The Idiot - Stan Rogers (Cover) + Bonus Verse by Seth Staton Watkins

[@ebjeezer]

I am a Nova Scotian, the son of a Coal Miner who was the son of a Coal Miner, who was the son of a Fisherman, and I am VERY VERY PROUD OF IT! These men were honest to a fault, never missed a days work, and were as tough as nails. In the 70s and 80s it was tough times in the Maritimes and the call to go out west took a lot of people away. I am a huge fan of Stan Rogers and the lessons he was telling through his music. Thankyou for keeping this amazing song and the memory of Stan alive. You are fantastic and love your version of this song. You have gained a new fan tonight.

[@CharlesTheViking]

Nova Scotian myself too, son of a office worker. But I have always been a labourer, its in my blood. I can't work from a chair.

[@sidneyhenry3949]

I am an American who discovered Stan Rogers by accident. I can only imagine what you all have been through, but love from us, we love Stan and all of your Newfie heritages!

[@Gewinnerhastdue]

I love it. I have listened to this for 2 going on 3 years. I know every verse now bc of you. I sing it with you at the top of my lungs. I love love love this. Well done sir with this cover.

[@TorontoCanada5]

That last verse. I've been a blue collar work my whole life, it's all I know, and I do it well. This song in general captures that feeling but that last verse hits home, and hits hard. I've only heard it twice but both times it has brought me to tears and I don't think it ever won't

[@sethstatonwatkins]

Thank you for sharing friend

[@randyconrad4155]

@@sethstatonwatkins not going to lie. Hearing there'd be an extra verse made me cringe. Heard the verse and honestly Im going to add it when I sing this song.

[@Rixoli]

@@randyconrad4155 And moments like these are often the best compliment one can give an artist, alot of times a cover can change lyrics about and still make a 'good' song. It's rare to find a line that actually makes the song even better, not to mention on a Stan Rogers song. Well done Seth!

[@Fwibos]

That last verse isn't in the original. it's just him editorializing.

[@randyconrad4155]

@@Fwibos we know

[@MrRossNL]

I found my new "Play on repeat while staring out of a window out into the distance with a blank look" song!

[@gapdragon01]

Stan Rogers is such a treasure! Thank you for bringing him to life one again.

[@bupkissknarbler4261]

Ive been working class all my life. I loved it and its all i know. But the knowing we are being used and seeing that in my dad and granddad's life, knowing how they worked and how Ive worked and how bad we are being screwed over. We all want to do better for those around us and for society. That's used for the worst things. We are used for the worst things. Its used to oppress us. Its damn sickening. Thank you for putting these words where folks can hear them.

[@RonnieTheSim]

Yes and yes. Folks will, I hope, hear them more easily thanks to that beautiful voice. And, I think the new verse helps people to better hear Mr. Rogers' original verses in the spirit they were intended.

[@jackloder5691]

Fuck man, you got me tearing up on my 15min break. Great cover and I love the bonus verse. Gotta go fix my face and get back on the floor now

[@DragonsSongStudios]

Stan Rogers would be proud to hear you sing this. Your vocals are amazing! You truly brought him back to life.

[@kimberlymichelle1188]

I commented on TikTok but I want to elaborate here. I said your voice reminded me of nights around the campfire when it was just my family, loved ones and I. My family would always go camping during the summer and my mom and I would lead sing alongs. So many amazing memories. We lost mom back in 2013. So thank you so much for helping me to remember those amazing memories. Keep making music. You're magic.

[@sethstatonwatkins]

That means a lot. Thank you.

[@markdavidmagat9866]

Love the orginal but this takes it up a notch for me just for that last verse. The original I felt was very much "pick yourself up by the bootstraps and make it your own way! On your own!" but that last verse adds a retrospective on the idea that most of us have faced. At the end of the journey and the job, what was it all for? Now you find yourself with riches but who's left standing beside you in this dirty decrepite place. The longing for home, the longing for the people you love and love you back comes flooding in. And you ask yourself, was this worth it? Beautiful rendition and I think elevates the song!

[@sethstatonwatkins]

Thank you for sharing friend

[@ten-xlegacy4033]

Yeah you've near instantly become one of my favorite singers. You have an incredible voice and you're sharing important historical songs, and apparently also updating them? Xé salüo, comarade

[@ten-xlegacy4033]

Yeah.. listened again and it made me tear up.. thank you for your work.

[@adamantineshining]

As an atlantic canadian and a longtime Stan Rogers fan... absolutely stunning.

[@shadowmage36]

There's no replacing Stan, but goddamn, I did not expect to be openly weeping on a Wednesday while driving to work. Well done! That last verse is a damn fine addition.

