Build It, And They Will Come?

I’m wrestling in my head (again) with the idea of ditching social media altogether. I do like keeping contact with people I actually know. And I’m not addicted to posting all the time or checking other people’s posts. So that’s not really the issue.

The struggle is more to do with the part that these social media are supposed to play in the marketing of people like myself. People who have a creative output. That’s our market place. That’s where I’m supposed to be placing my art so that people find it. And that’s where I have been placing it, in my own haphazardly consistent sort of way.

Except that it doesn’t seem to work.

I’m not interested in creating a tidal wave of fandom or going viral, even if that were possible. But I am interested in connecting with those people who are particularly suited to hearing or reading the work I make. I am sure they exist. But I haven’t found a way of finding them in any numbers that might constitute a small, sustainable “fanbase”. The vast majority of my fans, as for many artists like me to be fair, come from friends, family, and pre-existing connections.

And I do know that there are ways of finding those potential supporters of my music and words in the digital world. It mainly involves taking out paid ads and placing them in a non-obtrusive way. And I’ve flirted with this idea, even though it goes against my more organic, and probably far too idealistic concept of Build It, And They Will Come.

So the question is - do I simply get more committed and more informed in my relationship with this modern market place? Periodically it causes me a lot of mental anxiety and stress, and I’m not sure whether that is added to by my lack of (enough) industry, consistency and specificity.

Or do I just drop the lot? Simply put up my work on my own websites (these tiny little shop fronts in a massive cybersphere) and play the songs at the infrequent gigs I get. Do I simply accept the situation and remove the stress? I honestly get a lot of joy from the creative process alone.

The truth is I haven’t got the answer. I’m leaning towards the latter at the moment, as I said. And I’m in the luxurious position of being able to make the art I want without any immediate need for financial recompense. So that aspect at least is not my struggle.

I know there are many artists like me with this dilemma, even if we all deal with it in different ways. It’s an ongoing one. Some times it’s good to put that dilemma into words.

So, thanks for listening. :-)

“Tried To Be Kind”

Jacinda Ardern has recently resigned as the Prime Minister of New Zealand. She was only in that position for five years, but has stepped aside simply because she doesn’t feel that she has enough energy left to do the job properly. She had some serious issues to deal with in this time, including of course the Covid years, and her honesty is kind of refreshing.

But I’m not usually in the habit of reporting on the comings and goings of politicians. Except for the fact that this particular mention of her leaving stood out to me - when asked how she would like New Zealanders to remember her leadership, Ardern said:

“as someone who always Tried To Be Kind”.

And all I’ve got to say is - more of that please. It’s not a cure all. But if kindness were really the guiding light for our top politicians, then we might be able to genuinely hope for better government.

No Time To Spare

No Time To Spare.

It’s a phrase that comes to my mind a fair bit.

And it seemed to be the case for today’s blog. But here we are.

It’s not Shakespeare, or Socrates, but it does answer to its description.

Got to go now.

Drip Drip Drip

Drip Drip Drip.

Drip drip drip drip drip drip drip drip drip drip drip.

There is a persistent drip.

This drip does not quit. Or hit a different note. Or sit around in silence, or make a funny joke.

This drip is like a rhyme in a line from Dr Seuss. Dropping like a pebble, not floating like a kite. Descending in the evening, and onwards through the night. And the drip keeps dripping when I watch, and when it’s out of sight.

One day it will stop, of course, but not, oh not just yet.

And it’s probably a metaphor for something.

But what that something is

I forget.

Drip drip drip.

Or Something Like That

It occurred to me that it would be helpful to have a song that introduces the listeners to the artist at a gig. At least for the below the radar performer who nobody has heard of before. A way to avoid all the awkwardness that can surround any introduction.

So I’m writing one.

Let Me Introduce Myself will be that song when it’s ready.

Just a bit of fun really. I’ll try it out when it’s done, and report back.

In the meantime…

”Hi, i’m David. I’m a Homo Sapien. That means “human” in Homo Sapien language. I have combined some words and music to form a “song”. A song is sung. I will demonstrate how this works for you now.
I hope you like it.”

Or Something Like That

Enough?

How much is “Enough”?

We come to the end of a working day and say “Enough”…it’s all Me Time now. Same thing for many people at the end of a working life.

Sometimes we simply run out of strength and energy and “Enough” forces its hand. Our bodies and our minds have limits.

And that’s just for the things we consider to be “work”. The kind of work we do as a means to an end…a way of getting to do the things we REALLY want to do. But we can get enough of those things too. Even our pleasures can begin to drag.

There isn’t a magical wand that can make anything pleasurable we do , or its opposite, last for ever. And it for these reasons that creativity, and imagination, and clear vision, and rest will always be the most important tools at our disposal.

With those resources we can turn enough of one thing into the start of something new.

Only Now

“Where have the last few days gone”.

