Hail to the Prophet/Where am I?
While living in Norfolk at my Dad’s old house, I recorded a series of songs. I feel good about some of the production of them, the spontaneity, the resourceful improvisation. I don’t think I can do much more with these tracks. I wish I could instantly take out the mistakes (little scrubs, and some other pieces), but I feel I should leave them as of now.
This track is called “Learnetto”. It has some of my favorite lyrics- “Time was like sand falling”, “The witnesses will love/and it’s free/and it’s free/and it’s me”, they’re just very visceral and came out with a mystical unconscious. The song takes me to a canvas where I dream a little deeper and honestly.
This track came from a date I was on. My date felt relentless towards our culture, and I understood what she meant. For a moment, I felt like we were rebels without a cause, and I saw us in a 1950’s Thunderbird type car just below the Hollywood sign. We stopped seeing each other after a few dates, but it was very nice to feel this bond, and to be inspired the rebellion. I have an anger I am trying to place in songs (and in my works), but I don’t want to say things I don’t really mean. Unfortunately people will probably take you seriously, but sentiments are not-cemented (hehe, I was going to say policy).
Speaking of serious and omg, the next song starts funny, and I love part of it, but also my grandmother would- nah she’d laugh, or she’d be like “Sean, oh my gosh…” Sorry, Nanny!
I’m most happy about the guitar line, and the longer harmony at the end of the second verse (I believe). The rap makes me cringe when other people listen to it, but I really like rapping. If you asked me to rap now though, it would most likely be quite bad, it’s been awhile. (yeah okay Sean, show us when your rapping was good…we’d love to hear that).
This song below, (“Little Ragged Doll”) feels like the first single. I used “bird calls” a lot in the recording of the album. Beck (Jeff) was in my orbit, plus the backyard in Norfolk was home to so many animals… it was really wonderful transmuting the energy of the animals (really critters) into the music.
^^^ “Blessed (Rust)” A useful mantra to me… accepting and blessing the decay of age. I have older family members that are really hard on themselves about cognitive and physical decline…sometimes I don’t like aging too. I had a teacher talk about the idea that angels desire to have the human experience, and how when we die, we return as angels and tell everyone about our experience. I use that to think of all the unique experiences I’ve had, and I have really enjoyed finding them in the mundane… imagine explaining to an angel what “filling gas” is, and having to do it in winter (the feeling of your hands after cold exposure).
^^^ “I am a jug of water both magic and plain”. If you can just let yourself go, and be in what this song is (push through the mistakes-there aren’t many it’s mainly the rhythm of the bass), I think you’ll really enjoy it. It’s inspired by a passage from a book my Great-Grandfather was given by a friend (Gold Dust). It’s again, a meaning very important to me. Our creative acts are beyond art, or rather there is art in everything we do. I felt the satisfaction of just doing daily tasks. The synth part is very hypnotic to me, and I love the bass line, it came in a moment of play (as the aging brit inside me would say).