Song Title " Words"

1st

Am7 C add 9
I was trying to love you,
G 6 D
But you keep telling me about someone else,
Am7 Cadd9
And it’s making me crazy, ‘cause you,
G6 D
Keep getting’ in the way of yourself.
Am7 Cadd9 G6 D
You say I’m not good enough, well hey, that’s ok.
Am7 Cadd9 G6 D
Tippin’ me over with the things that you say.


Chorus
Cadd9 G6 D ( walk down the Cadd9 to G6.)
Words can make you fly,
Cadd9 G6 D
Words can make you fall,
Cadd9 G6 D
Words can make you wonder, when there’s
Cadd9 G6 A5 ( sustain to next verse)
No explanation at all.

Instrumental: Em to G ( twice) to Chorus chord progression 4 times to A5.

2nd.
Am7 Cadd9
I’m not trying to change you,
G6 D
The last thing I want is to re arrange you,
Am7 Cadd9 G6 D
Just trying to hang on, to what’s left, of what we had
Am7 Cadd9 G6 D
But baby I’m broken down, I’m tired, but hey that’s ok,
Am7 Cadd9 G6 D
Tippin me over with all the things that you say. ( rise in inflection to chorus)

Chorus

Bridge
F …. ..................................F#m …..
Youre an open book, with... half the pages missing,

F F#M A79 A7#9 walk up.
I can't read you but I still....love .... my favorite parts of you....

Chorus to Instrumental Chord progression to end.

DEFENSE MECHANISMS

Ok, Im on a thinking roll today.

My favorite book in high school was an old Psychology Textbook my Mom gave to me from her nursing classes. I read it cover to cover. In my High School Yearbook, my desired vocation was to become a Psychologist. There are so many schools of thought, Freudian, Gestalt, Jung Fundamentalism.

Then, I read the book The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky. My first dose of Existentialism. Crime and Punishment is still on my bookshelf today.

It was mind candy and I thought I had everything figured out until I read a book on Theoretical Physics and I realized that the universe is so vast, and that we are all so small, that nothing matters anyway. I had this recurring dream where I opened the front door and the Sun, full size was right there. It used to make me get this overwhelming resigned humbled sinking feeling, with an undescribeable calmness attached. I just did it to myself again, cool.

So back to psychology. According to Freud, we all have defense mechanisms to protect the ego. There are many, like Rationalization, Displacment, etc.

One of them, Sublimation, refers to diverting the stressful impulses into something exceptable. such as art, music, poetry. Its probably one of the most productive defense mechanisms in that something is created. But its not for everyone, you have to be creative to do it. Some of the greatest masterpieces were created due to Sublimation.

So consider this Blog as Sublimation Junction. Think Ill re name it!

Interesting People

Where did they go?

Interesting, clever, articulate suttle geniuses have disappeared. Ok, I'm primarily talking about the entertainment industry.

Every year, I start watching the MTV Video awards, only to switch it off eventually. Then I heard Lady Gaga had the meat suit so it re ran and I taped it figuring I could fast forward to see it. By the way, Gaga is one of those interesting people, not so suttle in appearance but talented creative and definately interesting. But Cher, time to hang it up baby, the outfit is nice, but didn't quite fit right, glad the jacket was on.

At first I thought.. maybe I'm finally getting old. But no, the stuff is crap. Juvenile, crass, idiotic crap. I blame the industry. Throw something up against the wall and see if it sticks, mass marketing but hey, someone is buying it. I think it started in Comedy. What's that say about the masses? Yeah, look around, listen. Where's the character man?

And how in the hell can you cast Leonardo Di Caprio as anything but a baby faced kid? Ok, well maybe thats an age thing.

I do have the answer; The interesting people are all underground. Subterranean, waiting for a renaissance following the "dumb down" movement. Indie lables for music, independent films, art galleries, internet distribution channels, social networks. There will be no more robot voiced punks, The Avant Garde shall rise!!!

But for now, I know where to find them, and thats good.

SYMBIOSIS

The Egyption Plover Bird, or otherwise known as the "Crocodile Bird" is a bird that performs dentistry on the mouths of crocodiles in Sub Saharan Africa. The crocodile doesn't eat the bird but rather opens it's mouth so the bird can climb in and eat leaches or other parasites from the croc's teeth.

Apparently, this has gone on for centuries and is recorded in historical records. I just have to wonder what happened to the first bird that tried this.

