http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=140713037&blogID=360349775 Friday, February 22, 2008
Until we meet again..
Current mood: Zen
Category: Zen Music
I have blogged about every show on this tour so I thought I'd quickly post about Amsterdam. It was a love fest. Simple as that. I sang until I was hoarse actually (I think we played 17 or 18 songs and explored a lot of older stuff).. I've got one more show on Sunday night in London and then, as you all know, I'm officially out of the lime light for as long as it will take to get me some happy.
I've had a lot of people ask me what will happen after I play the last live date.
The truth is, I don't know.
Time out, for sure.
I've been in the public eye solidly for 12 years now. Even in my downtime when I wasn't promoting an album I was making one.
When I wasn't doing press I was touring. When I wasn't touring I was having meetings. When I wasn't having meetings I was making an album.
And so on and so forth.
And in the past year or so, I've documented it all online almost daily.
So I am looking forward to ducking out of sight for a while.
I'm going to close down messaging on my site after the 24th and I don't imagine I'm going to blog
until I feel like it.
I need to switch the frequency off for a while to tune into the future.
Let me spend a moment looking back on it all, from space.
First of all, can I say how overwhelmingly positive the experience of making 'This Delicate Thing We've Made' was.
From the inception to the sounds. The visuals to the videos. The tour. Ahh the Time Machine Tour. Then the talents. The genius that is Justin Shave. The kindest heart and brave talent that is Steve Young. The solid truth of Peter Huttington. The sheer brilliance and solidarity that is Tracey Turner.
The loyalty and reliability that is the talent of Will King. The freakin' genius that has been the artork of Jane Wallace. The out of control unbelievableness that is the work of Richard Cullen. Just that tiny microcosm of people helped build up and deliver my dream to the world and in the process – we've made life long friendships. Then of course, there were all of you – who made me still want to make music even though no one really cares about music anymore. You all kept my faith in dreaming.
It hasn't all been positive. And that's ok. It's been interesting watching the level of panic rise and rise within 'the music industry'. It seems everyone is in a state of flux.
I'm very lucky to have come up from a period of great prosperity and to have used that success to cultivate my strange and interesting but heartfelt records.
But it hasn't been easy.
It was a huge struggle to bring 'This Delicate Thing' to the world. Emotionally, practically and financially. But I'm so proud I did.
When I think about the music industry today, I think of great turmoil.
The analogy in my mind is like a shore full of competitive swimmers.
Thousands of them on the shore, running to the ocean as the gun goes off and suddenly amidst a sea of splashing there's nothing but confusion as to which direction to head.
When I think of my music, I'm reluctant to throw myself into that sea.
There's a race going on, and everyone seems so desperate to win that from a distance all the competitors have begun to look identical.
One big confused flapping mass of hysteria.
I don't want to be in the race.
I never did.
The idea of radio as the source for new music is a bit ancient now.
It's become so restrictive.
It used to be, for example, a golden rule in radio that a song be 4 minutes and 30 seconds.
In the mid 90's that changed to 4 minutes.
A few years ago it was 3 minutes 30.
Today it's 'under three minutes please!'.
A song like 'Casey' or 'How to Build a Time Machine'..
well they're far too delicate for that kind of chopping block.
I think about songs like 'Bohemian Rhapsody' or 'Hey Jude' and obviously they would never have survived had they been released today.
And it's not a case of the old man harping on about how things were better 'back in the day'.
It's just an observation.
And it certainly shapes how I see myself fitting in.
I've made many steps, each time I make a record, to inch further away from the feeling of being restricted and I think I've done a pretty good job so far.
Making a stand was at the expense of being able to rely on the bank account of a major label or the radio edit world of top 40. But it has taken a lot out of me.
I want to make sure that the next thing I do comes from a place of joy and urgency rather than a reaction to what is going on in that crazy rat race called 'the industry'.
The bits I've loved have been making the album I wanted and touring.
Those bits I'm interested in exploring. But most of the rest of it I don't think I'm going to miss.
When I was growing up, the period between albums of my favourite artists used to seem like a lifetime. They would go away and when they came back they would have
something new to say, something fresh to show and a brand new point of view.
They seemed to do that in the silence that existed in the period between albums.
That silence is what I'm going to find.
And when I've got something important to say, I'll say it.
I'm not sure when that will be.
But I'll be back. Because music is my oxygen.
Until that time, please know that I love you and I am more aware
every day how lucky I am to have found an audience like you.
Thank you for the most incredible year of my life.
Thank you for these Delicate Things.
In my absence I'm going to set a few more birds free from their cages.
There are things I've hinted at that will still be happening this year.
The DVD of The Time Machine Tour.
The Surround Sound Animated DVD version of the Album.
And possibly a book.
The lovely folks at Powdered Sugar will make sure you're up to date on what's coming.
So keep in touch here or at my website.
Until then, all my respect and love..
Goodbye for now.
D
P.S
Here's some lyrics by John Lennon.
I'll leave you with them.
X
JOHN LENNON – WATCHING THE WHEELS
People say I'm crazy doing what I'm doing,
Well they give me all kinds of warnings to save me from ruin,
When I say that I'm o.k. they look at me kind of strange,
Surely your not happy now you no longer play the game,
People say I'm lazy dreaming my life away,
Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me,
When I tell that I'm doing Fine watching shadows on the wall,
Don't you miss the big time boy you're no longer on the ball?
I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round,
I really love to watch them roll,
No longer riding on the merry-go-round,
I just had to let it go,
People asking questions lost in confusion,
Well I tell them there's no problem,
Only solutions,
Well they shake their heads and they look at me as if I've lost my mind,
I tell them there's no hurry...
I'm just sitting here doing time,
I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round,
I really love to watch them roll,
No longer riding on the merry-go-round,
I just had to let it go.
C. John Lennon
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