I Just Halved Myself

I am - Joe, hear me roar.
I want - to be a rockstar when I grow up.
I have - a gorgeous wife and enough money to live.
I wish - I had the will to practice rudimentary piano technique regularly.
I hate - pedal steel guitar used as filler in country songs.
I fear - Trace Adkin's popularity.
I hear - Big Head Todd and the Monsters with a horn section.
I search - the internet for even samples of the "New" Waylon Jennings CD.
I wonder - if the Tampa Bay Rays are going to find a way to win the series.
I always - get angry while watching the Cowboys play.
I usually - forget to pick up my drink cups after I'm finished.
I am not - that skinny.
I dance - like a 30 year old white guy.
I sing - in the car, loudly, daydreaming the whole time.
I never - can figure some people out.
I rarely - play video games.
I cry - at stupid stuff, like Shania Twain songs I've played in bands.
I am not always - willing to work hard.
I lose - my cool when family picks at me.
I'm confused - about some plotlines in CSI.
I need - to relax and not freak out about things so easily.
I should - write some new songs.
I dream - of being a nationally known songwriter.
I TAG - lobiwan, nevercountsheep, and daniel.

UnClever NearRhymes and other Mysterious Things

Whilst driving today I happened to hear a couple of country songs which sent me into a little zone of unfortunate rememberance.

Songs with annoying and highly un-clever near rhymes.

I'm talking about:

Brooks & Dunn with "Jesus" and "Pieces".

Darryl Worley with "Forgotten" and "Bin Laden".

Jamie O'Neal with "Man Is" and "Atlantis".

In turn, much to my wife's dismay, this memory led me into a thought process on one man's art versus another's.

I do not like songs that spell everything out. Songs with metaphorical imagery and multiple interpretation appeal to me much more strongly than say, a Martina McBride song about pitching in at the grocery store line to help those "a little less fortunate" than she.

I love how some songs can change meaning with age. Case in point: my song, "Forget". It's my response to 9/11, cloaked in a reference to those I know who've been sexually assaulted. I didn't clearly recognize just how plural the meaning was until this morning. As Bono said once, even he doesn't know what his own songs are about until much later.

I'm not trying to put anyone else down for their listening tastes, but I am trying to clarify just what makes it "Art" to me.

Tune in next time when I'll reveal which Radiohead song is about breast augmentation.