Let’s Not Fight
I’m travelling home after a lovely week of songwriting, and the wonderful experience of spending time with old friends. No fighting there. But here’s the lyric to one of the songs I wrote last week.
Let’s Not Fight
Across the universe
A photon of light is doing it’s thing like the kind of thing
A photon of light would do
Lighting up the little part of everything that’s making up the universe
That you and I and everybody else pass through
It doesn’t take a genius to realise there’s nothing we can do
And everything is happening on it’s own and we have got the privilege to watch it all, and be a part of everything and everyone
And it’s alright
Coz we’re all light
And there’s part of you in me
So let’s not fight
Across the planet earth
A woman you don’t know, is doing the kind of thing
A woman you don’t know would do
She’s gonna make a new dress for the daughter of her sister when she celebrates her birthday she’ll be seven-teen in a week or two
It doesn’t take a genius to realise there’s nothing we can do
And everything is happening on it’s own and we have got the privilege to watch it all, and be a part of everything and everyone
And it’s alright
Coz we’re all light
And there’s a part of you in me
So let’s not fight
Let’s not fight
Let’s not fight
Across the living room
There’s a friend of yours, he’s doing the kind of thing that
A friend of yours would do
Right now he’s thinking anxiously about something that he just said which might have not come out in quite the way that it had been intended to
It doesn’t take a genius to realise there’s nothing you can do
And everything is happening on it’s own and we have got the privilege to watch it all, and be a part of everything and everyone
And it’s alright
Coz we’re all light
And there’s a part of you in me
So let’s not fight
Yes it’s alright
Coz we’re all light
And there’s a part of you in me
So let’s not fight
Oh it’s alright
And we’re all light
So let’s not fight
Let’s not fight
Let’s not fight
Lucky Me
Songs have been written and need to be worked on. And when I’m in a song writing frame of mind, I don’t want to do very much else.
So some coffee, a chat with my fellow songwriting friends, and then down to work.
Even though it’s not my job, I like to try and approach things professionally. But it is nice to have the choice. And it is nice, as I mentioned yesterday, to be able to be as quirky or as normal as I like, without worrying about commercial demands.
I’ve said it before, but I’ve stopped being sniffy about seeing my songwriting as a hobby, even though I’m passionate about it, and treat it seriously.
Because in truth I’ve got the best of all worlds.
Lucky me.
Being Quirky
You know what you like and what you don’t like.
I get tickled, or moved, or delighted by quirky stuff. Features in a song or a book or a film that stick out a bit, because they pop up in a place where you weren’t expecting them.
That kind of thing often makes me smile, and I like putting them into my own songs sometimes.
BUT...if you’re gonna do that, you better know that, even though you like them, it could have the opposite effect for some people. It might even make them screw their faces up in disgust.
So give yourself a giggle when you create. That’s vital. But realise that when Being Quirky you might also lose some of your audience.
I still think it’s a risk worth taking though….
“Look at that little girl over there. Picking her nose with her thumb”. From The Road To Fun
Begin Again
Well, a song did emerge yesterday. In fact two popped out.
I’m trying to iron out the details this morning. Below is the lyric to the first song from yesterday. This one was born out of my recent adventure into the art and practise of meditation. I’m finding that very helpful, and this lyric is an attempt to put some of the ideas into song form.
Begin Again
When your head hurts
Coz your brain is stuck
In a foggy mire
Full of pity and bad luck
And your lost at sea
In your ocean mind
You could decide to
Begin again
Yesterday
Is History
Sometimes I’ve been a fool
And it’s time to
Begin again
See that little thought
Where did it come from
Where is it going to
And to whom does it belong
Floating out to sea
On your ocean mind
So you decide to
Begin again
Yesterday
Is History
I might have been a fool
But it’s time to
Begin again
Bababada Bababadaba
Bababada Bababadaba
Bababada Bababadaba
Bababada Bababadaba
Maybe it ain’t you
Inside your head
Just a sky of blue
And a song by The Grateful Dead
Floating out to sea
On an ocean mind
So you decide to
Begin Again
Ohohooh Ohohooh etc
Begin Again
Begin Again
Begin Again
What On Earth?
I sit down to write this blog before I attempt to write a song for the first time in a while.
It’s an exciting moment. There’s a craft involved, which is very familiar. But there is always that sense of anticipation. The hoped for X-Factor.
What on earth or in the big Blue Sky is going to come out of the mix at the other end.
Well, I’m just about to find out.
Scheduled
I can schedule blogs. But clearly where I am now, might not be where I am tomorrow. So scheduling a blog, which I occasionally do because of not always knowing if I’ll be able to write or send it on a certain day, is not something to make a habit of.
This blog is Scheduled.
But it doesn’t contain anything I’m expecting to change my mind about.
So I think we’re safe. I think I’ll still be here. Even when I’m there. Which I will be when you read this.
Hope that’s all clear.
The Princess And The Pea
I came to the conclusion, when the fable of The Princess And The Pea randomly came to my mind upon the hill today, that the princess in question was a little bit over protected for her own good.
Apparently her inability to sleep because of the discomfort caused by the presence of a pea under her pile of feather mattresses was a sign of her “Genuine Princess” credentials.
Real Royal or not, she was a prisoner to the avoidance of suffering. Which is an impossible goal.
Just impossible. It sets a person up for the likelihood of much greater suffering further down the line.
Which means, I think, that in matters which we can control it is far better to preempt future suffering by developing as much resilience as possible in the present.
That’s why I take cold showers…. ;-)
Where Are You?
I got an email in my box yesterday. It simply asked: “Where Are You?”
Well, I’m in Campbeltown, Kintyre, Scotland…that’s the easiest part of the answer.
