Author: alhbaritone

The Future Is Ours

Whether religious, DC (comics), or related to time itself, I’m a big fan of the trinity.

Once upon a time, I played in a band called Social Focus. The most consistent and gratifying description that was shared to me was, “It’s like Led Zeppelin meets U2.” That’s not an easy line to walk.

I reached out to a group of guys in northern Chicago, shortly after I started my Master’s at Northwestern in 2009. Matt Fedderman, Matt Garza, Brian Kipp, and Ben McMunn brought me into their musical fold. For the first time in my life, I was strictly the singer. It was liberating. I offered structural suggestions here and there, as we all did, but mostly I stuck to my melodies, to my lyrics.

I have been writing music since I was a teenager, but for the first time in my life, from a songwriter’s perspective, this was the first time there was a distinct separation between the lyrics and the music. I had always taken each on, simultaneously, sometimes to the degree of treating the task like a burden. It had to be me, always, all the time.

But not now. It was liberating.

I was writing lyrics as if they were prose, actual poetry.

I was liberated.

Social Focus played their final show together in August of 2013. It really is a damn shame. Our trajectory was upwards and our songwriting/playing as a band was noticeably maturing. Still, I can’t begrudge the experience for freeing me as a writer. So much so that the songs we wrote together, the lyrics that I set as poetry to their music still swirls in my head to this day. I lament the fact that I’m not actively sharing those words as I was back then.

As I said, at the beginning, I’m a big fan of trinities. In this case, my fandom lies with time. All of the lyrics that I’ve written since I joined Social Focus have dealt with a sort of temporal time travel. You talk about the past, in the present, and point to the future. There was this song we had titled “Note to Self”. I love that song. I love our arrangement. Prior to this, the lyrics haunted me. As my life progressed, and the band stopped playing, those lyrics kept coming back to me, as if they were unfinished. Finally, in the summer of 2019, as an exercise, I began singing lyrics/melodies from previous material to music that I was working on. “Note to Self” became “The Future Is Ours”.

I don’t want to give too much away, but for me and my psyche, I closed a loop, a discrepancy in my temporal psyche. I created closure and a way forward through music. Temporal time travel.

To Matt, Matt, Brian, Ben, and Alex, the future is ours. Thank you for helping me on my journey to freedom.

The Many and the Few

Well, here we are, on the eve before election day.

I’ve been privileged to vote in the last 8 elections, including four presidential elections.

Oddly enough, this year’s presidential election reminds me a lot of the situation in 2008.

That comparison has nothing to do with the candidates.

It has to do with the feeling in the air, the heaviness surrounding everyone and their rhetoric. The lyrics expressed in the following song were actually written during the summer of 2008.

We are an incredibly outspoken and opinionated group of people.

That is another incredible privilege.

I pride myself on loving most thing related to nerd culture, but I have always struggled with Spock’s infamous line of dialogue from The Wrath of Khan.

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one”

While incredibly logical, there is a built in cost, and it’s a cost that seems opposed to equilibrium.

I’d like to propose the idea that the needs of the many should equal the needs of the few.

An equal playing field, that neither favors nor opposes. It simply is.

The sun sets and rises on us all.

Every election decides:

Is “equality” as important as “in power”?

Time to vote.

But every election highlights the same responsibility.

Will we be moved to act in regards to the few, when we feel like we belong to the many?

Jaded is the fight, and yet, we must always try.

Forward Momentum

Always forward.

I love literature. I believe comic books are welcome in that category.

There was a series on Netflix, based off of the character, Luke Cage.

Luke Cage is a comic book character, with many comics printed before the show ever aired.

I remember the first time I heard the phrase “always forward” uttered on the show.

Always forward.

This song is a reflection of that.

There is always a crack in the ceiling,

A hole in the sky.

Your life is a mystery.

And it should bring you higher and higher.

It should get you high.

I Can Take It

I have had the same pair of leather pants since I was 18 years old.

