Gary Whittaker: Personal Genesis

I grew up in a strict Christian home in the 1970s with two Sunday-school-enforcing grandmothers. Cussing wasn’t allowed, but the King James Bible was always open. And one thing about King James — he was all about that ASS. Flip almost anywhere and there it is: an ass.

I read Scripture cover to cover as a kid. Most people think only the serpent spoke, but another animal did — a donkey who carried God’s words. (Numbers 22:28–30) I called him a Righteous Ass. Years later, when my first dog Jack passed, the donkey finally got a first name: Jack Righteous.

Then came Suno AI. I’ve worked in emerging tech my whole career. I heard V3 and saw where it was headed. My son, a producer, listed the flaws; I heard the potential. By V4.5 Plus it was close. With V5, it was time to build.

If we’re telling Christian-inspired stories for Generation Alpha, we must update how we present the Bible — not to weaken it, but to show that Truth doesn’t break when it meets fact. It expands. That’s the heart behind The First Fall.

Why This Story Begins After Eden

Adam and Eve are already exiled, standing with the earliest of humanity. The question is simple: keep wandering, or claim the land?

Abel wants roots; his crops thrive. Cain hunts; he believes his skill feeds everyone and feels unseen. Their tension isn’t only jealousy — it is survival versus stewardship.

“Let’s Go (My People)” becomes the people’s anthem. Adam and Eve release humanity to multiply and fill the earth by whatever means God allows through their actions. Walk Free is both liberation and warning.

The song was first set to close a four-song play. It became the opener to a twelve-song series. Every step moves toward a deeper mark — one that will rest on Cain and ripple through generations.

Where This Musical Began (Suno → Spotify)

Release note: These tracks were released to Spotify in May 2024 as the original concept behind the prequel to this musical. They are the official originals that became the foundation for expanding into a 12-song work.

• Genesis of Righteous Love — creation narrative leading up to Adam and Eve. Listen
• Forbidden Paradise → evolved into Just One Bite. Listen
• I Will Protect Her — Adam’s vow in exile. Listen
• Let’s Go! — first voiced through Jack Righteous (the Ass). Listen

These four originals were the roots. The First Fall is the tree.

Scene 1 — Life After Eden (Firelight & First Rivalry)

Setting: Night at the edge of the known world. A small settlement has stopped wandering. Spears, baskets, and rough tools ring a central fire. Predators beyond the light; pride within it.

Onstage: Adam and Eve by the fire; Cain and Abel nearby; Villagers in shadow. At the far edge, Jack Righteous (the Ass) stands silent, his hoof marking time.

Dialogue (pre-song)

ADAM: This ground remembers. She drinks the seed but gives back slow. Every root we plant feels like asking forgiveness.

EVE: Maybe she waits to see if we’ll keep our word. The land doesn’t trust wanderers.

ADAM: Then let her test us. A man can’t chase horizon forever; sooner or later the dust must name him.

(Children chase sparks; laughter rises. Jack’s hoof strikes once — deep, steady.)

EVE: The world’s newborn, but it already bites. I wonder if kindness grows slower than crops.

CAIN (teasing): Still talking to the dirt, Father? Does she answer you yet?

ABEL (grinning): She answers him with weeds. I’ve seen them.

ADAM: Mock the soil now, but one day she’ll measure you both.

(Two villagers — a husband and wife — approach. Their teen daughter lingers, playful.)

VILLAGER 1 (father): Lion tracks by the river again.

VILLAGER 2 (mother): Maybe the same one looking for his brother — the one Cain found last season.

VILLAGER 3 (from the crowd): Let him look. We’re still full from Abel’s harvest!

(Laughter. The danger feels distant.)

THE GIRL (to Abel, playful): Rawr! I’m the river lion — come for revenge!

(She pounces; Abel dodges and plays along. Children cheer. Cain watches, jaw tight.)

ABEL (laughing): Come then, beast! See if you can best a farmer’s hands!

