Bird Essay 10 October 2019\
I wrote a verse in this specifically for Brian. He shares way more on our podcast than I'm comfortable with so I'll share this about my buddy and coproducer Brian Lutz. He's been going through a country song of a stretch in his life. These words are specifically for him: "Inside your crumbled world know you're not alone / Outside the insular lonely people roam / dreamers and malcontents and rebels scared to win."
Nothing ever works out according to plan. That's what ol' Lennon was saying in "Beautiful Boy:" "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
Initially this song grew out of a piano jam we did in Forgotten Sons in the 80s. C major. That's a dead give away. It was always in the Big Opera and then when we set about digitizing that motherfucker it wasn't. I tend to fall into the dark side of my personality and sometimes write overtly positive songs. Maybe as a self pep talk? Maybe I'm trying to talk my way into a good mood. Ugh. I don't know. I'm in the cavernous abyss right now that's for sure.
THIS version of this song, you see, uh. Who cares. Whatever, right? Fuck. I had a lot of fun tossing around the word "ennui." I like how it sounds. I like that it's French. The Gauls and the Goths were epic awesomeness, am I right? Yo check out my keyboard wizardry on this'n. The Hammond B3 at the end, I couldn't do the right and left hand parts at the same time! Hah!
I really really like C-major. It's jaunty. It's the opposite of Nigel Tufnel's the saddest of all keys. Here's some examples of the vibe of C major. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "The Ballad Of Curtis Lowe." You know what else is in C-major? "Imagine." "The Card Cheat" off of LONDON CALLING is C major. Shit, yo. I'm spinning muh goddamn wheels! Tell you what, friends, the gears are most definitely engaged. C and F. Love them. LOVE EM!
I have existential angst at the moment. I have it to the point where I feel as if I don't deserve it. As if I haven't EARNED mine own angst! I'll tell you what, folks. I had the opportunity to work with a bunch of men and women from the post Gen X generations. Here's the reality, fellow middle age dorks and dorkettes. We fucked everything up good for today's young-ins. We've poisoned the land. We've destroyed the ecosystem. We've modified the earth so that we are no longer a part of it. I say it constantly, right? Team Thanos every day and twice on Sunday.
Our party was way more intense than that of the Baby Boomers. They were naive little sissy-pants jag-offs. We knew full well that the heart that beats in the center of the party is dark. It has consequences (*PLUG* check out the song "Consequence" from TRAVELOGUE IV!). We were fucking and getting fucked up in college. Today's youths are assuming mountains of debt. A good trend I've seen is that the next ones ain't to keen on breeding. I love that. There are far too many human beings on Earth.
I'll tell you why there's the greatest wealth disparity in the US since the 1920s. It all started with my homeboy Ronald Reagan saying "more government can't solve the problem. Government IS the problem." He was right. Governmental bureaucracy was bloated and self sustaining. It was an AI. Scaling back was the right thing to do. But now we need another course correction. The 1950s was a pretty good era economically. We ruled the world through normal traditional war ways and through culture. This was when it crystalized for me. It was the stimulus package passed by our gubmint in 2017. All the tax cuts for rich folk and for mega businesses are forever whereas the ones for working stiffs are temporary. It pains me to say this but the Democrats are the more fiscally responsible party. How the fuck did that happen? They try to at least pay for a portion of what their abdicating. Not the Republicans. Dammit. I was 100% down with the GOP's obsession with fiscal responsibility during 44's presidency. And then they passed that stupid fucking tax cut and exploded the deficit. There's ANOTHER way we're fucking the next generations. There you go, guys. Have fun cleaning up our shitstorm!
We fucking suck.