I’m 35 now. Oh yeah, they still fit.

However, I certainly haven’t been exercising enough to wear them well enough since COVID hit. I’d probably look like that dad trying to wear his 20-30 year old tuxedo.

But you know what?

I can take it.

I can’t wait to get back into leather pants shape.

Leather pants rock.

Also, I think this song rocks.

I love rock and roll.

The Whispering Wind

I rise. Darkness falls.

It fades away.

Where am I?

I breathe deeply.

I turn inward.

I am still, moving in several directions.

I seek companionship.

I lift my head toward celestial movements.

The system is beautiful and overwhelming.

I seek comfort.

I return to the earth.

The great blue wonder.

Flowers in her hands.

Oh love that will not let me go.

Always on the edge,

Of the greatest,

And the least.

The Morning Light

It descends from dreams.

Waking questions present themselves.

“Hello. How are you? Is this a good time?”

We are living dreams, we are living in dreams, and we are dreaming existence.

Every morning begs the question.

Who are you, today?

Further questions beg answers.

Is this consistent with who you have been, who you want to be?

How are you?

Is this a good time?

I’ve been meaning to ask you.

What new role would you like?

How to Shower/Get Ready

It has been a long time since I have used this blog. Long story short, I am working on multiple projects that I hope to present before the end of the year.

Until then, I needed the mental break to present some nonsense, literally useless information, unless you pride yourself on showering/getting ready appropriately. These are the things that I notice in my household when we are around each other in the current climate that we find ourselves in.

Whether you shower/get ready in the morning, afternoon, or evening, it matters not. What matters is this first question. Do you brush your teeth before showering or after? If you brush your teeth after showering, you fail. Next question.

While in the shower, in what order do you clean your hair (head), face, and the rest of your body? There really is only one order. I already gave it away: Hair (head), face, and then the rest of your body (privates last). If you are showering in a different order, I question your hygiene.

Ok, so we are out of the shower now. What is the next step in getting ready? Presuming you use a combination of facial and hair products, remember, ALWAYS USE THE FACIAL PRODUCTS FIRST! If you do not use either, word.

Welp, that about does it. I hope you have learned something in this most useful of posts.

The Ways of the Many

Heaven forbid that I

Make a point to be let in

Heaven forgive that I’ve

Made the jump to join the spin

Allowed to progress, but why?

Don’t we know where we have been?

America votes in disguise

Free the mind and shed the skin

Jaded is the fight to make things right

Jaded, and yet, I will always try

Viewpoints of black and white

Life and death, always shared

Natural sight is blind

When you’ve lost your sense of care

The people exclaim, “Unite!”

Desperation in the air

And no one can say, “Goodnight.”

Sleep will come when all is fair

Jaded is the fight to make things right

Jaded, and yet, I must always try

Never surrender, seldom use force

Question beliefs, break your heart at the source

The ways of the many should equal the few

In these days that carry for what’s right and what’s true

With each repetition of daybreak we try

To come one step closer to overwhelming the lie

I’ve never felt so electric, never been more alive

Turned on to this stardust that I feel deep inside

Jaded, and yet, we will always try

Jaded, yes, we must always try

The Whispering Wind

The morning light descends from dreams

As the storm blows over, and the world, it just gleams

Like a great, blue wonder with a flower in her hands

As the whispering wind sings a sad, sad song

The morning light descends from dreams

As the storm blows over, and the world, it just seems

Like a dime store lover with a flower in her hand

As the whispering wind sings a sad, sad song

Love is always on the edge of the greatest and the least

But the help is hard to fathom, he’s a liar and a priest

Lift your head and breathe deeply with a flower in your hand

As the whispering wind sings a sad, sad song\

Time will take its toll

Get lost or let it go

The morning light descends from dreams

As the storm blows over, and the world, it just gleams

Like a great, blue wonder with a flower in her hands

As the whispering wind sings a sad, sad song