[@Buffaloguy01]

Hey Seth, I love your work, I was wondering, though, if you'd ever do a cover of Connolly was there?

[@sethstatonwatkins]

I'll check it out!

[@Telnan]

I've been an industrial worker my whole life, always been hard for me to show feelings and stuff. Listening to this version for the first time, i teared up! Love it, and thank you for this beautiful piece of music!

[@alizaellner3696]

The nuance your rendition brings to this song... Once again, amazing work.

[@clowkey1747]

Both versions of this song hit very close to home. I’m proud of the work I’m doing, but being so far from home and far from loved ones is very painful.

[@ava490]

The first time I heard this song I cried. And here I am listening to your version crying again at that added verse. You did an amazing job

[@ww32]

Randomly listening to this at work for the time, having heard Stan Rodgers original countless times, I was not expecting the verse you added to the end. I’ve never come so close to crying in front of my coworkers…

[@ronmcc100]

Thanks for posting this! It's good to see that Stan Rogers legacy will never be forgotten, and your touches are tasteful and in the same style. Well done! Keep up the good work!

[@alexhickey8869]

You introduced this song to me on TikTok. And it has been one of my favorite songs, and I was so disappointed that you never made a full version. You’ve made me extremely happy now. Keep on rockin on, brother.

[@philiphamel8504]

This was the song that introduced me to your work. I'm so happy this cover is here

[@MsLovieGirl]

Wow!! This blows me away! He has such a great voice.

[@ryanferguson2081]

Seth Watkins was on my Spotify yearly list 2024, Seth Watkins was my #1 most listened to. I hope you keep singing good stuff.

[@audreysghost6744]

Wow, honestly this is a BEAUTIFUL way to honor a classic. Truly moving. ☘️

[@sapherno11]

That last verse....you carried the soul of the song on. There's such a sense of.... Poignancy and loss.... It is a rare artist who can inspire so many emotions with such a short verse.

[@hrrawr]

Including the extra verse for clarification definitely does detract from the ironic, contemptuous tone of the song in itself, but I still appreciate what you did for trying your hand at NOT leaving that out instead!

[@mikuhatsune184]

Your voice is absolutely gorgeous on its own, but when you harmonize…DAMN. That last verse is also perfect for this song. Thank you for another beautiful cover!

[@ShineyTrayCosplay]

Thanks! I absolutely love listening to you! With love from Texas

[@sethstatonwatkins]

Wow, thank you!

[@Dimetropteryx]

Straight into my favorites it goes.

[@noahberg101]

as someone in trade school going into machining I love the original it's about a man who doesn't want any help from the government and feels he can earn his own and owe no one. I respect that and hope to be like that. but that last verse is what I hope for in retirement and when I own my own shop. nice green hills and streams for me to sit and enjoy. I just like being a productive person and feel I need to earn my share instead of asking for it which I understand not all can do.

[@austinmoulton490]

That last sentence is exactly what the original writer intended to say

[@dakotastein9499]

the song also hints at the harsh realities of the fact that weather your on a government check or a company payroll you are still under somebodie's thumb. ive known poeple who have worked thier entire lives only to have nothing to show for it . good work ethic and a productive aditude are important,but it will be exploited and tooken advantage of almost every time.

[@Danawesomy567]

The original song was rooted in proletarian irony. One of the last stanzas hints at a lament of the worker’s life. “Oh the streets aren’t clean and there’s nothin’ green and the hills are dirty brown.” “Oh you’ll miss the green and the woods and streams and the dust will fill your nose. But you’ll be free and *just like me* an idiot, I suppose” The POV character regrets where he ends up but is simply too proud to “take the dole”. This doesn’t mean the POV character *wants* the life he is forcing himself to live. Seth’s stanza was a rather “on the nose” addition of what Stan Rogers was implying throughout the song. Not to say there’s anything wrong with your worldview. By all means if you can get by on your own and don’t want government support, go for it. If I was well off enough, I wouldn’t want government support either.

[@bigawesomewatermelon9511]

​@@Danawesomy567 whining about trading one sad miserable life for another said miserable life. Passive-aggressively saying that you're better than everyone who didn't make the choice you did. Not saying that he wasn't trying to convey the message you say he was, but this song does a poor job of conveying that message if he was. It's a whiny song, about whining. Nothing wrong with that. A lot, lot of folk songs are about whining.

[@JumboWatermelon]

​@@Danawesomy567@bigawesomewatermelon9511 Stan Rogers was already on the nose with the song. Mr. Watkins put a radio tower on the proletariat irony and decorated it like a Christmas Tree.

