Secret Identity:

One of my life goals is to write a hit song about a heavily licensed character, make enough money to put my kids through college and not get sued.

This song was my first attempt:

I don't want you to apologize
For the way you look tonight
Your hair's a mess and you tore your dress
Like you just came from a fight

Bracelets are glowing
Muscles are showing
Boots say you're ready to go
Glasses can't hide
The wonder inside
And there's so much that I'd like to know...

This is the first song I wrote with chords strung together, one after another, with the goal of increased musicality. At first I thought it was a mistake because I wasn't sure I could get my hands into position fast enough. But this was the music I was hearing in my head, so I stuck with it and I hope listeners like it.

Appreciate the gift, but how did you lift
The piano into my apartment
Willing to bet that you don't break a sweat
Benching my whole set of weights

Bracelets are glowing
Muscles are showing
Boots say you're ready to go
Glasses can't hide
The woman inside

And there's so much that I'd like to know...

OK, so that's enough hints.

I think I've guessed your... secret identity.

Who's Gonna Pay?

It's a good question before you go out to dinner. It's a better question to ask before you die. I am a follower of Jesus. 

I was very proud and somewhat arrogant in my twenties. I liked to argue, even if I didn't know much about the subject. I found myself getting louder and louder, while at the same time I knew I was not being kind, considerate or even that thoughtful in my arguments.

A few times, those discussions ended in silence from the other side. It wasn't that I had won the debate, but I had lost communication with the other person due to my tone and inflexibility.

I became a christian at 29. I was lying in the bed of my studio apartment reading a book called Teach Yourself Christianity. There were other books in the series on various belief systems. I had attended a few church services and small group meetings over the previous few years, and I had been challenged to rethink my smug self assurance.

You may find yourself behind the wheel
Of a large, black, mind-blowing automobile
You may find yourself at the bottom of a well
Ces't la vie, goes to show you never can tell
You may find and obscene diamond ring on your hand
But tonight it's your soul that will be demanded...

I borrowed heavily throughout this song, starting with "Once in a Lifetime" by the Talking Heads. I read a book by David Byrne talking about how the band got started and so on. He said his lyrics were a sort of initiation of a preacher, but without the gospel message.

It occurred to me how weird it could be to turn one of his images into the start of a song that preached Christ crucified.

I quoted another favorite line from Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell."

The next image came from an episode of the The Flintstones where Fred gives Wilma an enormous diamond ring that he obtained from a less than reputable source.

Who's gonna pay, who's gonna pay?
Pocket lint, can't take it with you
Asbestos suit won't do you no good
Who's gonna pay, who's gonna pay?

There's parable that Jesus told about a rich man tearing down his barns to build bigger ones, but that night he died and was called to account. That's the idea behind the chorus. There's also a bit by Bob Hope saying that Bing Crosby had been looking at asbestos suitcases to take all his money with him.

You may find yourself (hey-hey) on a losing streak
You get by on a smile, oh yeah, but underneath
You may find all your lies finally catch up with you
Angry mob inside your head, you can't hide it under the bed.

The losing streak comes from "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones. This song was also inspired by the one-chord powerhouse "How You Like Me Now?" by The Heavy.

If you ever wake up at 3:16am and face a self-reckoning, you know what I mean when I say that Somebody paid.

You may find your eyes never get satisfied
By you've seen enough to know the score
You may find your heart full of unwashed socks
Try as you will you can't find a pill to make it better

Yep, that last image is from "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" by Doctor Suess, as sung so wonderfully by Thurl Ravenscroft. I had always been told it was Boris Karloff.

Hope you enjoy the music and the message resonates with you. Peace.

Face Like an Aging Movie Star:

I walked into the grocery store and noticed to a man standing at the Customer Service counter, possibly waiting to pick up his laundry cleaning or to buy a lottery ticket.

He was wearing a walking cast. He wasn't overly tall. He just past middle age and had a very handsome face, like someone famous. I didn't recognize him, though. He may have been a doctor, or an Olympic medalist in judo. He was in good shape and wore a dark V-neck T-shirt with a tan that suggested that he might be a snow bird up from Florida.

Anyway, the first line of the song came to mind:

Face like and aging movie star
Cuts his clothes from a magazine
Makes the scene, black muscle car
Gold cologne, smells like a king, like a king...

Steel blue eyes and a leather tan
Across his chest reads a woman's name
Keeps his money in a coffee can
So long ago he lost sweet Jane, sweet Jane...

I think of this song as a private detective movie. In my mind, I've cast Brad Pitt, looking about how he age by 2036.

Avoids police but he plays the game
There's always someone who needs to be found
Deep in the heart of the Everglades
Gators all know him by his first name, first name...

A trail of needles and bottle caps
Leads him to a ramshackle shack,
Blood on the door and the stench of death
Breathes through a clean, white handkerchief, handkerchief

My brother-in-law Clay suggested the opening single note run. I changed music behind the verses several times. It had to be something easy to play because there were a lot of words to remember in telling the story. 

Finally I landed on the chord progression Em-C-G-D, which is pretty common, as in "If You're Going to San Francisco" by Scott McKenzie, a song I've always liked.

Bullet holes and shattered glass
Body in the bed, eyes open wide
Deep in the shadows, corner of the room
A girl's sweet face too scared to cry, to cry

He carries her out, she's too week to fight
A lady friend puts her up for the night
He takes them out to this place by the lake
Baked potatoes and T-bone steaks all around, all around

This is the emotional heart of the song, where a competent man, someone good at doing his job, is confronted with the emotions of finding a little girl at the scene of a murder. In my imagination, the girl is filthy and frightened. 

I am a dad. As a kid I saw things and heard things that kids should not see or hear. My parents were both very loving and supportive. And yet, there were times during their divorce when it was very dark and ugly. 

The little girl has been neglected for so long, even before her mother was killed, that she welcomes the attention of two well meaning adults. The lady friend I imagine as a woman this gentleman had thought about asking to marry him, but for some reason it just never worked out. 

On a culinary note, of course, the little girl would probably want chicken fingers or mac and cheese from the kids menu along with crayons. But the handsome man isn't used to having kids around.

All the ways of a man
Seem right to him
But in the end they lead...

We all make choices, and if we have kids we pull them through those choices, good or bad.

He hunts down her father but he's out cold
Social worker says she'll do her best
Aunt and uncle have plenty of their own
Big brown eyes in a grown up mess, grown up mess

Hollow man with an empty heart
Pain, confusion, anger and pride
Never been anybody's daddy,
Prays with tears for the strength to try, to try

Has this ever actually happened in real life? A private detective finds a motherless child, tries to go through the proper channels to give her a home and finally decides to adopt her, likely at the same time marrying the woman he's cared for all these years.

Maybe in the movies. Starring Brad Pitt. Based on my song. Thanks for reading and listening!