(They circle. Abel gently “tames” her; more laughter.)

CAIN (cutting in): You don’t tame a lion. You kill it.

(He snatches a stick, steps between them, and swings. The Girl ducks; Abel blocks the next strike.)

ABEL (firm): Enough, brother — it’s a game.

(Silence. Jack stamps once.)

VILLAGER 4: Sing it, Adam — the walking song!

(Adam plants his staff. The people draw in. Drums breathe.)

Song: “Let’s Go (My People)”

🎧 Listen to the Suno version

[Intro verse]
[Male Vocal – spoken over slow drums]
We came through fire — not for shelter, but for soil
[Female Vocal – layered in, fierce]
Not just to live — but to own the toil
[Ensemble – chant rising]
Let’s go, my people — let’s go

[Verse 1]
[Male Vocal]
We didn’t flee — we forged the way
With calloused hands and debts to pay
The trees don’t bow, the stone don’t kneel
So why should we deny what’s real?

[Female Vocal]
I bore the weight that shaped this land
Blud on leaves, milk in sand
The earth don’t gift — it makes you take
We build by sweat, by scar, by stake

[Chorus – All]
Let’s go, my people, let’s rise
Let’s carve our names across the skies
We walk through blud to claim the seed
Let’s go, my people — walk free

[Verse 2]
[Male Vocal]
No voice above what we survive
No breath but ours will keep us alive
The fire inside ain’t wrath — it’s right
We earn our days. We earn our night.

[Female Vocal]
Don’t speak of fall — we made the climb
Each step, a war we called divine
The sun looks down and knows our claim:
Not bound by shame — but crowned by flame

[Bridge – Male & Female]
Let them say we lost the gate —
But we have ground, and ground won’t wait
We plant, we fight, we bleed, we breed —
Not cast aside — we are the seed

[Final Chorus – All]
Let’s go, my people — not in shame
Let’s go — with fists that feed the flame
Let’s go — through blud no sky can see
Let’s go, my people — walk free

[Outro – Male Vocal (whispered)]
We walk the land — and it walks through me …
[All – soft chant under drum]
Let’s go.

Buttons on the scene (post-song)

(The chant fades; villagers drift. The Girl stands with her parents, watching Abel. Cain kicks at the dirt.)

ABEL: They’ll sing that one long after we’re gone. It makes the dark feel smaller.

CAIN: Songs feed hearts, not stomachs. The hunt feeds both.

(Eve studies the brothers; her hand finds Adam’s.)

EVE (low): Do you hear it? The wanting before the wisdom.

ADAM: Every child fights the same shadow.

(Wind rises; a faint hiss moves through grass. Jack stamps once — a warning in rhythm. Lights fall to silhouettes.)

Scene Notes (What to Watch For)

• The World After Eden: First settlement — freedom meets accountability.
• The Brothers: Abel = nurture and faith; Cain = pride and power. The conflict begins as play.
• The Girl: Daughter of the warning villagers; her playful courage draws Abel and pricks Cain. She returns in Scene 2.
• Lion Warning: Sets up the next scene’s threat and mirrors Cain’s rising hunger.
• Eve and Adam: Parents of a new world, seeing echoes of their fall in their sons.
• Jack Righteous (the Ass): Silent witness; hoofbeat signals divine notice.
• The Staff: Adam’s planted staff marks creation’s beat; later it marks the cost of choice.
• Foreshadowing: “Walk Free” celebrates choice but warns of its price — the mark that will follow.
• Author’s Note: The First Fall re-imagines Genesis for a generation unafraid to question. It moves from courage to consequence and points toward renewal.

Creator Notes (Suno workflow)

• Structure first: map voices → write lyrics → test swaps
• Prompting: “spoken intro · slow drums · chant-ready chorus · Afro-fusion roots”
• Iteration: generate → select → remix → comp
• Continuity: recurring hoofbeat motif across scenes