[@phoenix5384]

This has to be one of the best covers of any song I've heard, and the bonus verse adds a ton of additional nuance to it that only makes the original version better

[@mazerunner1054]

I could go on about the recent life and job troubles I'm going through, but really, they don't matter. What does, is your take on the song and the simple and dignified performance of it. So, for that - thank you.

[@Aidames]

This is such an excellent cover of the original! Makes me teary eyed every time. One small criticism, if I may: the lyrics of the last original verse are "but you'll be free, and *just like me*, and idiot, I suppose". It's a very critical piece of the song. But again, thank you very much for blessing all of our ears with your rendition of this great song!

[@Nobert594]

How do you sing so good????? Like it's flawless what the fudge

[@YoungsuGong-xb5ri]

Thanks for the great song. This song reminds of my father. He took nothing free, and my family called him idiot for not accepting Government dole. It is really amazing how songs could sound different with different emotion in it (Totally different from "I wanna be in the cavalry"). You are a great singer! keep the good work!

[@hotterotter]

Nobody going to mention that awesome sweater? Dude's rocking it!

[@ramiramadan3578]

SETH REMINDS ME WHEN I WAS YOU AND RENT MY FIRST APARTMENT IN BROOKLYN NY ON THE TOP OF IRISH BAR I WAS UNABLE TO SLEEP ESPECIALLY ON WEEKENDS BUT SURPRISINGLY THE IRISH MUSIC BECAME MY MOTHER SONGS FOR ME TO SLEEP WHEN I WAS SMALL

[@hannahpittman5379]

Every time I hear your songs, I just can't upvote it enough 😭😭😭 I love your music so much! Thank you for all you do!!

[@leslieunderwood3520]

Thank you for this outstanding cover of a Canadian icon, Stan Rogers, tune.

[@poftchen9340]

Random rant when far far to into my cups For me Stan Rogers is the most influential artist in my life, though I wouldn’t say he’s my favorite (for sure up there). And while I absolutely love your music, and your rambling rover cover and IRA music is on my daily listen list, I had advoided this one for a lot of personal reasons. You did amazing and I find the last verse extremely fitting. Now we just have to convince you to do Canol road or Athens queen

[@poellot]

Awesome, that last verse is just 100 percent truth. I work as a truck fleet mechanic, when the government shut everything down during covid, i told my wife, we will be fine because ill never go a day without work so we will get by because i am more essential than any other job in the world . She was laid off because she was a waitress. Then she collected from the government and was making more than me by staying home everyday. yes i may be a genius but i felt like an idiot. Still working the same blue collar job for 14 year.

[@tbsupratom7232]

I love Stan Rogers, you should cover more of his songs

[@lukeo9487]

Well, I cried, so there’s that. Absolutely beautifully done. Hoping to see it on Spotify.

[@markhammond690]

Never heard this version before. That tune reminds me of moving from Georgia to Kansas twice to find work.

[@Lee-nd4yf]

Not the same place but the same feeling. Living out in the red dust desert of Australia on an iron ore mine 10000km from my green forested home .... no reminders of home here though ... just the longing

[@mycenaeangal9312]

Maaaaan, you can get homesick anywhere. I've moved around a lot too. You leave pieces of your heart with the people and places you're separated from. I don't know if it ever gets any easier cause even if you go back home, you're probably gonna miss things about being out west. Hope you're doing alright a year later.

[@corybryant9513]

Your voice is absolutely amazing. What a gift you have!

[@tin117man9]

I always come back to this song. This to me is the best version of this song. Don’t get me wrong I always liked the original. But this one always has me coming back!

[@WojciechP915]

Worked in heavy industry my whole life and feel like I'm forty at twenty five and this song hits home.

[@lindcanfield2681]

This was such a lovely performance. I'm glad you redid this song :)

[@jacobprudent4354]

I have listened to this at least 20 times. It is perfect 🥰

[@genegene5339]

My favorite Singer covering the Great Stan Rogers. Superb harmony.

[@skirmish23]

This gives me the goosebumps... I love your work, supporting you on Patreon BTW ❤

[@sethstatonwatkins]

Thank you!

[@stardustpink7915]

You have a beautiful vioce. Im really glad to have discovered your songs 😊 I enjoy listening to them

[@Teajay21]

This is a great song, and you cover it beautifully as you always do, but I really appreciate the last verse you added! ❤️

[@MrFPRdz]

this is perfect. Update: I wrote the comment above before finishing the video, once I heard the last verse tears welled in my eyes. Oh God.

