Growing up, there were few promising opportunities for young man of Legg’s stripe in Cajun country and things eventually got difficult and strange: chronic bouts of depression, habitual drug use, small town drama, and arrests soon became routine. During one gloomy episode - deflated, broke, and strung out - Legg climbed the Mississippi River Bridge in Baton Rouge, determined to dive into the next life, but after a last minute change of heart, humbly climbed back down and vowed to find a better way to exist. He immediately drove himself to rehab in a stolen Camaro and rededicated himself to his creative pursuits, namely songwriting. He formed the southern tribal rock band, Santeria who had a 10-year run of chaos and bedeviled kookiness (1994-2004). After four albums, they disbanded in an anarchic heap of bad luck, poverty, exhaustion, and voodoo curses they suspected were cast on the band to hasten their demise.
Legg spent the next year living in low-rent motels and trailer parks, writing new songs that tapped into the haunting style of the Delta Blues greats. With an odd ease, the songs poured out, spitting new life into the genre, not by hackneyed imitation, but by infusing original Delta-slide songs with his own experience of growing up in the Deep South—young, white, alienated, and lost. Legg’s Robert Johnson-on-Thorazine-style slide work paired with his droning-rural psychedelia brought the backwoods sounds of Louisiana (hurricanes, cows, cicadas) to life while remaining firmly rooted in the troubled and death-obsessed masters. This batch of songs became the first Brother Dege release, the now critically-acclaimed Folk Songs of the American Longhair (2010) - a record that Quentin Tarantino later referred to as “almost like a greatest hits album” of new Delta blues.
Home-recorded in Alan Lomax-like austerity, the album delivered postmodern tales of desperate southerners, apocalyptic prophecies, midnight angels, hippie drifters, burning barns, and the endless ghosts that haunt the history the Deep South. Quietly self-released with no distribution, no representation, and absolutely no hype, Folk Song of the American Longhair quickly earned 4-star reviews (UNCUT) and gained the attention of numerous tastemakers in film and TV, scoring sync placements on Discovery Channel’s After the Catch, Nat Geo’s Hard Riders, women’s cycling documentary Half the Road, Netflix’s The Afflicted, and most notably hand-picked by Quentin Tarantino for inclusion in the movie and soundtrack to Django Unchained.
Brother Dege quickly expanded his cinematic vision of the South with two follow-up albums: How to Kill a Horse (2013) and Scorched Earth Policy (2015). Teaming with otherworldly slide guitars, country psych, barn burning anthems, the tradition continues with his latest release Farmer’s Almanac (2018), a sprawling, southern concept album that further explores the unique mysteries of small towns.
Brother Dege’s latest album is the critically acclaimed Farmer’s Almanac, an 11-track, southern gothic journey that explores escapism, class structure, and the opiated dark side of America’s small town rural communities. Brother Dege’s fourth album swarms with otherworldly slide guitars, rustic psychedelia, possessed barn burners, and swamp-drenched cinematic songcraft.
House of the Dying Sun
Brother Dege Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the grey dawn falls
Will my old man wake up ‘neath
The dying sun?
Watch the temples shake
Mansions to slums.
Hear the killer sing you to sleep
As the ashes fall.
It been chipped in stone.
Say the cities are going to sink beneath
Fire and flood.
Well, some wear crowns of thorns.
Others of golden wire.
Some of them want to see you live
Others will help you die.
If your faith ain’t strong.
House of the dying sun.
There is the Astral Jehovah,
Prophet and bastard heir.
Just an orphan in this place
For 33 years.
Come crucify the body to the powerline poles.
On the boulevard tonight
Going to hang like a scarecrow
And sing…
No love, no love among you desperate men.
Is there no love in the house of the dying sun?
I’ve come to seek asylum
Mutate in the gene pool.
But all I’ve found here
Are slaves in the earth’s soil.
Come crucify the body
To the powerline poles.
On the boulevard tonight
Gonna hang like a scarecrow
And sing…
Bomaye.
Is there no love
Amongst you desperate men?
Is there no love
In the House of the Dying Sun?