Crocodiles have brains the size of a golfball. The only reason I know this is I considered shooting one and looked in the Perfect Shot manual. It's a primordial brain that most reptiles have used primarily for survival. So, I think it's unlikely the croc saw a bird feeding on leeches and reasoned to open its mouth and invite the bird in.

On the other hand, the birds brain is small..... well a bird brain. The Plover lays it's eggs in the sand and actually incubates the eggs there as opposed to nesting on them. And when there is danger, the bird buries its young hatchlings in the sand as well.

And then there are Remoras attached to Sharks, the sharks let them hitch a ride but dont eat them. When the sharks feed, the Remoras get the pieces.

So what started the symbiosis with the bird and the croc. I suspect the first successful opportunistic bird was sitting on a branch when a croc opened its mouth, revealing a bunch of leaches. The bird swooped down and snatched the parasite and the croc 's brain sensed the good feeling. The bird then realized it hadn't been eaten and went back for seconds. Thus, a relationship was established. From there, the behavior was imprinted in the two animals and their offspring carried on the tradition.

But I suspect along the line, someone got chomped, somewhere. Had to happen.

Tone and Temperament

Resonance = vibration. In terms of an stringed instrument, the stimulus of plucking a string or the stroke of a bow creates a vibration on the string. It's not the string that creates the sound rather the vibration excites the wood surface of the instrument and gives the tone.

The resonance of the wood is complex. This is why one instrument sounds different than the others. Bracing within the body of the instrument can control the tone. The type of wood also makes a difference controlling the tone.

Last, the musician must use his/her temperament to hear, control and blend the tones to create the final product.

Musicians are by nature temperamental beings.

Ethical Dilemma - Circular Logic

Vegetarians. They don't eat meat. Probably some for reasons of health but others and probably the majority because they don't think killing animals for food is ethical. For moral reasons. You know, cows have big eyes and so on.

So what if there was a scientific breakthrough and it was discovered that plants had feelings. That carrot that got pulled out of the ground had silently screamed. Vegetarians would have a dilemma on thier hands. Puzzled, would they choose to starve?

There is another choice, scavenge and eat what was allready dead and not by their own hands. Like buzzards and vermin do.

Ironically, the creatures that we think are nature's most disgusting just might be the most morally ethical, well, at least to vegetarians.

Words

Words can lift and support,

Words can bite and mar,

Words spontaneous can puzzle,

Words thought out make clear.

Words as weapons, words as love.


copywrite dkboyd 2010

Thought Again

Forward Ever, Backward Never.

Can Make or Mar.

Narcissism

Ok sports fans, so re reading the Thoughts post. It seems a bit narcisstic to me. But I like it anyway.

Hunters Poem

May the Rain Cleanse You,


May the Fire Temper,


May the Wind Whisper The Way,


May the Earth Nourish,


And May the Report of a Rifle Echo Your Heartbeat Across the Canyon.






copywrite dkboyd 2010

Thoughts

In the Jaws of the Beast , on the End of a Horn,

Into the Abyss, in the Eye of the Storm.

Come ride with me.

Red Tailed Hawk

Red Tailed Hawk, Soaring High

Feathered Wing Tips, Paint The Sky

Floating High, Without A Sound

Our Souls Wander, With The Clouds.

Weeping Trees, Autumn's Toll

Leaves Like Tears, Begin To Fall

Crackling Fire, Warms The Soul

For A Moment, A Vision Holds.

When The Last Breath, Passes From My Lips

And My Heart Lies Still, In My Chest

Snatch My Soul, Up To Your Nest.

Red Tailed Hawk, Watched Over Me

Red Tailed Hawk, My Spirit Free.

DKBoyd

copywright May 2010

Life Quote

" Life is like great big canvas, you should throw all the paint on it that you can"

Danny Kaye

Ok, lets introspect.

My canvas is pretty full but no where near complete. Some of it's not pretty, but it is interesting to look at and it satisfies me.

If yours is sparse, you've only to blame yourself and it's too late for calculated brush strokes. You better open up, turn a blind eye to negative forces and throw buckets. Live, breathe, paint.

BEGINNINGS

I kind of like it in here. The space is a little cramped, but I can get comfortable by kicking myself around. Pretty cool having fingers now, helps pass the time by counting. Id count my toes if I could see them better but my head is too big compared to the rest of my underdeveloped body. I'm not sure what that thing is just past this rope connected to my belly, I dont think its a finger or toe, pretty good sized but I'm not sure what that's going to be used for. Best of all is breathing underwater. This is gonna be huge later in life.

