Presidente Pride Part1 (v2) - This City's Colours

When musician Matthew Presidente witnessed a gay bashing at the East Side Pride festival after his performance there in June 2008, it caused some self-reflection which has resulted in a change of direction in some of his new songs; especially This City's Colours, which Matty performs in this video. In this first instalment of Presidente Pride, Matthew discusses This City's Colours. The song's lyrics (scroll down below) are supplemented by Stephen Emery's videography around the rallies about bashing and homelessness that have been happening in the Vancouver community through 2008/09.

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Production credits:

Director - Angela Fairbank
Director of Photography - Stephen Emery
Camera Ops - Angela Fairbank, Wendy Havens, Stephen Emery, Lee
Lighting - Lee (we never learned his last name as he was absent so much)
Interviewer - Wendy Havens
Audio - Stephen Emery
Post Production - Stephen Emery
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This City's Colours lyrics:

This city's colors are alive
But I feel them bleeding into black and white
As we watch from a house we can't afford
And we borrow it so that we don't look poor

I feel so alive when the temperature is on the rise
When the new batch is ripe
The taste is better and the colors bright

This city's dogs
Are bearing their teeth
And they line up all the victems on the street
And they back the homeless up against a wall
And the firing squads just waiting for the call

I feel so adored
When the city keeps asking me for more more more
No work this month again
But still the clock keeps tickin down to 2010

At the end of the rainbow there's a pile of death
a focused prism of violence
and it's burning a hole in our west end.
It was an uphill battle for 30 years
and now were liberated queers
marching in circles for everyone to see
Be careful where you put your fist
It's easy these days to get hit
With any one of our fine ends
At the end of the rainbow there's a pile of death
and no ones gonna stop what hasn't happened yet and
oh these city's colors are alive

Can this citys lovers go to bed
When this citys eyes are turning red
As the streets become a violent flood
And our flag this year is covered up in blood

I feel so alive
When the heat in the citys on the rise
As the facts unwind
This citys colors are more defined

Matthew Presidente
http://www.matthewpresidente.com
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Words and Music: Matthew Presidente
Keys and vocals: Matthew Presidente
Guitar: Hazen Rice
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Activist Speakers: Janine Fuller, Spencer Herbert, Velvet Steele

Production Facilities and Support:

This video was done as a project for Bojan Bodruzic's Introduction to Digital Video Making course within Langara College's Digital Film Prodcution Certificate Program. [http://www.langara.bc.ca/creative-arts/digital-film/index.html]
Thanks Bojan for your guidance, input, and support.

It will be shown with other videos in the Pride Across the Strait series at the Xtra West Cultural Series on August 12th, 2009, at the Cafe Deux Soliels at 7pm.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Matthew Presidente
• This City's Colours
• Vancouver
• homelessness
• poverty
• gay bashing
• Pride