"What If 8.29.2009"

This song is unlike anything I've ever done. Like a pyramid or a paste-a-thon. As it is in life, it is amazing to see all the parts come together.

You can hear it here: www.woodstackrecords.com/1-song-a-week-for-a-year/

2009.8.28 “What If?"

What if I knew you, everything you were going to do?
What if you knew me, everything I was going be?
What if he knew her, everything that made her purr?
What if she knew him, do the thing, do his ego in?

Would we in eachother know we’re found
And simply wander round into the ground?
I know you don’t have to wait until the sound
That’s untrue - you know it’s all going down

What if I knew you, everything you were going to do
What if you knew me, everything I was going be
What if he knew her, everything that made her purr
What if she knew him, do the thing do his ego in
When it all comes true will we know what we’re going to do ?

"When You're Not There"

This song came totally together in the last week. Stoked to have written and recorded this one. You can hear it here: www.woodstackrecords.com/1-song-a-week-for-a-year/ I like it a lot. Anna Poliakon helped with some choral voices at the end.

“When You’re not there” – Waters

C (X32010) Fmaj7/C (X33210)
Times are changing don’t know where were going
Ain’t no use fighting anymore
I don’t need no explaining I’ve been finding them draining
If nothing new’s r walking through the door

Fmaj7/C G (320033)
Do you see why I ask you
Just To see if you care?
Do you see how much I miss you
When you’re not there?

Everything is broken getting caught in the spokes and
I’m taking off down into the sand
Everything is liquid , responsibility shifted
Into the palm, the palm of my hand

Fmaj7/C G (320033)
Do you see why I ask you
Just To see if you care?
Do you see how much we miss you
When you’re not there?

Tired and blistered, my brothers and sisters
Walking round on the heat of the sun
When the surface is burning, you need no more warning
Watch our world come slowly undone
Come Slowly Undone
Come Slowly Undone

The Power and Presence of Mind

Looking at the Landmark Forum Syllabus here, reflecting on the marvels of how powerful the human mind can be when it is utterly present.

What the present mind is: A present mind is a gift. A present mind imbues every fleeting moment with eternity, sees every fleeting moment as an irreplaceable opportunity. A present mind aspires to the grace of creative expression. A present mind is fully invested in experiencing and harvesting the richness of every breath. A present mind understands the value of every act of communication, seeing the importance of every word, facial expression, and action. A present mind understands the value of love, the quality of life, and the enjoyment of creations. The present mind participates with the unfolding of the universe. The present mind creates.

What the present mind is NOT: The present mind is NOT a perpetual rehash of the past. The present mind does NOT reinforce limited personal identities, ego-associations. The present mind is NOT judgmental. The present mind is NOT afraid of death, for the present minds sees the eternal re-birth of every moment. The present mind is DEFINITELY NOT bored.

Here's to actually making the cultivation of a present mind an overarching goal in our lives and music. It makes sense to value our lives--the quality of our lives--more than anything else: to understand that the more we invest in our own presence and power, the more we are able to enrich the lives of ourselves and others with the music, art, dance, words, and ideas of the wonderful, awesome, Power and Presence of Mind.

140 Character Philosophy Fractal

A new template for philosophy in the Twitter age.

FIRST: Create a 140 Character philosophical statement. [original_____
SECOND: Every week, Create another 140 Character philosophical statement that defines ONE of terms in the original statement; re-tweet with original the ONE.

The Philosophical Question

"Is it pointless to take a picture of a fire?"

Time and Timelessness at Hodi's Halfnote

Let us continue our philosophical and poetic inquiry into the nature of time and rhythm.

When we were on stage last night, I experimented with a meditation that perpetually returned my focus back to the timeless nature of my being, what Plato referred to as "The Soul". Where Plato saw the Soul as a static, eternal Being-ness participating in the Form of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, I see the Soul as a dynamic, timeless Becoming-ness participating in the Form of Creative Imagination. What does this mean? When we "reside in the soul" or "care for the soul" - the part of us that makes us who and what we are - we touch the wellspring of our creative transformation. Our creative imagination doesn't happen "in time" . Not at 5:00 am or 11:00 pm. The Soul happens NOW. there is no "set time" for the soul. This whole life is our "set time"... our opportunity to experience our mental and physical boundaries, and direct our being in the direction of quality survival. This is evolution, mind, poetry, and music, happening now.

IF the PHYSICAL IS the SPIRITUAL, MIND IS BODY, EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY AND GENETICS ARE THE KARMIC MOVEMENTS OF MIND - ALL TIME EXISTS NOW - AND WE ARE IN PROCESS OF TIMELESSNESS. So don't get caught up in the deadlines and the "set times". I assure you they exist, and I also assure you that the more time you spend in the timeless nature of your Becoming-ness, the more you constructively imagine, create, grow, and evolve. As musicians and human becomings, I expect no less. With love, AMEN.

