Just thinking the other day… if it seems like the walls are closing in on you – tighter each day. If you feel completely alone. If you’re tired of waking up from bright dreams only to find your nose against the same black, immovable wall. If you’re yearning to feel the Sun on your face, but every day is the same – just a black hard wall between you and happiness. Maybe you should just… peck.
I’ve spent a lot of restless nights wondering what this whole music thing will lead to. Whom should I network with? What kind of music should I write? Am I too old? Is it too late? Are the walls of my age closing in? Will the world ever hear the songs I once thought destined for the multitudes? I gotta say, I’ve gotten myself in a tizzy or two about the whole silly thing.
Back in January or so, God whispered something to me… just sing. So now I’m singing. Wherever I can and whenever I can: Munday Chamber of Commerce, Clyde Woman’s Club, Abilene Credit Union banquet… you want me to sing? I’m there. And two really cool things are happening: I’m enjoying it, AND I’m seeing a sincere reaction in people. Eureka! That’s what this is about – touching people.
So let me pull this all together. I’m a songwriter and that’s what I do. So I was out gathering eggs the other day and thought of the aforementioned picture of a hatchling chick. And it has dawned on me over these past few days – sometimes what seems like a cursed barrier to a destiny is really the protective shell of incubation. And if it feels like the walls are closing in on you, maybe it’s just you out-growing your walls. Thank you God for YOUR timing.
I’m no spring chicken. If I were, I guess I’d peck. But as it is… I’ll sing. Sing my way right out of this shell.
Sometimes I enjoy going back and hearing the metamorphosis from the first moment of inspiration to the final product. This is called “She Is”. One of my favorites.
Got this fortune at a Chinese restaurant Friday night. Nobody bother me today. Don’t call me. Don’t email me. Nothing. I’m advancing socially without any special effort.
Today, my son built skis. I am so proud of him. They didn’t work very well but still, I am validated. Validated for the “abuse” I have inflicted on my children. Validated for not giving in to every last gaming device known to man. Repaid in full for the countless hours of Saturday nagging and after-school complaints of “nothing to do”. Oh sweet boredom, you have gotten a bad rap in recent history. But without you Edison would have been content with a flame, Columbus with his backyard pond, and Galileo with the Earth being the center of the Universe.
Today my son built skis. That’s all. Just scraps of wood, pieces of tin, and old shoes. Did they work? Not quite. But they were beautiful to his Mommy and Daddy. We are very proud.
Thanks God. Thanks for smiling on me. Thanks for taking a little song I wrote six years ago in a rent house in Clyde, Texas, all the way to national television. Will I ever understand your perfect ways? You never rush. You wait patiently – through my tears and frustration and impatient outbursts, sitting through the prosecutor’s evidence that you haven’t fulfilled your end of the deal. All the while with a pleasant smile, hands folded on your knee.
Then, when the time is just right – when a nation is buried in cold snow and winter gloom, you take a song, blow the dust off, and cast it out like seed in the Spring.
So thank you God. Help us all to see the Sun tracing the line of your smile each day – from horizon to horizon.
Having a rough Monday? Well maybe this will brighten your day. Here’s your chance to peek into a songwriter’s journal. Every Monday I’ll post a “rough” from my catalog of rough ideas. Most of these are grainy, hissy, horrible tape recordings from my trusty little cassette recorder. You have no idea how hard this is for me. I’m a perfectionist with my music, but even I admit there is a certain raw charm and honesty in these roughs. Well, sometimes it’s charming. Sometimes it’s downright embarrassing. Feel free to poke fun, tease, or comment to your hearts desire. I can take it.
This first one is a little song that I made up for my kids. I have no idea why “it would be alright with me” that the moon’s on fire. But hey, it’s a kid’s song.
For the first time in my life I'm hoarse from singing too much. Anybody have a remedy? And please don't say gargle urine like my Uncle said.12:27:20 PM April 23, 2010from web
J Turner tonite on D Letterman.. again. Singin a little o' song I wrote calld Yer Smile. Its about things that aren't cool enough for radio.03:45:38 PM March 25, 2010from web
Luv cotton farmers. Did a show in Munday,TX on Sat. Met good people. Quiet, strong & simple. Sang "Cottonfield". Thanx God for that song.08:52:26 AM March 25, 2010from web
Left a key sticking out of my studio door over the weekend. There it was this morning for all the world to enter. Love small towns.12:04:45 PM March 15, 2010from web
Got the flu over the weekend. Sick on Friday night... feel fine this morning. Didn't miss an hour of work. Hate it when that happens.09:26:34 AM March 08, 2010from web