The muse gets weird sometimes

[Cornflake]

She's giving me stuff but it isn't stuff I can play in a coffee house. This came out this week. I kind of like it, and I suppose I needed to write it, but it's one of those I can't picture playing for an audience. Too abstract.

I climb up on a barren hill
And look down on the town below
Where many hurry to fulfill
Some small desire or urgent need
Slaves to belly, groin and greed
And I’ve been one of them I know

The wind is chilly on this hill
I know I must go down and will
To take my place with those I love
And stand beside them, not above

When I was young and some were old
Songs were portals to the sky
And by the firelight we’d be told
Of heroes who had dared and won
And those who tried to touch the sun
Now we breed, then cough and die

The wind is chilly on this hill
I know I must go down and will
To take my place with those I love
And stand beside them, not above

And always as our lives unfold
What’s old is dying by degrees
What’s new will mellow and grow old
And then become the fading good
And many other men have stood
Atop this hill with thoughts like these

The wind is chilly on this hill
I know I must go down and will
To take my place with those I love
And stand beside them, not above
And stand beside them, not above

[Deleted]

excellent. i think this is great. i enjoyed the first verse especially. the muse is working overtime.

[Cornflake]

Thanks, Con. As I said, I like it, just can't imagine playing it.

[Fingerplucked]

They look pretty good to me too. I would think you could sing those just about anyplace you choose to.

Maybe you're just more sensitive when they're your lyrics.

[Deleted]

fingerplucked said:

They look pretty good to me too. I would think you could sing those just about anyplace you choose to.

Maybe you're just more sensitive when they're your lyrics.

i'd imagine so. if i were to see a performance of these lyrics, i'd be most impressed. i think you should go for it

[Cornflake]

Thanks. My working assumption has always been that lyrics as dense as these are more than an audience can cope with. Maybe they'd work on a CD, where repeated listenings are possible, but they would go right by an audience in a live performance.

It's quite possible I've been underestimating audiences, though. I'll try this one on my bandmates and see what they think.

[Deleted]

i find that most people listen to the music more than the words. i don't think they're even that dense though. i must be rubbing off on you.

[Cornflake]

Actually, Connington, I thought after I wrote that one that it was the kind of song that I was suggesting you get away from. More a poem than a song, even if it does have music. Our usual audiences very much listen to the words. That's a good thing for us, as I'm not particularly creative with regard to the music.