OK.
I’m in the studio working on this tune, see?
A sensual, romantic ballad.
It’s all finished except for a nice guitar part to compliment the melody and the mood.
The song calls for something understated, vaguely melancholy of classical-Spanish heritage. Acoustic. Nylon strings..
Know what I mean?
I’m down to my last hundred bucks, but it’ll be worth it to weave the last subtle, but critical, thread into the sonic tapestry.
I just have to be sure I get the right player, a player who can hear what I need to hear, so people will feel what I need them to feel -- and who has the chops to do it with tasteful and modest, seamless effortlessness.
I’m in luck.
There are a bout 3.7 zillion good guitar players around.
But, wow. How am I going to choose the right player from among all those?
What would you advise me to do?
Should I pick one at random and hope for the best?
Should I choose the player who’s the youngest? The oldest? The best-looking?
Should I pick a player who’s gay? Straight?
Should I hire the player who owns the most guitars? Or the most expensive guitar?
Should I go with the guy who’s a friend of a friend? Or the teenager who’s the child of a long-ago paramour?
Should I give the gig to the chick who’s been flirting both with me and the guitar for about 3 months?
Should I select the player with the degree from the most prestigious school?
Help me out. What do you suggest?
How about if I listen to some tracks the candidates have laid down in the past?
See who’s done or IS doing music similar to what I’m looking for? Maybe go hear them live, if they’re gigging out?
Do you think that sounds like the way to go?
Or maybe I should pick Pete, the kid who’s been playing head-pounding, voice hoarsening grunge/metal/rock?
I know, when left to his own devices in the past, he’s never played anything like what I’m looking for. But he’s charismatic as hell (to some people, anyway). And maybe he’s just been, laying back, biding his time, PRETENDING to dig what he’s been playing while all the while he’s actually just been aching for a chance to do Bach.
Maybe he could play my tune.
Maybe, even if it’s NOT the music he hears in his soul, I could “push” him or “pressure” him into it and he could fake it just fine.
Should give him a chance?
Or should I go with the guy who’s been playing my kind of music for a long time and playing it damn well?
Help me out.
What do you think?
Yeah.
I’m talking about Obama, all right.
Or, more specifically about his firey-eyed, self-described “liberal” or “progressive” followers who are clamoring for critics to “give him a chance.”
I say, “He HAD his chance.; he showed you his chops in the Senate.”
Listen to what he’s played in the past. THAT’S what he played because that’s what he hears in his heart. You can’t push, pressure or force him to hear something else.
Maybe next time you ought to go with the player who already digs your music.
sj
13 comments:
SPARTACUS JONES!!!! Give it a rest....I dig Obama's music and so do the majority of the people who voted.
I want to know who you think would be your number one choice for President. You are mighty negative sometimes.
Lori
PS I am still waiting for my Guild Mark III Classical guitar to be repaired....but I am quite positive I could never play your kind of music.
I know just the person for the part.
(No, not me. I don't play the guitar, I just photograph 'em!!)
Sorry, Lori. I don't plan on giving it a rest anytime soon. Oddly enough -- or maybe not oddly at all -- that's almost exactly what some folks said when I criticized their fair-haired Bush for steal ing election, shredding the constitution, and attacking Iraq.
Right now the talk is about how the progressive's can "pressure" or "push" Obama into an agenda more liberal than the one he's shown so far, so in fact, they DON'T dig his music. They just think he'll be more willing to play their's than McCain would have.
That "majority" thing really doesn't mean that much to me, per se, anyway, know how the majority of Germans supported Hitler, and so on.
I don't consider it "negative" to tell the truth, whether the majority wants to hear it or not.
That's the way I see it.
That Guild is said to be a sweet guitar; never played one myself.
I don't know what to say about your dislike for my music. Not much I CAN say, guess. If you don't care for it, then, no, don't play it.
Why WOULD you?
Play the music you like
sj
Why do you always bring up Hitler? Obama has not even started his term yet and you seem sure that it's going to be bad news. And what was your source saying that the progressives want to pressure him into a more liberal agenda. You must have some amazing connections. Truth? your truth? whose truth? Negative? I am happy to listen or read your opinions, but am not so sure you always have everything pegged...and that is my opinion.
And for the "record" I do like your CD. Just don't appreciate some of your Obama music. ....the check is in the mail, by the way.
Play on....
Lori,
I bring up Hitler because he's the best example of the worst ideas.
It's that thing about studying history so you don't repeat it.
