#41:  Gimme That Sundown (October 10, 2011)

This week's tune is "Gimme That Sundown". Another blues tune, this one's a solo project. I wrote it when we used to live in Pulaski, Tennessee, and would actually sit on the porch step and watch the sundown. Shelley and Richard played it a few times when we called ourselves Mister Charley. Shelley used to play the meanest blues mandolin: I don't think I've ever heard anybody else bend mandolin strings, but he did.

lyrics

This week's tune is "Valari". This is a solo effort, though I do show up multiple times :). I think this song would probably appeal to, say, Sheldon on "Big Bang Theory". It's a bit arcane, as it is based one of the myths presented by J.R.R. Tolkien in his epic prequel to The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillon. The Valari are the seven spirits sung into being by Ea, the Creator, in the Very Beginning. If you already knew that, you qualify for the rank of Loremaster of Middle Earth, and might find yourself called upon to recite some poetry in the House of Elrond. And if you recognize that last allusion, you are a hopeless Tolkien geek, and, like me, need to get out more often. Anyway, the song (hopefully) echoes the powers of seven that find resonance in so much of ancient world view. And then finishes with an anthem that recognizes that The One will forever subtend and encompass the Myriad.

This week's tune is "Jasmine In July". Due to, shall we say, "circumstances", this is again a solo effort, the third one in a row. Next week, we should be able to get the band back on hand. This song I was inspired by my wife Carol, who definitely loves jasmine. She is the sort of person who, when she fixes you in her gaze, you are pierced to the heart by her intensity. And there is no doubt that "you can see the whole world in her eyes".

This week's tune is "Raving". As promised, I'm back together with me mates Clark Williams (drums) and Jason Morgan (bass) for this effort. For some reason, this tune seems to resonate with the "Occupy" movement, though I did not write it with that in mind. It definitely has the hint of revolution at its heart, especially in the chorus.

This week's tune is "Pathegoric Solitude". We had recorded three (!) songs earlier this week with the band, including Ruthie on vocal and Shelley on mandolin. But the recording engineer (meaning me) got hoisted on his own petard: I pressed the wrong button, and we ended up with nothing, and so I had to scramble and do another solo song. "Pathegoric Solitude" is the result, and yes: "pathegoric" is a made up word. I feel it is a cross between pathos and paregoric, and that combinatoric sense is definitely intended in this song. A week or so ago, Carol and I found ourselves discussing "recurring images" in my songs and poems and other writing. Over my 45 years of writing, I have definitely settled in to some recurring images, motifs and themes. These include ideas like The Imperfect God (the Flawed Universe, the Cosmic Mistake); The Risk (the Gamble, the Game, Nothing Ventured-Nothing Gained); Every Choice Matters (The Road Not Taken, You Can't Go Back); That Coming Day (the End Of All Things, the Apocalypse). But one of my oldest, constantly recurring themes is one that shows up in "Pathegoric Solitude": The Heisenbergian Communication. The Ambiguous Message. He Said, She Said. Human communication is fragile and fraught with the possibility of misunderstanding. A thought arises in one mind, gets turned into language, is heard by another's ears, whose own personal preconceptions inevitably turn it to something else in their mind. Nothing communicated can ever be 100% certain, and in that gray area, no matter how small, lies the doubts that have the potential to destroy, or at least hobble intimacy. And this is especially true when two people just meet, have not built a foundation. "Pathegoric Solitude" is about such a meeting and about such imprecise meaning. History must note that I recorded this Saturday afternoon, before the Game of the Century. And since I'm speaking of imagery, in hindsight, I maybe should not have gone so heavy on the Crimson Tide imagery. I mean, who knows? My decorations in the video might have been the psychic hubris that caused the Tide to stumble. If so, I'll apologize to Saban and company when we all get to That Coming Day :).