From the songbook
Wake Me Up When September Ends
I still jump – whether it’s the distant sound of a car door slamming or the days before the Fourth of July – crawling out of my skin. I still, on occasion, wake up in the middle of the night, a slight panic overtaking me, a sense of confusion grabbing me for a few seconds until my head clears.
Prison Song
We here in the states sure seem to love ours wars – the war on drugs, the war on terror, the war on poverty. Pick a cause and someone somewhere has probably “declared” war against it. While some of these so-called wars are worthwhile, some, when couched in the vernacular of “war” seem a little bit silly – take the war on drugs and specifically mandatory minimum sentencing for first-time drug offenders.
This is Your Life
See, I don’t know about you, but I’m about tired of getting a trophy for second place, for being given an “atta boy” for average work and hearing “by golly, it’s all ok, you’re special and dawg gone it, people like you.”
Killing in the name of
Maybe all of us need to say to those who would incite violence that no, that isn’t the answer and it isn’t the way.
Bullet with Butterfly Wings
Like the song from Smashing Pumpkins 1995 release Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, very rarely does rage just all of a sudden announce itself – “Hi, how you doing, I’m rage and I’ll be screwing with your head for the next few hours.” No, it’s more like those old devil and angels that used to sit atop the shoulders of some cartoon character, whispering in your ear, feeding you, filling you with doubt or a sense of impotence, powerlessness and then, after you’ve had enough, it explodes like a volcano.
That’s a Man
Let me ask you something – are you one of those types? The type who likes to shirk their responsibilities? Who likes to blame others for your failings? Who only hears what they want to hear in someone else’s words vice what’s actually being said?
When We Two Parted
Music is a funny thing. You just never know what’s going to take with an audience. Sometimes it’s the sugary pop confections of bubble gum music ala much of the music from the early 50’s and sometimes it’s the all out sonic assaults of heavier stuff such as much of the metal that dominated the 80’s. People’s tastes are fickle indeed.
The Gauntlet
Doesn’t it seem like there’s just always something lurking in the darkness? Something waiting behind the bushes to jump out and take everything away from you. Whether it be the tax man or big daddy government or even just the nail in the road waiting to puncture your tire, it sometimes seems the world is a dark place just waiting to sink its claws into you.
Mind Your Own Business
It’s been said that good fences make for good neighbors. I think regardless of fences Hank Williams was on the mark, mind your own business. And when you live in a small town, my business seems to become your business and her business and his business.
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay
Chocolate ice cream, snickers bars, banana cream pie – comfort food. For many of us, when times get hard, we raid the ice box and find that thing brings us comfort and somewhere, deep in the recesses of our mind tells us everything is going to be ok, if just for a minute. And then there’s music, for me, comfort food for the soul.