I’m 57 years old, so I’m probably more than half way through my life. That’s roughly where I am on my own personal space-time continuum.
In terms of my location as a human being, in a psychological and spiritual sense I’m in good place generally, becoming a better place gradually. With occasional visits to some really low down dives.
It’s a very personal question to be honest, and this is a very short answer.
But I’ll throw the question right back at you, anyway.
Where are YOU?
An Act Of Mercy
There is almost certainly a local songwriter near you who would love an opportunity to perform some of their own original songs.
I was listening to a local Campbeltown songwriter yesterday at the local library. He was excellent, and was just happy to have an opportunity to play. Told me he’d been on a bit of downer musically since the end of the summer, after the two local music festivals, just because of that lack of opportunity since.
So why not invite a local artist, or even a few local artists, to come and play for you in your own house one evening. Then invite some friends and neighbours. Call it a Homesong if you like. Call it An Act Of Mercy. Call it whatever you like.
But you might just find yourself getting addicted to the experience.
The Twelfth Man
You are sitting alone in an empty stadium, clapping and shouting for your team on the pitch. It’s going to feel futile.
But when the stadium is full it’s a different story.
They sometimes still refer to the support of the crowd for the team as The Twelfth Man. Of course, if it’s the women’s team being supported, we would, or should, be talking about The Twelfth Woman.
But the idea is that the support of the crowd is like having an extra person on the team.
Sometimes in life, when we are feebly trying to support a cause, it can feel as though we are in the stadium alone, and that our support is pointless.
But often there are other people adding support that we aren’t even aware of. Or perhaps, by clapping our support, we can inspire other onlookers to clap too.
Anyway, I’m sure the analogy is clear enough.
Let’s not underestimate ourselves or our potential influence. The players are the main event, but they value and are strengthened by our support.
Trigger Happy
Trigger happy?
In my experience triggers have very little to do with happiness.
Quite the opposite.
I’m talking about the triggers that other people inadvertently set off in me because of some long forgotten historical event that occurred, and which no longer matters in the slightest. If it ever did.
That event led to a reaction. And that reaction became a habit.
And it feels like that trigger happy habit is part of me. Part of who I am.
But it ain’t. And it doesn’t have to exist at all.
If our body cells can change completely over time, then so can our thinking patterns. I’m sure of that. Although it will undoubtedly require a great deal more awareness on my part.
I’m quite sure nobody else has this issue though…
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Another recommendation today. Go and see The Banshees Of Inisherin at a cinema near you. If you possibly can.
Martin McDonagh is the brilliant director and writer of this undoubtedly sad, heart breaking, and occasionally horrific film. But also one that is laugh out loud hilarious, tenderly compassionate and so very perceptive. Starring those superb actors Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, who are brilliantly matched all the way by the rest of the cast.
The film covers life, death and everything in between in a tale of friendship gone wrong, that is also, and even more so, about our own relationship to mortality, suffering and the meaning of life.
I’m a lover of happy endings…give me some hope please…and though this certainly isn’t THAT kind of film, it still has some gently uplifting moments. And it certainly isn’t just battering the poor, helpless, cinema going soul with gratuitous darkness, in the manner of a particular kind of film that I find repulsive.
Instead, the whole experience, and it is an experience, holds the viewer very close, and breaths out a very simple message in the midst of tragic comedy.
One life. Don’t fritter it away.
The Relationship Begins
An empty page can be filled. It doesn’t care who fills it. The empty page has no feelings. It’s empty.
But as soon as something, anything, steals away it’s empty space it starts to speak. To you.
It says “Not that….this!”
And then the relationship begins.
All About Me
In the moment.
No, not that moment, this moment.
And now it’s gone. Another one bites the dust.
These moments continue to be precious though. And what I do with mine, and what you do with yours are so very personal.
Mindfulness is very trendy at the moment. But that sort of moment is irrelevant. It’s not what everybody else is doing that matters.
Because there are moments which belong to us alone.
Sometimes it really is All About Me.
I Hope You Dance
There is hope.
It is probably something we have to nurture and maintain in our own mental universe.
But until something is beyond the realm of possibility, then it is possible to say, completely truthfully and without necessarily feeling optimistic about the outcome:
There is hope.
And after the presence of hope is established we are free, if we choose, to work towards making that hope a reality, as much as it is within our power to do so.
I hope you dance.
Five Minutes, Then It’s Over
A recommendation today, which I think is worth a few moments of anybodies time. But especially if, like me, you sometimes give too much emotional attention to things that really don’t matter that much, when everything is considered.
It’s a beautiful little meditation by Sam Harris on The Lessons Of Death.
Five minutes, then it’s over.
You’re welcome!
Be Of Service
It might sound Way Out There, but businesses and organisations, like you and I, don’t need to wait for The Law to MAKE them do the right thing.
And anyway, they could be waiting a very LONG time in these days when Money is very much back at the top of the pile.
You may say that I’m a dreamer, etc, etc, but there already exists a kind of Social Enterprise where the bottom line is not about making more money, but simply enough money to be able to continue to Be Of Service to the people they could be serving.
Even if we don’t work for that kind of business or organisation, we can, and perhaps should, act as though we did.
Money For Nothing
I’ve recently received money from the Performing Rights Society for a song wot I never wrote.
I’m trying to give it back obviously. And I usually find that people who give out money are much happier about the receiving money back part of any transaction, so I’m quite sure this will be an easy job.
However, I’m a little bit gutted that, having recently received a decent payback for a song I DID write, it wasn’t the start of a trend.
But maybe there is another songwriter out there who is about to get a pleasant surprise. And of course, I wish the best of luck to ANY songwriters who share my name.
The songwriting David Fee’s of the world will stand forever united in the name of Rock…..‘n Roll!?