#49: They'll Come Looking For You

Quick note: I'm honored to be a singer/accompanist at a terrific event here in NYC on October 28 called "The Power of Women's Voices" at the Triad Theatre, sponsored by The Three Tomatoes Book Publishing. I'll talk more about it as the date gets closer. Link here: https://www.thethreetomatoes.com/power. But Cheryl Benton has a knack of finding lost or ignored female voices and bringing them to life.


Note 2: I'm also performing as a back-up musician for the great pop star, Corina. We'll be doing an acoustic version of her latest, incredibly powerful album "Spanglish."
https://shows.donttellmamanyc.com/9153-corina-spanglish-unplugged-new-york-city-9-27-25


Now, to today's song and video. I got so excited about the response to the last video I right away jumped on another "lost" song I've loved but never quite figured out how to record, "They'll Come Looking For Us" in honor of a friend of mine, Billy Block, a promoter of Americana music and open mics in Nashville, who had just died. So it's dedicated to him.


It's a message of hope for any kind of creator (like the wonderful women authors at the Three Tomatoes Publishing). That if you stay on your path and stay true to your vision and work on it, preferably with a creative community around you, and if that vision has any kind of real meaning, people will find you. They will come to you.

For some reason -- maybe it was the way I was raised -- I have always lived with great positivity. The belief that no matter how bad things get, we can and will get over it and defeat it.

Or rather, that people inherently, once they realize they've been hornswoggled, will go looking for Truth. We humans can be conned and fooled and led astray easily, but when Truth hits us, when we hear it, we recognize it. It's something beyond and above the normal stream of culture.

When we performed The Last Session, or even earlier when I sang those songs on my own, I saw people's heads practically spin off their shoulders once they heard Truth in my lyrics and felt if in my music. I watched it every night. I could see their bodies change shape as they became totally frozen in the moment.


So here is the video. I spent about four days imagining and then using AI tools to create the musical setting and the animation. If you are a creator, yourself, I hope this song gives you inspiration to fight on and make your mark!


https://youtu.be/27d9jc7Wl2Y


THEY'LL COME LOOKING FOR US
©2025 by Steve Schalchlin

BILLY BLOCK RAN THIS OPEN MIC
HE’D SAY, SON, YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG
DON’T BEG AND PLEAD FOR ATTENTION
IT’S DEMEANING AND IT RUINS YOUR SONG

THERE’LL COME A TIME THE PARTY’LL CRASH
GAMES AND FUN WILL BE IN THE PAST
FOLKS WILL WANT SOME SUBSTANCE
SOME GUTS AND TRUTH THAT WILL LAST

THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR US
THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR US
THEY IGNORE US NOW
AS WE HUDDLE TOGETHER
STORYTELLER AND TROUBADOUR
BUT THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR US

THEY'LL COME LOOKING FOR US
CUZ FAKE IS FUN FOR A SEASON
THEN IT GETS OLD AND WE ALL WANT MORE

I SAID YOU’RE JUST A PROMOTER
SELLING A ROMANTIC DREAM
THE TRUTH IS THE WORLD DON’T CARE
AND WILL SPIN ON WHETHER WE’RE HERE OR THERE

HE SAID MAKE LOVE AND SURVIVE
FROM YOUR HALF EMPTY SHELVES
CUZ WHEN THEY’RE ALONE WITH THEIR
HALF-EMPTY SELVES

THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR US
THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR US
THEY MAY NOT KNOW OUR NAMES YET
SO MUCH NOISE THEY MUST CUT THROUGH

BUT THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR US
THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR US
THEY MAY KILL US, THEY MAY EAT US
THEY MAY STICK US UP ON STATUES
CUZ THAT’S WHAT PEOPLE DO
TO THE ONES WHO SAY WHAT’S TRUE

THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR YOU
THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR YOU
HE SAID TURN YOUR BACK
MAKE ‘EM LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDER

THEY’LL COME LOOKING FOR YOU