs to be tested at Union Hall in February of 2009. It would later be performed at Mr. Smalls Funhouse on the 20th of May, 2009. Early performances had slightly different lyrics that would later be ironed out for the album version.

On May 4th 2011, before the release of Good & Evil, '&' was included as an MP3 download to those who preordered the limited edition album bundle. It was quickly leaked to Tumblr the same day.

Music Video

& was set up to have a music video, by Steve Loter & John Loter. Steve Loter also directed the music video for Hidden In The Sand. The video was to incorporate fan-submissions of creatively-made ampersands, and was edited and partially filmed by Bora Karaca.^{[citation needed]} Though many fans did submit ampersands, the music video was scrapped due to lack of funding.
In a 2022 Keep Up The Good Work episode, Steve Loter would explain that a rough cut exists but due to them not being satisfied with the video, as well as funding and stress, the video was never finished.

On October 21st, 2011 Tally Hall created a photo album on their facebook page of 137 of the ampersands that were submitted by fans, with the caption:
The "&" video is no more. Many hours were committed towards making this video a reality; however, with limited resources, it just didn't happen. To everyone who worked on this video, and all those who submitted your artwork: thank you for the effort and thought you put into this project. Words are insufficient to express our gratitude.

On September 29th, 2013 Skye, AKA HomeStarRunnerTron, uploaded a fan-made music video to YouTube, which showcased the fan-made ampersands. Skye explains: "This is a video I've had in my head for just about two years now. When I found out there wasn't going to be an & music video, but ALL the fan-submitted &s were there to behold... I knew there still needed to be a product in which to view it." The video now has over 30,000 views, as of February 2023.

Trivia

• The word &/and appears in the song 40 times.
  • Including all the words that contain "and" (like "demand"), it appears in the song 44 times.
  • Including the title of the album, song titles, & all repeated verses not listed in the lyrics, &/and appears a total of 137 times on Good & Evil (not including words that contain it). Phew!
• The Good & Evil booklet uses "&" in place of "and" for &'s lyrics, with the exception of one "and". Joe stated in 2011 that this was an accident but that he must have done it for a reason he doesn't know. This went unchanged in the 2022 re-release by Needlejuice Records.
• During the July 30th 2023 broadcast of Tree Town Sound, Joe texted Matthew Altruda stating that the song was a response in part to Mason Proper's Lock And Key.

Lyrics

(Please note the asterisk IS part of the official lyrics, left to be open for interpretation by the listener)

Love of the s*n 
Came back again to make it clear that 
He never said it would meet demand
Shame on a martyr claiming friends from
Either perspective of &
Weak & Strong &
Wet & Dry &
Right & Wrong &
Live & Die &
Sane & Gone &
Love & Not &
All the &s that we forgot so

Sing while you hear it
Don't deny it
Leave if you can't stand the thought of it
Come back again to make things stand with
No disrespect to the &
High & Low &
New & Old &
Stop & Go &
Hot & Cold &
John & Yoko
Dark & Light
It's almost time to say good night to it

They took a lesson from their fathers
Told them that they were the same command
Wait for the minds to make complete their
Lives stuck beside every &

Words & Numbers
Sound & Silence
Stop the peace & Keep the violence
No & Yes &
We digress
It lives with Sad & Happiness
Oh God

Big Bad Betty of the 'pocalypse
She opens her lips & it goes like this
When The Golden Rule & the jungle meet
There'll be nothing to love &
There'll be no one to beat
Oh the things we know
The things we don't
Oh the things we think we can will & won't
We're loath to gather that nothing's left
We're all together & we're all bereft
Capitalists, Communists
You did the hokey pokey & it went like this
You hate each other & you love yourselves
It might be Heaven & it might be Hell
Oh the things we do
The things we say
Oh the things we wish we could wash away

Early Lyrics

On the May 2009 tour, Tally Hall performed a slightly earlier version of the song. The song is mostly the same, however it has some different harmonies and alternate lyrics.

Love of the s*n 
Came back again to make it clear that
He never said it would meet demand
Shame on a martyr claiming friends from
Either perspective of &
Weak & Strong &
Wet & Dry &
Right & Wrong &
Live & Die &
Sane & Gone &
Love & Not &
All the &s that we forgot &

Sing while you hear it
Don't deny it
Leave if you can't stand the thought of it
Come back again to make things stand with
No disrespect to the &
High & Low &
New & Old &
Stop & Go &
Hot & Cold &
John & Yoko
Dark & Light
It's almost time to say good night to it

They took a lesson from their mothers
Told them that they were the same command
Wait for the brain to make complete their
Lives stuck beside every &

Words & Numbers
Sound & Silence
Stop the peace & Keep the violence
No & Yes &
We digress
It sings of sad and happiness
Oh God

Big Bad Betty of the Apocalypse
She opens her lips & it goes like this
When The Golden Rule & the stars align
There'll be nothing to love &
There'll be nowhere to hide
Oh the things we know
The things we don't
Oh the things we think we can will & won't
I loathe to tell you that nothing's left
We're all together & we're all bereft
Capitalists, Communists
You did the hokey pokey & it went like this
We hate each other & we love ourselves (sometimes sang as "You love each other or we hate ourselves")
It might be Heaven & it might be Hell
Oh the things we do
The things we say
Oh the things we wish we could wash away

Tabs/Chords

Starting chord (love of the s*n): A

Verse part a: Bm E Bm E G F F#

Verse part b: Bm E Bm E G A B

Chorus: Em B Em B Em B Em F# G A

Solo chords are same as verse

Last chorus (words & numbers): B Em B Em B Em F#m G A Bbm

"Big bad Betty": Bbm F Bbm

"Capitalist, communist": Bm F# F#7 Bm

"Oh the things": Bm F#

Live Performances

Feb 26th 2009 at Union Hall
May 20th 2009 at Mr. Smalls Funhouse

References

Good & Evil
	1. Never Meant To Know 2. & 3. You & Me 4. Cannibal 5. Who You Are 6. Sacred Beast 7. Hymn for a Scarecrow 8. A Lady 9. The Trap 10. Turn the Lights Off 11. Misery Fell 12. Out in the Twilight 13. You 14. Fate of the Stars Light & Night* (pre-gap bonus track) * indicates tracks only available in the 2022 CD rerelease