Hey, what's going on? Where'd the water go? what the heck.... gurggle, mumble.... OUCH!!! Dude why'd you hit me... waaaaa!!! waaaaa!!!!! Man its bright out here, anyone got any shades?

Ft. Meade Army hospital was as dreary a place as you can imagine. It would be the place where later I would run down the halls because the Drs. produced syringes made of stainless steel, huge with finger holes to get maximum leverage. The floors were green tile, always polished, a dark sterile place. I'd always get caught by my Mom, or a Dr.

Ft. Meade Army Base is also a military intelligence base in Maryland, just outside Washington DC, near Laurel, MD. If you watched the movie "Men Who Stare at Goats" , the characters are in a paranormal psyche unit and adept at remote viewing. The movie places the unit at Ft. Bragg but this also took place at Ft. Meade. Remote viewing is the ability to see things without being there and the military experimented with it. Men Who Stare At Goats was a dissapointment as a movie, Clooney didn't pull it off and I don't think it was factual, b ut it did illustrate the fact that the Army experimented with remote viewing. Strangely, Im pretty good at it myself.

At about 4, I was at my cousin's ( that's him up there, a follower) Grandparent,s house at a family gathering on the Back River, an estuary of the Chesapeake. I remember watching my Dad and Uncles wade out into the river, catching soft shell crabs. I guess my Grandfather had decided it was time for me to learn how to swim. He snuck up behind me, grabbed me by the arms and flung me into the water. I remember vividly seeing black, brown, green, yellow... then surfacing. This was how we learned to swim, babtized in the Chesapeake..... underwater breathing sure would have come in handy.

Lady Gaga, The Grammys, and The Future of Mankind

I'm so hesitant to watch any Awards shows on TV nowadays. Especially after the Kanye/ Taylor Swift incident. The music industry is pretty saturated with so many artists and it seems record labels throw stuff up against the wall to see what's gonna stick any more. And Rap/ Hip Hop, Fogit about it. I used to appreciate Rap in the early days as an expression by an artist, not that I particularly liked it, but appreciated the expression and was curious about it.

I fancy myself a pretty good judge of talent, kind of have a knack for knowing what's going to be big. Not that I'm an expert by any means, it's kindo of intuitive. Earlier in 2009 I picked Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga as the lead horses. This was born out last night on the Grammys. I'm glad I watched and was impressed that melodic music seems to be back in the forefront, unless you watch the MTV Music Awards. Plenty of crass and un class still to be found there, but I suppose someone is downloading or buying the crap.

About Lady Gaga. I'm a huge fan. What first caught me was the visuals from her videos. Kind of sophisticated Devo esque. I don't know how much artistic input she has in them, but they are avant gaurde, eye candy. Secondly, her versus are club like but in all of her songs, she breaks into catchy melodic choruses. Thirdly, she is very talented, great voice, phrasing.

I had an arguement with my brother and cousins at xmas about her. I contend that she is a cross between Madonna, Cher and Grace Jones. And that she has the ability, and probably will transform herself from her current shtick and have great longevitiy. In the meantime, we get interesting and entertaining art. Her duet with Elton John was impressive.

Since her and Sir Elton did the opening act at the Grammys, I thought " who's going to top that...." well Pink did. I'm not a big fan of her punkyness, but she sang a song the demonstrated her vocal skills, low key but while doing acrobatics. I was in awe.

I pegged Lady Antebellum earlier last year for their great harmonies, diversions in the melody and bridges. Incredible vocals. Hillary Scot is actually country star Linda Davis' daughter. It doesn't hurt to have those connections, but they hold their own.

Then finally, Taylor Swift. Her songs are bubble gum for the most part, but when she crossed over from Country I realized her vast appeal. She writes her own songs, can you imagine the money this young woman is going to be worth? I have to believe at some point she will run out of lyrics. How many fairy tale princess, prince, high school, when you're 15 stuff can you come up with. But, she's been doing duets with a number of groups and people. I hope she can sustain.

All in all a good show last night. Lots of big productions, Beyonce, phenomenal vocals.