"2009.8.14 - Philosopher's Blues"

Got to riffing on "haughty" philosophical terms in an effort to express how our thinking can estrange us from ourselves. The "She" in this song is the presence of life herself: a wild, vivacious vixen that cannot be controlled or subdued with conventional thinking. It is always my hope that the art and practice of philosophy leads us deeper into our lives, deeper into our relationships with our loved ones, and deeper into the real-deal Happiness of the wild feminine. Let us pray. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . So be it.

PHILOSOPHER’S BLUES (She’s Gone!)

Get caught in particulars, But it’s all irrelevant:
our Lines were perpendicular - you know it ain’t no Accident
She’s gone … yeah she’s gone away from me
I’ve been thinking that it’s all this thinking that’s brought me misery

Law of non-contridictory, its neither this nor that,
p’s and q’s and a’s and b’s the disjunctive truth is that
She’s Gone….. She’s gone away for good
Makes it so hard to keep believing that everything’s as it should

Isomorphic quality, quantitative mud,
luminescent emptiness with a dialectic thud
She’s gone … yeah she’s gone away from me
I’ve been thinking that it’s all this thinking that’s brought me misery

It’s not a fancy soliliqoy or picture of a place,
no exception to the rule, no more figure in this space
She’s gone … yeah she’s gone away from me
I’ve been thinking that it’s all this thinking that’s brought me misery

I ain’t no exorcist and I aint no acrobat,
I ain’t gonna jump through hoops, my body wasn’t made to bend like that….
She’s Gone yeah she’s gone away from me
If I made my mind more flexible, would I be in this misery?
If I made my mind more flexible, would I be in this misery? 

"The Way"

"The Way" is Love.... and all of Love's means of expressing itself between and within willing participants.

This song came up track by track... the kind you marvel at when it's done, having never dreamed where it would end up. I just knew that I loved the guitar part that is now the backbone of the verse. Like Love, this song is still in Process. It needs a drum kit part. ... but I like it stripped down like this too.

“The Way” (Is Love)

The Way you smiled at me tonight, so right
Your gaze shining through the maze of light
These games we play we put away this time
That’s all, take anything you want of mine

I can see us smiling

The way you come up and stand by my side
Your eyes shining bright as wide as the sky
A slow melody comes to my mind
And still, I’m feeling so sublime, so sublime

I can’t wait to see your face
When we walk into the place where we
We’re Sailing Away
You know that my love is here to stay
Tell, tell me now you feel the same
Cause we, we are well upon our way
No one knows where the lovers go when the sun goes down and the lights turn low

The Way you love against my skin tonight
The Way you gently touch my lips so right
The Way you smile at me tonight, so nice
That’s all, take anything you want of mine

Cause I can see us smiling,
Our soul is slowly unwinding … in Love.

"The Proposal (Naked With You)"

This song transpired in a weekend of Dionysian camping in the Colorado Rockies. My friends (Ryan Gray and Lace DuPont) and lover (Anna Poliakon) made the whole song possible and contributed to the lyrics.

I love it when songs feel like they're bigger than you could have made them: like they're out of control shooting stars,.. fleeting, bright,.. and you gotta pay close attention to catch them and get the best of them out. ... paying attention to running around naked. This one came out pretty darned good:

THE PROPOSAL (NAKED WITH YOU)

I want to run through the woods naked with you
I want to run through the woods like Caribou
I want to run through the woods naked with you
I want to run through the woods playing my flute

Won’t you come along with me
Kindred Spirits wild and free
See I’m down on bended knees
Begging you to marry me

I want to stare at the stars naked with you
I want to share the words that lovers do
I want to stare at the stars naked with you
I want to share the words that lovers do

Won’t you come along with me
Like pirates wild on the open sea
Yeah I’m down on bended knees
Begging you to marry me

I want to swim in the stream - Naked with you
We’ll dry off in the sun, the sky so blue
I want to swim in the stream – Naked with you
We’ll dry off in the sun, like lovers do

Won’t you come along with me
Kindred Spirits smiling free
See I’m down on bended knees
Begging you to marry me
Begging you to marry me
Begging you to marry me

ONWARD!!! PROCESS IS MAGIC!!!!

Coinciding with what some interpretation of the Mayan Lunar New Year,... I have committed to write and record one song a week for an entire year. I post each new song every Friday to www.woodstackrecords.com ... the first post was Friday, July 31st. I'll have 52 songs before I'm done with this year.

So far, it has been going pretty well. I got to record and improve on some songs that I really enjoy. I am going to start using this blog to sharing my experiences over the next year... my inspirations, lyrics, obstructions, dreams, and insights surrounding and embedded within each song post. ONWARD!!! PROCESS IS MAGIC!!!!