Witness Protection Program

"The kids and the dog have fun, but you and I know what’s been done, cannot be undone." The music and the story behind the song "Witness Protection Program."

Jul 24, 2023

Emilie and I had only been married a year when I overheard her speaking Italian (she’s a polyglot) in the kitchen one afternoon while I strummed my guitar. I wondered how she felt living in a place where few people spoke her language. My mind wandered, reflecting on all the small commitments we make as adults that gradually lead us towards isolation. From those daydreams came Witness Protection Program.

Watch: Witness Protection Program - Official Music Video

Its name and lyrics suggest the classic ieda of a mafioso hiding out after spilling the beans on his paisanos. Emilie had a linguistics conference in Napoli, which felt like a fitting backdrop for a video, so I thought, “Prendi due piccioni con una fava” (You can kill two birds with one stone), and off we went.

Directed & Edited: Zack Taylor - http://zacktaylor.net
Special thanks to: Nicholas Zuniga, Alberto Landolfi, Arturo Castaldi, City of Napoli, L' Antica Pizzeria da Michele.

Listen: Witness Protection Program

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Song Lyrics

She’s talking in Italian in the other room

Breaks my heart every time

When she asks me

Why’d you start so young?

You could have been a better one

But you came into my life like this

And it tasted so much better

When I was young

—

She’s crying over someone in the other room

Breaks my heart every time

So I ask her

Why’d you wait so long?

You could have found a better one

But you came into my life like this

And it tasted so much better

When we were young

—

I never go by my real name

The kids and the dog have fun

But you and I know what’s been done

Cannot be undone

—

I killed a man

So I had to pay

But I gave up their names instead

Now I ask myself

Why’d I start so young?

I could have been a better one

But they came into my life like this

And it tasted so much better

When I was young

—

I never go by my real name

The kids and the dog have fun

But you and I know what’s been done

Cannot be undone.

Lyric Cards

Witness Protection Program Lyrics by Scott Zuniga — We hadn’t been married for a year when I overheard Emilie speaking Italian in the kitchen one afternoon while I was strumming my guitar. I wondered how she felt living in a place where few people spoke her language. My mind wandered, reflecting on all the small commitments we make as adults that seem to gradually lead us towards isolation. From those daydreams, the song Witness Protection Program was born.

Song Info:

Album: Language of Ghosts
Released September 30, 2014
Scott Zuniga-Vocals, Guitar / Emilie Zuniga-Vocals / Chris Maresh-Bass / Wayne Salzmann II-Percussion / Evan Kaspar- Pedal Steel / Emily Burns McLeod-Mandolin

Co-produced by Maurice Chammah and Matt Puckett

Additional production and arrangements - Christopher Cox & Grant Johnson of Fat Fuse Music

Engineer - Grant Johnson
Additional Engineers - Brad Bell (Isla’s Promise, Witness Protection Program, Blood of a Poet, Slow Motion), Evan Kasper (Witness Protection Program)

Recorded and mixed at Good Danny’s in Austin, Texas
Additional tracking and mixing at Public Hi-Fi, Ohm Recording Facility, Church House Studios - Austin, Texas

Packaging and logo design - Sam Stroman & Scott Zuniga
Photographs - Ty Arnold (taken in Palmyra, Syria, 2010)

video & photo by: @zacktaylor.co (Instagram) - 2015
© 2014 Scott Zuniga. All rights reserved.

Demos & Extras

Notes:

To answer your question; yes, Emilie was talking in Italian in the other room. That’s what kicked off the inspiration for the song.

You hear stories about how great songs just pop into the songwriter’s brain one day, and the song is written in half an hour.

That did not happened with this song.

The first line happened right away, but the rest of the song took me seven years to write.

I thought it would be interesting to share the progression of demos to show how the song slowly came to life over the years.

This is the only song on Language of Ghosts that was recorded at three different studios in Austin; Public Hi-Fi, Good Danny’s and Ohm.

Witness Protection Program - Demo #1 - 2007
The melody and lyrics are coming together, but no sign of a chorus.
Emilie gives her unsolicited suggestions at the end :). She cringes every time she hears herself in this recording.

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