Back to Hip Hop. Whats up with Jayzee? What does he do? I saw him in a video with Alicia Keys, the New York song. I don't think he says much, kind of grunts here and there.... Guess he'll ride B's coatails. I dont know. Emmenem and the two guys he was rapping with... I either had technical difficutlies with the TV sound system or they bleeped out a bunch of lyrics.... and those guys need to buy some new belts for their pants because they're underwear was showing..

Pants on the ground, pants on the ground... lookin like a fool with your pants on the ground...

Life Story

So maybe I'll write my life story here, not that anyone reads this thing anymore. that way when I'm on my death bed, I'll whisper the blog site address and there you go, instant eulogy.

It will probably explain a lot of things as to why I am like I am. I know it's gonna take quite a while too. And it's as I remember with a little fiction intertwined, heck why not.

So, here we go........

Songwriting

Circa the winter of 1996 there was somewhat of a family reunion over in Sonoma with Cousin Kit, Cousin Johnny, Cousin Stevie, Cousin Nelson, Brother Scott and a number of Aunts and Uncle Mick. Coming from a musical family, one evening we attended a jam session at " Big Daddy Mur's " , retrofitted garage, jam palace. Murray was a colorful, local drummer and Sonoma is not lacking for walk in musicians. The place was dimly lit, xmas lights hanging on the interior, rugs on the wall to dampen the sound, a stage. Oddities scattered about ( I contributed a taxidermied rooster crowing on a post, one of my early taxidermy projects). Shadowy sillouhettes with gig bags and congas flowed through the door.

We all took turns getting up and playing, jamming and afterward the cousins decided that it sounded pretty good. We'd all played in bands seperately over the years, some with more success than others. We decided to write some stuff and record it on our own.

Mad Uncle Mick was the driving force behind the project, footing a lot of the bill for recording time at Prarrie Sun Studios in Cotati. A collaberation between some cousins and freinds who sat in on some tracks, it was an amazing 6 months project. I wrote 4 songs on my own and collaberated with music or lyrics on 2 others and Scott wrote one. Cousin Ricky flew out from Maryland to enrich a song " More Love" with his silky vocals.

The only problem with writing so many songs in that short of time is that I eventually developed writer's block. Then the mixing and re mixing of tracks, time, money. The studio liked the fact that we were family and gave us a discount rate of $45 an hour but then toward the end, the price went back to the normal price of $75. With all these factors we called it the End.

We passed out CDs to family, friends with good reviews. Several of the songs were played on a couple internet radio stations. Internet radio was in its infancy, the CD was for sale on MP3's website when they featured mostly Indie music. Until You Change Your Mind and What You Do To Me were in the top 40 for many weeks with good reviews from critics.

Recently, after listening to the tracks, I decided to try and market them, i.e, get a song published. Once its published, then the publishing company may pitch the song to an artist. Thats how I understand it anyway. If an artist eventually records it and it ends up on an album that sells, then you get royalties every time its played.

I found a songwriting consultant at songmd.com. An accomplished songwriter with many credits and an Emmy nomination. I sent 4 songs in not knowing what to expect. I paid my fee, submitted and waited. I didn't know what to expect really, I thought maybe a hook to get you to shell out more money for recording.... some angle.

But within a few days I received a 30 mintue CD with her comments. Well, lets call it mostly constructive critiscm. At first listen, I didn't know if this was her subjective opinion, projections based on her style but as I listened and re listened, it was honest critiscm. I learned her lean was oriented to having people break in the music business with a hit song. You have to write something good enough to break in even though I thought my stuff was better than a lot of stuff I hear on the radio.

I learned that the contemporary song structure is verse - chorus - verse - chorus - bridge - chorus. And a lot of them actually have this structure if you pay attention. I learned you want to go " up" into the chorus and the way to do it is with a major 3rd. I learned the chorus, verse and bridge should all have different rythyms, to write the melody first, then the lyrics, to tell a story rather than put together a song with a bunch of metaphors, poetic imagery thinking someone would understand what I was conveying... and on and on...

Interesting enough, the song she seemed to introspect a lot on was one that was my favorite lyrically but one that wasn't as popular among people who had heard it. She did encourage me to re write and not give up. Hey , at least I got 30 minutes of constructive critism, that means something, right? I could have been totally blown off.

Bottom line is I can't quit the day job for now. But her ideas are actually liberating in the sense that there is a definite structure to things, and I dont have to get too complex in the delivery, just tell a story, with a good melody that will make people want to get lost in the music. She told me to bleed and put my guts on the page..... ok. Back to work. I can do this!