The Song List

The other day I booked a guy who is one of those people you can just tell that you're going to like real well. He had read this blog and told me that I should look at his brother Jason's web page, he said that we kind of  have a lot in common. Well, Jason's page is fantastic. He's a sailor and is a musician who's worked tugs in  Alaska. But the coolest thing he had on his web page was a song list, the stuff he plays, the music that he's all about. Not only does he have 100 songs but the chords and lyrics as well, many of my favorites and it's true....we have a lot in common. It got me to thinking of my song list, here's a pic of what I work with daily. It's always changing, evolving. Having the list is important. Its not that I'd forget how to play the song, what happens is I forget that I know the song. The list is just a reminder.

My favorites come and go. Sometimes it takes so long to 'work up' the song that by the time its ready for human consumption I'm tired of it, and I know MP is REALLY tired of it. But my signature song for the last 40 years has been the great balladeer Harry Chapin's Taxi. My friend sang that song so many years ago and it was always way to much for me, it had bar chords and a B minor not to mention volumes of lyrics. But after the accident and he was gone one night at a party I just had it. It was that simple, the words just rolled off my lips and the B minor was perfect. It was a gift, or so I thought. Through the years I've played Taxi for bars full of people I don't know, I've played for Ben Ellis every time I see him, I've played it alone with my thoughts...I've played it thousands of times I'd guess. Well, I'm not playing it anymore, never again.

I guess I just lost track of what the gift was. For so many years I thought of it as a way to keep the memory's  alive, a way to stay connected with the guy that did so much for me, taught me so much. So I'd close my eyes and crone away the song , " its been to many miles and to little smiles....but I....still remember you". For the first 10 or 15 years people knew what it was all about and then I think people would wonder, whats with all this emotion, whats it mean ?....And then the other night I felt the same way. I started the song...and stopped...I didn't  know what it meant anymore, if it was keeping me connected I guess I was tired of being connected. It was holding me back, it was the last thing still alive from all that anguish. It was keeping me in the wrong era.  So sorry Ben, when you come over its going to have to be something new....and I've got about 200 of them. And  if Trevor e-mails me with permission I'll post Jason's web page for you, its fantastic and I can tell so is he. Thanks to my new friends, I have 100 new songs to learn and fill in for just that one that I've round filed.

If the pic below looks familiar its not trick photography. I took it just a few hours ago and yup....it doesn't look much different than last weeks. I don't know if I'm overly anxious but it seems spring is coming a little slower than normal, like real slow. But, that's surely open water you're looking and as I focused the camera I saw a fish jump...well....an unusual swirl.......mmmmm............