[@isaiahbasaldua924]

The songs of the working class inspire me always as member of the working class I understand our plit. We build it all but at what cost to our bodies and our lives. Beautiful poetry

[@LongarmsMcGee17]

So this was released on my birthday and it made the day so much better! Thank you for this. I adore your singing.

[@connorwheatley5640]

I've always wondered what one should make of the narrator of this song. On one hand I think his choice to stick to his principles is admirable and I think that there is a certain allure to living off of one's own work without being held up or assisted by an outside entity, yet at the same time the picture the narrator paints is a pretty grim existence and at certain points it sounds like he's trying to justify the decision to move out West to himself, like he's unsure if he made the right decision. regardless your take on the song was enjoyable as always.

[@sethstatonwatkins]

I agree. Up for interpretation.

[@RonnieTheSim]

... and when you're unsure if you've made the right choice, then it's natural to clamp down if someone calls you an idiot for it. Yet the words (old and new) acknowledge that even with the choices already made, the worker hasn't lost sight of what they still wish were possible. Well darnit, now I'm crying too, eh?

[@letsgobrandontrump2024]

FUCKEN beautiful vocal efforts (And heaps talent too) can’t complement you gents enough

[@noahberg101]

I was just listening to the original today! so glad you did a cover!!!

[@bellerain381]

This is such a great song! Thank you for covering this song!!

[@huntercole5470]

You summed up the last 5yrs of my life and made a tear roll down my cheek Great song man

[@GardensAndGames]

If Stan were alive today I don't know what he'd think of your extra verse. He understood on some level what greed and pollution had done to his beloved Canadian fisheries. I'd like to think that the solidarity with the common man would strike a chord in his heart. All I know is that I love your addition, and it makes me love the original song more.

[@GHefly445]

Yeah i don’t think he would really care for the last line too much. The cause is not capitalism, its regulations put on the factories. Workers also made huge amounts of money. Ive heard stories of people making upwards of 200,000 dollars working on steel mills.

[@austinmoulton490]

@@GHefly445 I disagree. Because after releasing this song, Stan went and wrote the chemical worker song. Which is very avidly anti-capitalist greed and pro regulation.

[@GHefly445]

@@austinmoulton490 Says who? Ive looked it up and it appears he never even covered the song let alone wrote it.

[@GHefly445]

@@austinmoulton490 It was wrote by Ron Angel. I dont know where u heard Stan rogers wrote this song.

[@GHefly445]

@@austinmoulton490 it appears he was at the very least a socially conservative guy that thought masculinity was a very important value. He never talked about politics so i think its a bit disrespectful to turn him into a socialist songwriter which he was most likely not.

[@rondawe6297]

I am amazed a cover of Stan could be so True. Thanks buddy.

[@seanflorian4653]

This is my favorite song by Stan and this cover sent chills down my spine, I love it. I'd love to listen to your work while I ride my bike but you don't have much of your collection on Spotify. I know Spotify payments aren't much, but if you can make it work I'd love to listen to your work on Spotify.

[@siegehammer63]

I'm lying in a bed in camp, 15 minutes from an oilsands refinery. I never got the song, or the sacrifices of the hard tough men who do this job. I stink. I'm covered in grit and dried sweat and I'm about to go grab my laundry and shower, and get up at 5 in the morning to do it again for the eighteenth day in a row. The only thing worse than this would be not being able to care for the people I love.

[@Jamie1317kast]

Long-time Stan Rogers fan! Love the addition!

[@persianprince6213]

Me too, it was excellent

[@thebullfrog9416]

Can you do the man from the daily mail

[@persianprince6213]

Up the RA!!!

[@hardyhar8744]

Wow. This is my first video of yours as a lead. What a great vocal control. I am looking forward to watching/listening your other vids. Keep shining on you crazy diamond 🤘😁

[@titania2523]

Oooo I’ve been waiting for your cover to this song

[@powerup3005]

That last verse hits hard, great job

[@TheEDBShow]

Is it me or does this song have the same chord progression as I Wanna Be in the Cavalry?

[@sethstatonwatkins]

It does! This is the original. Cavalry came after.

[@RogueSith07]

Love this song, can happily say this does it right. Please keep this up, its outstanding!

[@jasonmccain9544]

Beautiful! Great job!

[@EFJoKeR]

Absolutely love this tune... It's soo emotional... Thank you sir, for making this...

[@Rocin_Rykor]

That was fantastic, great work.

[@MachGlacier]

This is fantastic... don't stop

[@Japanlover79]

Your voice gives me shivers it's amazing

[@hugemusiclover1837]

💕💕💕 Another beautiful song for my playlist. I listen to your songs on repeat and every new one makes my heart so happy ❤️ I'm not sure if you'll ever see this, but I think 'Its a long way to Tipperary and 'Teir Abheile Riu' would sound really great in your voice!

