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Description
My wife and I spent a few days in New Orleans over spring break. I was anxious to experience the musical culture and history of the “Big Easy.” We didn’t have to venture far from are hotel in the French Quarter to hear music pouring from a number of venues. While there were a number of impressive pros playing for tips in several bars, clubs, and restaurants, it was the street musicians that I found most fascinating.
There was the guitar-wielding singer who accompanied his impressive vocals with a unique one finger strumming style on what appeared to be an inexpensive plywood guitar covered in assorted scratches and stickers. There was the young lady singing early jazz songs to the accompaniment of her soprano tuned resonator ukulele. I saw a trio comprised of a guitarist playing a John Lennon style Ric through a battery operated amp, a sousaphone player using his free hand to play snare and cymbal while beating a bass drum with his foot, and a female singer who blew a screaming clarinet solo during their rendition of “Dock of the Bay.” The best were probably the brass groups playing a hybrid mix of march, jazz, and funk.
One can’t help but be inspired by that environment. I didn’t have a guitar with me. But I did have a backlog of incomplete lyric ideas on my iPhone. So during downtimes in the hotel I worked at a few of those. When I’d get stuck on one I’d go to another. I also looked to see if any of the incomplete ideas could be combined. By the time we flew back home I had this one finished. It actually is two different song ideas combined into one. So if lyrically it seems unfocused, that’s because it is. When I got home I grabbed a guitar and attempted to come up with changes and a melody for my completed poem. I didn’t try to capture a New Orleans sound. That just isn’t in my DNA. Although the 2 feel, ukulele, and slide guitar were all on display in the French Quarter.
The artwork is the picture I took of the roasted oysters I had at the Three Muses on Frenchman St. prior to taking in Luke Winslow King’s show. If you’re ever in New Orleans on a Thursday night I highly recommend both.
There was the guitar-wielding singer who accompanied his impressive vocals with a unique one finger strumming style on what appeared to be an inexpensive plywood guitar covered in assorted scratches and stickers. There was the young lady singing early jazz songs to the accompaniment of her soprano tuned resonator ukulele. I saw a trio comprised of a guitarist playing a John Lennon style Ric through a battery operated amp, a sousaphone player using his free hand to play snare and cymbal while beating a bass drum with his foot, and a female singer who blew a screaming clarinet solo during their rendition of “Dock of the Bay.” The best were probably the brass groups playing a hybrid mix of march, jazz, and funk.
One can’t help but be inspired by that environment. I didn’t have a guitar with me. But I did have a backlog of incomplete lyric ideas on my iPhone. So during downtimes in the hotel I worked at a few of those. When I’d get stuck on one I’d go to another. I also looked to see if any of the incomplete ideas could be combined. By the time we flew back home I had this one finished. It actually is two different song ideas combined into one. So if lyrically it seems unfocused, that’s because it is. When I got home I grabbed a guitar and attempted to come up with changes and a melody for my completed poem. I didn’t try to capture a New Orleans sound. That just isn’t in my DNA. Although the 2 feel, ukulele, and slide guitar were all on display in the French Quarter.
The artwork is the picture I took of the roasted oysters I had at the Three Muses on Frenchman St. prior to taking in Luke Winslow King’s show. If you’re ever in New Orleans on a Thursday night I highly recommend both.
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Lyrics
My Own Worst Enemy
Words & Music by alackbass
I'll view things from a distance,
Safe above the fray,
Though there is no risk to me
In the shadows I will stay
Why should I take a chance
I've got nothing here to lose
Why should I raise my voice
With even less to prove,
Fear is one thing,
Hate quite another,
Hide your disappointment,
Keep it under cover,
I'll never understand,
Why I go dark easily,
I guess that's just the way,
When you're your own worst enemy,
I was careful not to cry
Pretended not to care
Held my feelings deep inside me
As if I wasn't there
Just quickly turn the page
Go on to the next game
Convinced that I'll be different
When I know I'll be the same
Fear is one thing,
Hate quite another,
Hide your disappointment,
Keep it under cover,
I'll never understand,
Why I go dark easily,
I guess that's just the way,
When you're your own worst enemy,
When I stop to look around me,
I was hardly ever here,
Looking in the distance,
To a fate not really there
Was I heading off some trouble,
Or just falling out of touch
Both living and dying,
With things that don't mean that much,
Fear is one thing,
Hate quite another,
Hide your disappointment,
Keep it under cover,
I'll never understand,
Why I go dark easily,
I guess that's just the way,
When you're your own worst enemy,
Words & Music by alackbass
I'll view things from a distance,
Safe above the fray,
Though there is no risk to me
In the shadows I will stay
Why should I take a chance
I've got nothing here to lose
Why should I raise my voice
With even less to prove,
Fear is one thing,
Hate quite another,
Hide your disappointment,
Keep it under cover,
I'll never understand,
Why I go dark easily,
I guess that's just the way,
When you're your own worst enemy,
I was careful not to cry
Pretended not to care
Held my feelings deep inside me
As if I wasn't there
Just quickly turn the page
Go on to the next game
Convinced that I'll be different
When I know I'll be the same
Fear is one thing,
Hate quite another,
Hide your disappointment,
Keep it under cover,
I'll never understand,
Why I go dark easily,
I guess that's just the way,
When you're your own worst enemy,
When I stop to look around me,
I was hardly ever here,
Looking in the distance,
To a fate not really there
Was I heading off some trouble,
Or just falling out of touch
Both living and dying,
With things that don't mean that much,
Fear is one thing,
Hate quite another,
Hide your disappointment,
Keep it under cover,
I'll never understand,
Why I go dark easily,
I guess that's just the way,
When you're your own worst enemy,
magnatone
FIRSTIES!!