TomFlannery.com

Writing songs again.

I like the sound of that. Just writing the words makes me feel better.

Writing songs again.

This is what I do and have been doing for 20 some years. But six months between songs? Never been that long. Maybe six days.

But I’m not going to stop and analyze anything. The words are tumbling out onto my trusty legal pads, and I’m writing in all sorts of places….the most interesting no doubt being the various parking lots of my daughter’s school functions. I admit that it’s not a very social thing to do…..sitting in my car with furrowed brow searching for rhymes while other parents are conversing like normal people. But I’m not a normal person. I write songs. Acting normal would ruin everything.

The words come first. They always do. Maybe a title. “That Ring it Don’t Fit Your Finger Anymore”. I thought of that. When Pop was sick he lost so much weight his rings were sliding off. Open the spigot and a billion stories could tumble from that line. “So Far So Gone”. I like that play on words. And so I was off again.

So far so gone
sleeping on the floor
this hearing my own breathing
don’t suit me anymore

I want to write rock and roll. And blues. And folk. I want to write songs that mean something but can still be danced or fucked to or used in partnership with various pharmaceuticals. I want to sing and play just for the sheer bang of it. So in other words, I’m doing this for all the right reasons, which I trust will bring me some decent karma. I want my guitar to be all scratched up when I’m done with these songs.

So how are you by the way? If you haven’t already (and judging by sales figures, you haven’t), you should download a copy of my latest record “Pete Townshend’s Ghost”, which I’m very proud of in a reckless, warts-all-over-it sort of way. The songs were written for a band….and what I recorded were one-take guides to teach the other musicians. But I didn’t so much run out of money as realize that I didn’t have any money to start with, so I just decided to release the songs as they were…..mostly brand new and some still searching for where they wanted to go. Some near train wrecks but I got away ok. Minor cuts and bruises…..and a somewhat coherent song-cycle methinks. It’s always fun to write about 17 year olds…especially as you’re trying to be one yourself.

So any final thoughts?

Well, not really.

But then again…

Sitting here listening to “The Pines”….an acoustic duo who’s latest record “Sparrows in the Bell” has been in frequent Ipod rotation lately. They make a distinctly American sound….a sort of eerie, understated brand of mountain music that is easily accessible at the bottom of the hill. You listen to the Pines, and you think, “I can do that”…but the beauty of them is that you probably can’t. It’s so tantalizingly simple….on the surface. But there’s a lot of living under the 3 chords….and a lot of heartbreak in the vocals as they veer to and fro….never perfect but always in tune.

That’s sorta what I want.

Tomorrow, maybe something different. But for now at least….

In a bit..

–tf