Reflections
Why don’t Songs/Poems Leave me Alone?
Why don’t songs/poems leave me alone? Why do they just keep plaguing me till I write them. I keep telling them to back off for a bit but that only makes them worse. I said to them “Gimme a break!” (literally) in as polite a voice as I could. But I might as well have told a dog to stop chasing a cat. It’s getting out of hand!
Quite Liberating
I had an interesting experience last night. Quite liberating, actually. For some strange reason more than 15,000 files disappeared from my Documents folder. Even weirder, I had a mirror folder of those files as backup. They disappeared too. Everything I’ve written during the last 20 years – poems, articles, songs, etc. All gone. Forever. Have I been hacked? Is it some kind of supernatural message? Who knows?
“Awesome”
One of the most misused words today must be “awesome”. I have heard an ice-cream or pop-song described as “awesome”. Awe comes from the Greek word achos, meaning distress, and the Old English word ege, meaning fear. The dictionary definition of awe is “reverential wonder or fear; dread”. The word “awesome” should be reserved for unique moments which instil reverential wonder, fear or dread in our hearts!
All Artists need an Advocate in this World
All artists need an advocate in this world: someone who will stand up for you when you would rather remain silent; someone who will shout your talents from the rooftops when you hide yourself from the limelight; someone who will sing your praises to useful people when you would rather be modest; someone who believes in you when you struggle to believe in yourself. Such an advocate is every artist’s secret dream…
Political Correctness
Cool definition of political correctness which I saw today: “Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.” 🙂
Genius People
I love being around genius people – those who show dedication, brilliance and passion in all they do, for whom no challenge is too great. Mostly they live and die unrecognised and unappreciated for their work. Doesn’t matter if it’s a street-sweeper extraordinaire, a mad professor in a laboratory or an artist who doesn’t need mescaline because s/he’s already there. My mind bounces off them like sky-dust in a tornado
Celibate Solitude
Celibate solitude. It’s the only way. Splendid ice-olation. (I won’t go astray) here in my cave with a pen in my hand. For ages I’ve lived like a crab in the sand. Hermit-hearted. Eagle-eyed. Misunderstood. Hurts inside. At least no one listens each time I cry…
Expecting Musicians to play for Free?
There are far too many venue owners who expect musicians to play for just a meal and some drinks. That is disrespectful and exploitative. If they asked someone to come to their place and build a wall or mend some pipes they would have no problem paying the going rate. They wouldn’t dream of saying “Here’s your lunch; that makes us even”. A lot of work goes into a music performance. That work is worthy of remuneration.
Troubadours
I’ve been reading about the Troubadour movements of the 12th/13th centuries. That’s what we need today. Lots of troubadours. Everywhere. Lovers of language who are not afraid to be outspoken and who know how precious it is to preserve the depth of words in song (or we’ll become like the manipulated “NewSpeak” society of Orwell’s “1984”). The pen – as a world-changing weapon – is infinitely mightier than the sword!
- ← Previous
- 1
- …
- 22
- 23
- 24
- Next →
The Naked Troubadour 