That’s the kind of thing we say when it’s all been a blur of busyness. Or just a blur.

But, either way, they’ve gone.

We also say “Don’t dwell on the past”.

Which doesn’t stop us from building our mental time machines, travelling back in time, heading to the nearest estate agent, and trying to purchase a house that has already been sold to some other soul, to whom we are merely a ghost in the shadows of their previous lives. And maybe they aren’t even living there! Maybe they’ve build a time machine too.

I’m going somewhere with this. And hopefully that somewhere is right back to this very moment, and it’s new opportunities and the possibility of writing a new song.

I know I repeat myself. Somethings need to repeated over and over again.

There is Only Now.

Lemon Yellow Curtains

I’m off to Jury service today. That must have been on my mind yesterday, when writing this lyric below for another song, after a very fruitful weekend of writing in general.

For songwriters I would highly recommend the online work of Rosie Bans and her Radical Songwriting. She produces free songwriting challenges, as well as paid stuff that is also very reasonable compared to most others. Her approach is very holistic and empathetic, and gave me the spark I needed to restart my own songwriting engine again. Very, very good.

Lemon Yellow Curtains
The lemon yellow curtains
At the window
Are cold, just like the winters day
They guide my eyes 
Beyond all of this clutter
To the world outside
And the world outside
Has something to say

Look  to the sky
The sky It lasts forever
Walk in the woods
Where you can be alone
Don’t be the judge 
Don’t even be the jury
Coz the world is what it is
And that’s OK. 
The world is what it is
And that’s OK.

The lemon yellow curtains
At the window
Are warm when summer comes to stay
They warm my soul
And lead my feet to wander
To the world outside
And the world outside
Has something to say

Look to the hills
Where  giants lay to rest
Walk by the seashore
Where mighty monsters swim
Don’t be afraid
When the picture starts to change
The world is always new
And that’s OK. 
The world is always new
And that’s OK.

The lemon yellow curtains
At the window
Are fading like the softest evening rays
They whisper to me
“Life is full of glory
And the world outside
Yes the world outside
Has something to say

Look to your heart
The tears and laughter dancing
Look to your side
To the ones you want to love
They call it life
And life comes with a partner
It’s the world outside
And that’s Ok
It’s the world’s outside
And that’s OK.
Well the world’s outside
And that’s OK.

Nothing To Lose

Time is of the essence, as I’m on a short but very busy online songwriting course. Here’s a lyric to a song I wrote yesterday. It’s a band song I think. And a work in progress. But, as always there is…

Nothing To Lose

The sky falls out of 
Your universe
And you hug your heart
But it still hurts
The cool aid never seems to work
You go to school
But you never learn

That there’s nothing
Nothing to Lose

What did you have when you came here
Nothing
N-O-T-H-I-N-G
Nothing
You’ve got nothing to lose

So the music plays
And you start to sing
Just the one note
Like the way a bell rings

Do you feel the sound
Of the thunder peeling
You’ve been hit
Been hit by lightening

Nothing
Nothing to lose

What did you have when you came here
Nothing
N-O-T-H-I-N-G
Nothing
You’ve got nothing to lose

One day we’ll all be nothing
In a beautiful place
And you and I can dance
Among the stars
For now we’ve got this privilege 
There’s something to chose
But there’s nothing
There’s nothing
To lose

Nothing to lose

Nothing to lose

Come On The Internet!

Yesterday I wrote a song with a complete stranger from (and in) a far off land. It was her second song ever, and somewhere in the region of my billionth.

Beautiful.

This is the kind of thing that restores the reputation of Ye World Wide Web. This is what it was made for. A modern day miracle, that a person from Medieval times (the 1980’s) would find hard to believe possible.

So, though I’m quick to jump on the faults and problems with our increasingly digital lives, I have to say that moments like this are magical.

World wide co-operation, friendship, creativity. What’s not to like?

Come On The Internet!

It’s Time To Dream Again

I had a dream. But I don’t remember what it was.

I know I had one, or several, because my new watch measures my R.E.M. The rapid eye movement that occurs when we are in the dream state.

Perhaps our nightbird dreams help us sort through the muddled thinking processes that occur during our day time consciousness.

And perhaps our day dreams help to reveal our true desires.

Who knows? I don’t. A lot of everything we think we know about these things is just a stab in the dark. Even those scientist geezers, especially those scientist geezers, admit that there is far, far more that we don’t know. About dreams. About everything.

I don’t know why I write songs.

But I suspect it’s all connected with The Dreams, in some way. And I know it’s important that I do it.

It’s Time To Dream Again, I think.

Read All About It

-Seriously frivolous.

-Frivolously serious.

-The sense that everything matters, but nothing really matters.

-This is important stuff. We should completely ignore it.

And other brain fryingly wondrous insights.

Read All About It!

