thinking about John Lennon today. I wish the war could be over...

In Tribute...

Listen to: "Music Of My Life"

I was inspired to start writing this one day right after I had finished reading this huge book about the Beatles, who were one of my earliest exposures to music, growing up through the 60's - 70's.  And I would have to say that John Lennon is one of my top 5 people that inspired and influenced me as a musician. Reading the book really gave me some perspective, as to what their personal lives were really like behind the commercialized image that was created for them, and what was going at the time and what inspired the songs they wrote. For years I had always had this feeling that seemed to lurk somewhere right on the edge of my subconscious, that I needed to try and somehow capture and express musically, what I felt about music's place in my life and how it has carried me from childhood to now. I guess some would call it my "life opus". It seemed like it would have to have orchestral movements, since life goes through so many gradual and sweeping changes over the years, but how long would a piece of music like that be, and how long would it take to write something like that? If I were a real composer, I guess I could sit down and just write it all out, note for note, but I never had that type of training - I'm a music illiterate. But what I'm able to hear, and feel, somehow I've been able to translate - it's like a painter who can reproduce what he or she sees, in all its intricate detail and color. That's how I see music, like colors that come together to paint a picture and tell a story.  So, at a very pivotal point in my life, after reading that book, which seemed to assemble some puzzle pieces for me, and illuminate foggy corners of my own story, I finally found this song rising to the surface, and I just started painting as fast as I could before the image went away. What I wrote that day could fill pages and the song at least an hour long... well maybe not quite, but you get what I mean. Trying to boil it down to 5 minutes and still get my point across was a challenge, but that's what you do, right? Distill it, chip away until you get to the  finished shape and let people see what it is you're trying to say. This was my first attempt - it's a work in progress... but isn't life?  

Thanks for listening.

Peace,