My wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary and her birthday recently. We planned to meet with friends and have a dinner out. We usually fill our bellies and head to someone’s house after the meal. I have mentioned that a lot of our friends are musicians and creative types. These are the people we invite to celebrate birthdays and such! They are talented, creative thinkers and artistic wizards.
I bring this up to explain our tradition at the dinner tables when we gather. Most restaurants have long tables for large parties. Too many for the round tables available, we are all seated and start chatting. Years ago we thought it would be more of a social mix if we chatted for a while and get appetizers and drinks when we get seated……… then everyone would take their drinks and move 3-4 seats over – in the same direction. That way we could talk with different groups of people during the evening.
The waiter/waitress would come back and look around rather puzzled for a few seconds. Most start to grin and roll with it very well. Some are truly amazing and funny.
We might wait until after we order the main course and move seats again!
For our recent anniversary the place was busy and chaotic. The manager filled in as our waitress because we had waited so long to be seated. We decided not to rotate as we usually do to avoid further confusion and delays LOL!
Here’s to another year with friends at the not so round table.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I was fortunate enough to take a trip to visit my daughter and grand kids in the D.C. Area. I was going to drive but found a flight that was not too expensive and got me in and out within my schedule. The visit was great and I had a wonderful time, but I wanted to mention the flight back.
Days are getting shorter here and the sunset comes surprisingly early. I booked an evening flight back home. As we boarded the plane, the day was ending and the sun had already started to set. When we lifted off, the sunset was just about over, with the skies a deep pink mixed with dark red. The timing was just right, and as we slowly ascended, the sunset was revived. Flying in the direction for home, the plane arched its way toward the sunset. We were not pointed directly at it so the sunset-filled horizon was visible outside the passenger windows. I sat in the aisle row, so I could not take pictures or see the entire sunset, but I could see the spectacular colors and darkening clouds peak through every window on one side of the plane.
It seemed like the pilot was chasing the sunset. Elevating and angling as needed we kept in pace with the evening light show. I am always fascinated by the view when flying. Cloud formations, landscape features, lakes and mountains and the spider web of roads can keep me entertained for hours.
As night continued to consume the daylight hours, the ground lights became more and more visible. A dazzling holiday display appeared for all willing to invest a little imagination. I could have sworn one town had a huge area of lights that resembled Santa on his sled being pulled by brightly decorated reindeer! Other areas hinting of holiday trees and festive decorations could be seen on one side of the plane as the unending sunset blazed when looking out the other. This lasted all the way home until the plane’s final decent brought the sunset and decorative lights to an end.
It was a short flight, but the never-ending sunset was just what the doctor ordered. I never opened my book or tried to close my eyes during the entire flight, thinking this was the best return home flight I could have asked for. Wishing you safe and pleasant travels for the holiday season!
I wrote this song many years ago. It reflects ideas I had for a long time before they became lyrics to a song. I can’t tell you how many times I have been interrupted by people coming into a dark room I was in and immediately tuning on all the lights. Even early in my life I was concerned about so many city lights that I could not see the stars on an otherwise clear night. There seemed to be no end to this trend. Now I have to travel miles and miles to find a dark place outside the city lights.
MSK Ohio River 1
I only have this one recording of the song. This happened when I introduced the song for the first time to my band mates. We ran through this tune a couple times in the living room. As far as I know this is the only time the song was performed, so I was lucky to get it recorded……
Though that is not strictly true as I recorded everything back then! My friends used to give me a hard time for being so weird about that. I always had the mics out and ready to record. Even if we just sat around and talked, I had the reels rolling.
So while this is not a great recording and you can hear me give arrangement directions as we ran through the song, I am glad to have this copy of Brighter and Brighter. I will have to look in my archives to find out when the lyrics were written. At the time, my young son would want to keep his bedroom lights on at night. Not for fear of something under the bed. Just because he preferred it that way. So these lyrics and the song they inspired are for him.
“Brighter and Brighter” (C) MSK
Some people get off on those neon lights
Keep the sun burning to hold back the night.
Won’t give it a chance and set the darkness free
So much going on that they have to see
That they have to see.
Not me!
I Dig the Dark
I Dig the Dark
I Dig the Dark
Sign posts, traffic lights and red laser beams
Brighter and Brighter that’s the way it seems
I don’t turn yours out so don’t turn mine on
Just leave it where it is until I am gone
Until I am gone.
I Dig the Dark
I Dig the Dark
I Dig the Dark
Hide in the closet and close my eyes
It won’t help to look when the spirt flies
It’s people like you who learn to believe
Through large mushroom clouds and your big bight ideas
Fortunately, when I have too many things on my plate and never seem to get to putting some of my best lyrics to music, I have many talented friends that bail me out. Often I write poems – but almost as often I begin writing lyrics intending to put music to them at some point. Today I will share the lyrics and the original live recording to one of my favorites.
