Music & Mood

‘don't do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don't do it.’

Charles Bukowski

Always in my mind. This poem means a lot to me. I once got into a big argument with a girl in a pub about this poem. I think I was trying to sound clever by talking about poetry and it back fired big style. She didn’t like the poem because it suggested that it’s unquantifiable. What about all the hard work? What about the dedication to a field? What about musicianship/practice/development?

In hind sight I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive. Sometimes the best songs literally fall right out of your brain and onto the page. If you acknowledge that the sub-conscious is still part of your own talent/abilities (think John Gray’s ‘Straw Dogs’ - how much of our life is actually consciously planned?). Then why ‘rob yourself of the dignity of your own words?’

And that pretty much explains the reasons and meaning behind ‘fucking the straw dog’. I borrowed a phrase from my Canadian other half ‘fucked the dog’ means ‘messing up’. So owning and taking pride in improvisation as a strength is ok. Especially if you’re s**t at music and don’t know the names of 90% of the chords you use.