[@MatsJPB]

Awesome! I've listened to it six times back to back now. It's the bonus verse that elevates it!

[@Alzmith]

This is beautiful.

[@philrobson4287]

I’d prefer to see you in concert than Taylor Swift. Let’s keep the memory of Stan Rogers alive. Thanks.

[@stardustsurfer2939]

Love every second of this

[@coltonmontgomery5975]

I been loving hearing your voice sing these bud I do have a thought of a good one you might be able to do

[@TheOneTrueDaedelus]

Your work is astounding.

[@aaronslevinlanders6855]

Amazing. I could listen to this all day long

[@robsealsey5052]

I don't think Stan wrote this, as many have suggested, not believing his own words. I believe he simply understood the hard reality of what life can be, and the haunting sadness of a life left behind to find something that could not exist before. The viewpoint of the song is definitively of someone who isn't necessarily happy about the choice they had to make, but is still opposed to the people calling him the, "Idiot," for moving West and taking up a hard living just to be free. I think he understood it was a hard choice, and one that many would ridicule as foolish for what they saw as potentially little gain. Stan also, and I would say rightly, points out that laziness, bitterness, arrogance, and dependence rot people inside and out. When I listen to this song, or Mary Ellen Carter, or many of Stan's works, I hear the thinking of someone who believed had work and a healthy degree of self reliance was liberating, and helped avoid the poison mentioned above, not ridiculing them as foolish, or writing for classist rhetoric.

[@RonnieTheSim]

I believe that. There's no good in ridiculing someone for making bad choices when there aren't any good ones in front of them. ("Why don't those idiots just ... ?") I believe Mr. Rogers was writing to meet an unmet need, not to pit different varieties of "idiots" against one another, but to uplift a particular under-appreciated variety of "idiot". And, I believe that Mr. Watkins' new verse favors that reading of the old verses.

[@SleepingPepper]

Thanks for writing that last verse. Really hammers on the point of the song which judging by this comment section, was completely missed by some people. The narrator is not proud and he knows he's in denial.

[@CaixadeSkinner]

You're the guy who prefers a fat government check, paid by taxpayers, right?

[@SleepingPepper]

@@CaixadeSkinner I'm a guy who earns my wage through oil, sweat, and blood.

[@SleepingPepper]

@@CaixadeSkinner Did you miss the point of the song? Because it sounds like you missed the point of the song

[@Mikesman1000]

Damn, those worker songs hit hard, thank you.

[@Welsh7133]

You Canucks make your southern neighbors proud with your soulful music 🇺🇸 forever brethren 🇨🇦

[@trevorfranks69]

Listening to this song every morning before i go to work lit up my spirit a little

[@persianprince6213]

Beautiful!!!!

[@limeyndixie]

Stan Rogers had a keen awareness of the community and culture he lived in. His sentiments would, I firmly believe, have changed had he seen what the labor and union movement has become. Not to mention the increase in their repression and exploitation. Self respect? None to be found anymore without solidarity. And the third path, as you say, is beginning to loom larger as the workers’ last and only hope. Brilliant rendition, mate. Thank you.

[@sethstatonwatkins]

Well said my friend

[@neilmarsh1904]

Well done, Seth! Well done indeed.

[@jameshubbard9430]

Your voice is so pretty and true there is no replacing Stan.

[@MisterEFire]

Awesome! Someone please let me know if this ever makes it to Spotify!

[@rebekahthomas9994]

I'm so happy you did a full version!

[@anthonygonzalez5724]

Beautiful we need more of your stuff on Spotify please

[@Sparks29252]

Absolutely stunning coda to the whole song. I agree that this one never sat right (for the opposite view look up The Chemical Workers Song). Taken with his other work I don't think Stan fully intended how this one came across, he wanted to be working, to be of use, and not doing so would grate on him. That said yeah this one doesn't read great. Amazing addition and worthy of the original singer.

[@joeamerican3947]

The chemical worker song has been my theme song for awhile.

[@Rrss369]

Seth did a short of the chemical worker’s song on Tiktok

[@Sparks29252]

@@Rrss369 and an excellent one at that.

[@noahberg101]

I personally like both. one is about a man contempt with life he likes work and wouldn't ask for a more. the other is about a man abused by work he's down on his luck in the harsh working conditions. like two sides of a coin

[@makky-kat3719]

@@Rrss369 I don't even have a Tiktok, but I went, looked it up, and now I think we need a full cover of that one.