Here on an almost, but not quite, daily basis.

by D.R.Fee, MaD

This Exercise Malarkey

It’s not too late in my humble opinion. For anybody.

For instance, I didn’t start treating my body and its physical needs seriously until the last few years.

I don’t regret a moment of the effort put in to doing that. And the more I do, generally the better I feel. Mainly because I do things for a purpose, and I do exercise that I enjoy (usually). And, as with everything, a little bit regularly and consistently is far better than short bouts of intensity. And certainly better than doing hardly anything at all.

I can’t change the past and, in an ideal world…the one that doesn’t and never will exist…I would have started This Exercise Malarkey a lot sooner. But I didn’t. And yet I’ve still managed to see what looks to my eyes like a transformation in how I feel physically.

I go on about this thing to friends because…well, it would be nice if we all hung around as long as possible, and felt as good as possible while we do. Totally selfish I know.

But hey, just the one life, and all that.

It’s Not All About Me

If you’re a performer, remember:

People have problems and joys that you don’t know about - secret pains, relationships, memories, hobbies, pets, deaths, jokes, appetites and friends - all of which may well be more important to them than this moment right now - the one in which they are listening to you sing.

It’s Not All About Me.

People forget. We forget the good things and the bad things. If you’re unlucky and make a mess of your song, people will forget. If you “hit  it out the ballpark” and etch emotional tattoos upon some secret part of their vulnerable hearts, they will still forget. There lives will continue when you are not there. They don’t necessarily care that you are there. It’s not personal.

It’s Not All About Me.

It’s only a song. It’s a moment in time. Give it everything you’ve got.  Then move on to the next moment in time. 

Because It’s Not All About Me.

The First Time

Today,

I opened my eyes

As though for The First Time.

The light poured in, and I could see
Everything, that I could see.
And everything was quite beautiful.

Then I shut them again.

As though for the first time.

And the universal sky
Behind my eyes
Revealed itself.
A tapestry, not of darkness
But of shade and contours and shooting stars.

I opened my eyes. Again.
Wanting to feel that first time. Again.

There was nothing to stop me.
Nobody to make it NOT happen.
No law to say: The First Time Is Off Limits. Do Not Enter.
No Ministry Of Experience ordering me how to feel.

It turns out that The First Time

Is a repeatable experiment.

So I shut my eyes.

Of Course

I’ve signed up for a songwriting course.

Because, Of Course, there is always something new to learn.

Whether you’ve just started, or you’re a long in the tooth, been around the block, never-has-been.

I’m one of those, that’s for sure.

Being In A Band

Sharing the journey.

I’m piping on about that subject a lot I think. I’ve realised how important it has become to me.

Because though I am happy in my own company, I am recognising a part of myself that wants to know my experiences…to share my experiences….not all of them, but many of them, with others.

This is a personal realisation. I’ve got a lot of memories of being alone as a child and as a young person that aren’t always positive. Some are the definition of lonely memories. And I have sometimes, although less so recently, avoided “sharing”, or trying to find a shared experience, out of some fear of loneliness and rejection.

Despite this I’ve been fortunate to find friendship and to have some shared experiences, at least intermittently or from a distance.

But as the archetypal “lonesome troubadour” performer, I’m suddenly wanting to share THAT particularly experience…the one of being on a stage…with somebody, or somebodies.

Being In A Band is suddenly looking like an attractive proposition.

Neither Can We

I watch the waves. They come and go in their own way.

Patterns and irregularities. Beauty, power, mystery, history, presence, colour, smell, movement, drama, endings.

They exist and I watch.

I don’t judge. Because they can’t change anything that has happened.

And Neither Can We.

All Aboard

Life is waiting for us.

This is true whether we’re aware of it or not. It’s a constant. Not just at the start of a new year, but every second of every day.

And so another moment just slipped by. But while we have breath there is always a new one to be embraced.

What’s even better…and this becomes so much more apparent to me as I get older…is the pleasure and joy to be had when we climb All Aboard to experience these moments with other people. Friends and family, and even sometimes with the people who we don’t like.

We live life alone. But it doesn’t have to be lonely.

#LongLivePidgeMoon

A Good New Year To You

Here in Campbeltown a lot of folk wish each other a “Good New Year” in early January.

I like that. Happy New Year is a nice greeting too. It’s just that “Happy” is such a fickle and fleeting condition. If you’ve ever gone chasing after “Happy” you’ll find that it often simply flits away like some demonic butterfly, always a flower away, always just out of reach of the net.

And, meanwhile, you end up missing the beauty and glory of the meadow that you were running around in. It’s a shame.

“Good” seems to me to be a lot more of a solid, achievable, and worthwhile goal. It’s not dependent on the circumstances that arise, but depends far more upon us making the most of them when they do arise.

So personally the only resolution is to try and make this a good year, whatever happens. And I would like to wish A Good New Year To You too.

I do hope we all get some great moments of Happy along the way though.