REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE

Some new lyrics, thoughts on my Chicago Release Show Tonight…

Shit, I’m still so enamored with you, Music. You saved me from latch-key kid abandon and set me on the creative path. I’m on the 12th floor of this gorgeous hotel overlooking the Chicago grid below. I see no difference in my grid of frets and strings. All I see are possibilities.

In the beginning of 2010 I hung a 3×5 card over the door to my office that read “Make time to FINISH”. The album had consumed my energy and creative output for far too long, and it was time to evict that bitch. I was  happier with the final product than I had envisioned, mostly based on the accumulation of love, hours, and focus that went into it. You can’t keep your life from expanding past your documentation of it in the meantime though, and it’s easy to get caught up in your “present” self second guessing your “past” self. I’ve seen that little conundrum screw with so many artists’ heads, but dang, just the sense of completion and getting art out into the world feels amazing.

Tonight is my album release show in Chicago. A few weeks ago, in the beginning of 2011 I replaced the 3×5 card above my door with a new one that reads “REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE”. Last Wednesday I finished meditating and was just blankly looking around my office. The sun was pouring in every window, blazing through the frost outside. I was milking the feelings of oneness and appreciation. Inevitably the phone starts ringing, the emails and texts start pouring in. Life, Work, and other humans remind us that our care and attention are required.

Before diving back into the fray the reminder above my door caught my attention. Remember Who You Are. I looked at it for a few seconds and really connected with why the hell I would write that to myself.

There’s been this freaky, disco/funk groove I’ve been kicking around on my bass for the last year or so. It started looping in my mind with some weird sort of crackling intensity. My bass was downstairs but it was like I was playing it vividly. I feverishly typed out the following, a maniacal grin on my grill:

————————————-

THIS MORNING IN THE CITY I TOLD THE CABBIE RIGHT THERE! STOP
SAW A GUY I THOUGHT I KNEW IN THE WINDOW OF THE COFFEE SHOP
WE STARED FOR A SECOND THROUGH THE GLASS  I COULD TELL HE MIGHT KNOW ME
I SIZED UP THAT CORPORATE JACKASS, SAID LET’S JOG YOUR MEMORY

BEFORE YOU WENT TO COLLEGE OR COULD EVER AFFORD THAT SUIT
BEFORE YOU MET YOUR WIFE & KIDS OR RON BURGUNDY ROCKED THE FLUTE
WHEN THE INTERNET WAS FARMLAND FAR AS THE EYE COULD SEE
YOU’D LOCK YOURSELF UP IN YOUR ROOM AND ROCK PURE ENERGY

YOU PLAYED BASS – YOU DIDN’T HAVE NOTHIN BETTER TO DO
YOU PLAYED BASS – AND THAT WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU
YOU PLAYED BASS – ANY OF THIS GETTING THROUGH?
YOU PLAYED BASS – MAN I ALMOST DIDN’T RECOGNIZE YOU

BEFORE PAUL RUDD OR SCOTT PILGRIM FAKED KNOWING HOW TO PLAY
OR A MILLION BANDS HAD COME AND GONE LIKE SMASHMOUTH AND SUGAR RAY
BEFORE YOU EVER FILED TAXES, TRIED MICROBREWS OR WEED
BEFORE YOUR PARENTS SOLD YOU ON EVER NEEDING A PLAN B

YOU PLAYED THE BASS – THERE WAS NO BETTER PLACE TO BE
YOU PLAYED BASS – LIKE IT MADE UP YOUR CHEMISTRY
YOU PLAYED BASS – AREN’T YOU GLAD YOU RAN INTO ME?
YOU PLAYED BASS – THIS MOMENT ON,  BROTHER WE ARE FREE

——–

It’s not entirely done, but I rehearsed it mostly in my car, on my drive to Chicago. I gotta play it tonight, seeing I’m here for the dual purposes of destroying my goddamn set and leading a portion of sales training. It provides some hard fought sense of balance.

Shit, I’m still so enamored with you, Music. You saved me from latch-key kid abandon and set me on the creative path. I’m on the 12th floor of this gorgeous hotel overlooking the Chicago grid below. I see no difference in my grid of frets and strings. All I see are possibilities.

Thank You to everyone who has nurtured this in me. I just wanna feel every note and every lyric tonight, and feed off your beautiful energy.

That’s why I keep at it. To all my homies still rocking their shit, you inspire me. You’re in my fingertips and I’m in yours. Never let up, and call me anytime you need a reminder of who you are.

love,  ROCK, grooves and goosebumps,

kc