Year: 2018

  • 2018…

    Today is the last day of the worst year of my life The only comfort is so small that it is no comfort at all: that next year will be even worse as will each one that follows There is no road ahead, just a path with cliffs on either side and the disorienting knowledge…

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  • The Christmas Trigger

      For a lot of people, this season is not the jolly one that it is supposed to be. Songs and movies that give comfort and joy to many, pull a decidedly nasty trigger for others. It is no coincidence that suicide rates rise during the holidays. The days are as short as they get…

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  • Bloggiversary and break

    Five years ago today I started this blog as a new artistic project after I quit my band of 30 years. In the days since I started Words & Music I wrote a novel, became a poet, and composed most of my favorite original songs. I have posted about 650 poems, stories, songs, reviews, and…

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  • I Love You So Bad It Hurts (LIVE)

    The second song I played at an open mic recently is one of my favorite originals of the past few years. Musically, it’s a simple progression that’s made a little fresher by putting a capo on the 10th fret so that the guitar almost sounds like a mandolin. Lyrically, each verse repeats the first line…

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  • The silence that Tuesday night brings

    I I went to the place where blisters were blooming on fingers that felt pride in putting them there. A woman named Mary provided a fishbowl, a backdrop for dreamers, and pint after pint. There were masters of melody, rakers of rhythm, and teller of tales about freight trains and fears. It’s easier to listen…

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