The lyrics of Brother Dege's House of the Dying Sun seem to reflect a sense of despair, resignation, and even a hint of anger at the state of the world. The song's protagonist wonders whether his old man will wake up beneath the dying sun, perhaps a metaphor for the world in its twilight years. The lyrics go on to describe how even mighty cities will ultimately crumble and disappear, leaving only ashes behind. The song contrasts those who wear "crowns of thorns" with those who wear "golden wire," suggesting perhaps a commentary on class and power structures. It ultimately questions whether there is any love left in a world where men are desperate and dying.
The lyrics also make reference to the Astral Jehovah, a mysterious figure who seems to represent both hope and despair. The singer seems to seek asylum and a place to "mutate in the gene pool," yet he finds only "slaves in the earth's soil." The song appears to end on a note of defiance and even rebellion, with the singer singing "Bomaye," which means "kill him" in Congolese and was famously chanted by Muhammad Ali on his visit to Africa in 1973. The repeated question of whether there is any love left in the house of the dying sun suggests that the song's lyricist is not convinced.
Line by Line Meaning
When the morning breaks
At the time of dawn
And the grey dawn falls
When the gray day begins
Will my old man wake up ‘neath
The dying sun?
Will my father awaken under the setting sun?
Watch the temples shake
Observe the religious centers tremble
Mansions to slums.
Houses turn into low-class living conditions.
Hear the killer sing you to sleep
As the ashes fall.
Hear the murderer singing you to sleep during the end times.
They say it’s written in blood.
It's been chipped in stone.
It is said that this is written with blood, and it has been engraved on stone for posterity.
Say the cities are going to sink beneath
Fire and flood.
Cities will submerge in either fire or water.
Well, some wear crowns of thorns.
Others of golden wire.
Some people wear crowns woven of thorns, while others wear those made of gold wire.
Some of them want to see you live
Others will help you die.
Some people want you to live, while some will help in taking your life.
If your faith ain’t strong.
House of the dying sun.
If you lack faith, then you are in the house where the sun sets.
There is the Astral Jehovah,
Prophet and bastard heir.
The Astral Jehovah is here, a prophet and a rebel against democracy.
Just an orphan in this place
For 33 years.
I have been an orphan here for 33 years.
Come crucify the body to the powerline poles.
On the boulevard tonight
Going to hang like a scarecrow
And sing…
No love, no love among you desperate men.
I am going to be crucified on the power-line posts in the boulevard and sing to desperate people without love.
Is there no love in the house of the dying sun?
Does this house where the sun sets not have love?
I’ve come to seek asylum
Mutate in the gene pool.
I came here to seek refuge and start a new generation.
But all I’ve found here
Are slaves in the earth’s soil.
All I have found here are slaves working in the fertile soil.
Bomaye.
Is there no love
Amongst you desperate men?
Is there no love
In the House of the Dying Sun?
Bomaye. Do desperate men not love each other? Does this house not have love?
Contributed by Benjamin O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@UltimatePowa
I've uploaded an album from Black Bone Child!
If you enjoyed Brother Dege, you'll most likely enjoy them as well. ;)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-ZnHSngLyyNOq-HSkahbJoMmbxt0QIUu
@axtonsutton6290
You probably dont give a shit but if you are stoned like me during the covid times then you can stream pretty much all of the latest movies and series on instaflixxer. Have been binge watching with my gf these days =)
@beckhamemerson2063
@Axton Sutton yea, I've been using instaflixxer for years myself =)
@jackw8838
Damn he's good on the slide! Love this style. Cross between old blues and southern rock. A breath of fresh air for a fellow musician.
@steellion1803
Jack W yes
@hank.turricano
also like as an indian raga
@SuperKlondikeBars
The beat that kicks in at 4:29 gave me chills everywhere
@roots14808
I replayed that fucking part like 8 times by now, and im not thinking of stoping, thank's for timemarking this spot :>
@JBmusicart
Yeah you right
@JBmusicart
You missed out on Santeria with Krishna Kastori and Mathew Gautreaux on drums. Those guys are my brothers