No, Mr. Obama hasn't even started his term as president yet. But he has a voting record as a senator and has published his positions on first, his campaign website, and now, his "transition" website. I don't find much in it to get excited about, and little of what most "progressives" claim they want is included therein.
But maybe he'll surprise me.
I love surprises and I'd certainly enjoy that one.
You might read: Peace Activists Welcome Obama, Will Push Him
by Aaron Glantz as an example of what I'm talking about in that regard. There are others. I don't have any magic or secret sources.
Information I have found is readily available to anyone interested.
When I refer to "truth" I'm not being poetic. I mean "that which can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt by considering all the available evidence." Not YOUR truth or MY truth in some totally subjective universe, but THE truth insofar as it is possible for mere mortals to discern it. And to a fair degree, I think we can.
I hope you will feel completely free to present any counter-evidence you may have on any position I take and I hope you will critically examine what I have to say for flaws and fallacies and point them out to me.
And I'll do the same for you.
That's how we figure out what the truth is, no?
sj
OK I am ready to say uncle. You have your opinions and sources and I fall for the bait and get defensive.
It is too frustrating. Almost everything written has a slant and we tend to read things that support our ideas. I just can't imagine anyone today, thinking that Obama could lead us into a situation similar to the one with Hitler...it is just too extreme for me. Sorry.
Godwin's law.
Lori,
Whoa, Nellie!
I never said Obama was Hitler.
I was using Hitler just to point out that the "majority" can be dead wrong and that "majority support," per se, doesn't prove the rightness of your position (a very common fallacy).
I also use that obvious example to point out the inherent danger in making an emotional commitment to something or someone, without having good rational reasons behind it. If you do, you're always at the mercy of "charisma." That's fine if you're lucky enough that the person you've committed to turns out to be a Jesus. But what if he turns out to be a Jimmy Jones?
I prefer not to trust to luck. The first rule of luck is: it runs out.
It's true, everything has a "slant," that is, the writer has a point of view, so it's good to know what that point of view is. That may take some digging, but I find it worth the effort.
If you want to put your ideas to the test, you have to SEEK OUT contrary points of view, take their arguements and evidence into account, and then see if your own point of view still holds water.
I'm not trying to "bait" you or anyone else, and you don't have to get "defensive," because I'm not attacking you.
I'm asking what I consider to be reasonable questions. Instead of getting answers, I get rebuffed for even asking the question.
That's not a good sign.
Under Bush, questioning is equated with treason. Are we now to look forward to the same belligerent intolerance from the new "majority?"
Lots of lives are at stake, so I consider this stuff way too important not to do some hard critical evaluation.
That's my "slant." :)
sj
On a different note altogether SJ, I have been following Tamara's blog and she wrote the nicest post about you. I have not visited your site until now and realized how much excitement I had been missing.. wow! I listened to a couple songs as well off your other site. It's a breath of fresh compared to most of the other recent country music out there. Well done. You have just gained another fan to both your music and your blog.
Feel free to visit me on my site www.acerfarm.blogspot.com anytime and see what we are up to here in Montana.
Thank you, Jonna.
That's very kind of you.
I'm very glad you enjoy them.
:)
sj
SJ....while I am no where near as educated in history or the ways of politics as you and Lori are even someone as ignorant as myself feels a little nervous when promises are made and then in the winning speech comes the "we might not get there is one term" crap. (How's that for a run-on sentence?!) Is he already asking for more time because he doesn't plan on doing what he got everyone so excited about? For me is isn't about color or sex or age or what lies you tell me...it's about gut feelings. That's how I deal with most situations, and this guy just gives me a bad gut feeling. Call me foolish, but I'm pretty sure you could come up with some examples of "educated decisions" that were disasters so going with my gut might not be so bad afterall. And my gut tells me this man is going to do more harm than good. (And I am not saying McCain wouldn't have done more harm than good...just maybe less harm that Obama). And wouldn't it be great to be wrong.
P/S Your debates with Lori are quite entertaining...I hope they don't end anytime soon! :)
Thanks for your comments, Gayle.
I don't under-value "gut feelings." I think that's a little different from the triggered "emotional response" that politicians go after to short-circuit your capacity for critical analysis.
There is more than one way of "knowing." Sometimes it's pattern-recognition on a subtle, sub-conscious level. I recommend the book THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF PLANTS for a fascinating view of the function of the heart.
Currently. I'm reading POLITICAL PONEROLOGY, and other books on the psychopathic personality, the which books I would recommend as "required reading" for voters.
Thanks again!
sj
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