I found myself thinking of musical relationships and what, to some, becomes a long path that never gets close to ‘stardom’, whatever that is. The late-night conversations with many friends – musicians reflecting on the efforts and rewards involved in the lifestyle we have chosen – became metaphors in these lyrics.
The title “Stainless Steel” refers to one type of guitar strings. I also use silk and stainless steel strings on my Ovation 12 string guitar, but Stainless Steel captured the feeling I was surrounded by when writing the lyrics. There is a certain pride creative people get when sacrificing for their art. So many things are put on the back-burner or postponed indefinitely to accomplish turning a dream or idea into a treasure; even if it is only for a select few to enjoy. No one else may ever know what gems were created, and it appears to many that you have nothing to show for your time and talent. Only a few will understand the trade-offs you have made; those sitting around with you late at night, year after year.
In this recording my good friend, the late Mark Kelsey, plays guitar and sings. He is accompanied by Ann Ellis from my band “The Personal Touch”. Mark has worked through the arrangement a few times and I believe this is the first time Ann had heard the song. He quickly recorded for me to listen to and was later to record a final version in a professional studio where he lived. This is my favorite recording and I will always think fondly of him when I hear this recording. While the living room quality is easy to hear, the mood and inspiration comes through clearly.
In our busy lives, it is all too easy for us to overlook the efforts our friends and loved ones make for us. Sometimes it takes far too long for us to fully appreciate those acts of love. I have let many go unrecognized – unappreciated – unacknowledged until it was too late. Looking back I find myself humbled to realize how much my life would have been uplifted and how many friends deserved my – – – I do not know the correct words, but ‘praise’ seems as close as any I can think of. It may also have uplifted their lives in a time when they needed it most. It can be sad and joyous when time finally reveals the reflections of our lives.
The poem kept rattling in my head all day long and I found them fitting a rhythmic pattern. Then a melody jumped in and I headed up to my studio to get it all down.
There was a mood inspired by the groove and I layed down the guitar tracks to a metronome.
The drums came easily as I followed the rhythms in my head. As I mentioned earlier, this is fun and simple for me. The chorus just jumped out, and I like the changes coming back into the verse. The 6 string acoustic guitar sounded great to me and fit the song perfectly.
From there it was add the bass sound on my MIDI keyboard and it was ready for the Lead and harmony vocals.
It took me a while to sing this one to match the mood and I am glad you didn’t have to listen to me learn the melody and fit it to the music, but I think it came out as intended; short and sweet.
Here is the song mixed down. The whole process took me about a week, but this was before I started working over 50 hours a week!
I heard the other day that about 10% of people are left-handed. This generated a few thoughts that I have been rolling around in my head. I have been surrounded by lefties most of my adult life. Sometimes I get confused and try to do things like a left-handed person would. It usually does not work out very well!
Now, think about 10% of the population that most people perceive to be ‘backwards’. In schools when I was growing up and long before, educators would try to ‘correct’ what they saw as defiant, wrong, defective, backwards (and the implied stupidity). Many teachers and nuns would crack a ruler over your knuckles if you used the ‘wrong hand’, or did not correctly follow instructions on how to do a particular task.
Unfortunately in this day of political extremism, I see many similarities. Think of one party as left-handed and the other as right-handed. I will let you choose which one is which for this analogy. For many, many years the minority of left handed people were forced to conform. This not only made them feel as if they were being unfairly punished but also made it almost impossible for them to excel and improve using their natural gifts.
When politics are split drastically, one group could dominate the other. The traditions of the right-handers are forced onto the minority. There is no concern or sympathy for the minority group and they will not be given the opportunity to voice their concerns let alone suggest alternative solutions.
So let’s pretend that over the last few years the number of left-handed people increased dramatically and now they are close to a majority. The lefties are now teachers and policy makers themselves. They encourage children to perform tasks that make use of their natural tendencies. They pass laws giving them ‘permission’ to do what everyone else has done in the past – to be human. They demand equal policies and fair treatment.
But the right-handers refuse to allow that to happen and believe it is their duty to fight changes every step of the way. They see no need for change. This does not help them at all and now they have to be ‘tolerant’ of these people. They feel uncomfortable watching or learning from a leftie, and certainly do not want their children to become one. (OR MARRY ONE). They twist the truth and use marketing techniques to discredit the opposition. The Defense of Marriage Act is an example……. unnecessary as no one was attacking marriage or trying taking away any rights. The people that were not allowed to marry needed defense against the majority.
Whether it is equal pay, marriage, educational opportunities, housing, jobs, criminal sentencing and a long list of other ‘privileges’, you cannot be a more perfect union and still deny these basic rights to minority groups. Sure enough, one day they may be in the majority and will remember how they were treated in the past by those in power.
Left handed people are not trying to ‘convert’ you. They are not trying to take something from you. They are not denying or laughing at what you feel and believe. They are not traitors or devils or the enemy. They are human beings deserving of the same benefits in life the right handers have taken for granted.
I am a right-handed patriot and I approved this message.
MidiMike 