Balancing Act

I had an email discussion with a friend the other day about the turn this blog has taken lately – more to the personal side from what was predominantly political only a few months ago.

I suppose it comes more out of my need to write than anything else... I don't have a particular need to bare anything about my life, or to work out issues; I do have a need to create, however – whether the creation comes in the form of a song, a story or a photograph.

I guess it was rather synchronistic, then, that I happened across an article about one of my favorite songwriters, Loudon Wainwright III, in which he talks about his songs and their often very revealing nature.

In songwriting, it's a balancing act as to how much you reveal, he says.

You don't wanna gross an audience out. But on the other hand, sometimes you do. I like to affect an audience. I don't mind making them a bit uncomfortable,' he says. 'The idea is to engage a group of people for 75 minutes and make them squirm a little bit. Make 'em laugh. Think a bit. . . . There's no limitation on how far you can go. The songs have to be good at the end of the day.

So, I guess I feel a bit the same way – both with the songs I write as well as whatever I post here. I figure that if it happens to me, it's fair game for a song, a blog post, poem or whatever.

I've never really thought I was much of a storyteller – as classic storytellers go, that is – but I do believe I have some sort of a knack for it (or perhaps it's just an urge), wending my way from what is a very specific incident to a bigger, broader pool of thought. Sort of like a river.

Yeah, that's it... like a river.

Ballad Of Easy Rider

by Roger McGuinn*

The river flows, it flows to the sea
Wherever that river goes that's where I want to be
Flow river flow, let your waters wash down
Take me from this road to some other town

All he wanted was to be free
And that's the way it turned out to be
Flow river flow, let your waters wash down
Take me from this road to some other town

Flow river flow, past the shady trees
Go river go, go to the sea
Flow to the sea

The river flows, it flows to the sea
Wherever it goes that's where I want to be
Flow river flow, let your waters wash down
Take me from this road to some other town

*Supposedly, Bob Dylan wrote this and gave it to McGuinn