Recently I was thinking about a work incident. Not to go into details, but there were so many lessons to learn. A co-worker with some minor authority over me tried to get me to ‘sacrifice something’ so that they could ‘benefit’. There was no real reason that I could connect to this request – except that they thought they should get preferential treatment because they deserved it.
When I refused with a simple but unmistakable rejecting statement, the ‘bully’ came out. Intimidation, threatening, and harassing behavior flew rapidly in my direction.
I am a rather easy person to get along with. I do not get into gossip, rumors or status. I just want to do my job, have a little fun if I can, and go home. Sometimes that is not possible, and the occasional confrontation will creep in. If personal friction happens, I will usually smooth it over and try to let it affect me as little as possible. I would rather forget it and start fresh the next time I meet the other person. But this time I wondered about being that passive and easy-going. Was I improving things? Did it make the day or life in general better? Does it really help to let people take advantage of my flexible attitude and/or position in life?
I came to the conclusion that it did not help or improve things at all. If I let a bully succeed at threatening, intimidating and harassing me, they will take their successful strategy and slam it on the next guy or girl. As a friend of mine put it; I am more likely to speak up if someone else becomes a victim than if I do. In some way to connect to the #metoo movement without being insensitive to that real concern, I needed to find not just the ability but the benefit in raising my voice. I went to company admins and filed a formal complaint. Doing nothing and ‘rolling with the punches’ does not and should not always work. At some point I learned I needed to speak up and highlight an event that in my age I could brush off easily, knowing others might not have the ability to defend or endure the hostile environment.
Is there a reason they feel so privileged and deserving of what others are denied?
I wonder why so many people in power feel it is OK to mistreat others.
Why do they think they can get away with this kind of behavior?
Because historically: they can.
I would like to break from history and change the future.
As a country and culture, we seem to be obsessed by thoughts of and even planning for the Apocalypse. I guess it is for good reason and it makes for great movies, books and TV shows. I might be the only person that has not watched Living Dead and other shows. So, Zombies aside, I have been thinking of a world with no power, running water, cell phones and the other modern tools we take for granted every day.
There are a few things I would really miss if/when technology fails us. Way up there would be hot showers in the morning……. I would really miss that. Without a really hot shower, it would be hard for this old body to move each day.
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
Written 8-27-1982 by MSK and I recorded it around 4-1983.
The main melodic themes for this song were inspired by my Yamaha DX7 ‘tine’ sound. That sound (or patch) has been used in many professional recordings since the keyboard was introduced. The guitars and vocals are real-time of course, and everything else was sequenced.
Ann Ellis from my band The Personal Touch does the vocals on this one. I would play the main piano part and she would sing the lyrics until we got the timing and the feel the way we wanted it. From that point I sequenced the main piano part. Every time I play this song I play it as you hear it in this recording, but I play a different last chord. No two versions have the same ending, and I never know what the last chord will be. My wife Ellen and I worked on the backing sounds like the strings, brass and pads to make this a full sounding production. Once I had the basic piano parts and drums done, I don’t think we ever added a dedicated bass line as the song ended up sounding very full.
My buddy Shawn David Anderson plays lead guitar on this one and really drives home with the power and tone I was hoping for. The lyrics are one of my favorites. Not necessarily by themselves, but when reflecting on the emotions and events of the time. True multi-track recording capabilities gave me the option to create complex instrumental layers as opposed to the limited recordings I had been able to achieve from a four-track cassette deck!
I even sent this song to be evaluated by professionals. Among some of the comments it was suggested that the song was too long and that the intro went too long before the vocal lines were introduced. I have a version that starts when the vocals kick in, but this is my favorite version. I hope you agree.
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!
It never ceases to amaze me how inspired and creative I feel when I change the strings on my guitar(s). Simple chords sound gorgeous. The whole body of the guitar resonates with depth. This makes experimenting and exploring new areas delightful. It is important to keep tools of the trade not just working properly but living up to their potential.
I watch vocalists go into the recording booth and put on really nice headphones to get a direct audio feed from the soundboard. Maybe this is not their first time, but when they start singing – and can truly hear what their voice sounds like they get this big grin that turns into a surprised smile. Hearing through the studio system vocalists can make nuanced changes as they sing ……. and hear the difference. This gives them more control and immediate results. They become confident enough to experiment and innovate. I hope it feels similar to playing my 12 string guitar with brand new strings.
Pictured are of some of my guitars, the drummer from Euphoria/The Chase – Mike Gill, and Steve Steinmann of Iridium.
What tools do you use that benefit from regular care?
MidiMike 