TomFlannery.com

Santa bought me a flip video for Xmas, and this is my first clumsy attempt at using it. A brand new song called “Wallflowers” recorded in the bunker. I am of course wearing my lucky hat.

Well, all sorts of things. Regrets mostly. Pretty much a wasted year musically. Wrote about a dozen songs, but didn’t take a serious stab at recording any of them. Gave some away. Threw some away. Some are keepers, but to let them go felt wrong. Bad timing….perhaps because they drew on some bad times. Guitar sat in the corner much of the year, dusted off for one-off gigs here and there and then put right back. Absolutely no momentum was generated. My father’s passing early in the year really knocked the stuffing out of me. Writing didn’t make me feel good. It made me feel sad.

Watching Alzheimer’s disease crawl all over someone is a dreadful sight. There’s nothing spiritual or uplifting about “the fight”. The ending is pre-ordained. There are no survivors. There’s no redemption. It’s cruel and unusual punishment doled out to folks who don’t deserve it. The randomness of misplaced brain wires.

Ironically, all we have left is memories, the very things the disease stole from my father. This can surely turn one cynical, especially one prone to cynicism under blue skies. And so yes, I allowed anger to get the best of me and turned it inward, intentionally not doing what I love to do best to spite something or someone that I don’t even believe in.

But enough is enough. It’s Christmas time. My girls are bouncing around the house like they’re on invisible pogo-sticks, happy and healthy and counting down the minutes until they get to dive into the pile on Saturday morning. Advance word from Santa is that they’ve been pretty good. He’s been mum on me.

I’m currently writing new lyrics like crazy. Keeping up on my blog with Mike Stevens, and have sketched out a new play. I’m hoping 2011 brings no more regrets, a tunnel-full of words, and maybe a few good songs that’ll earn me a billion dollars. I promise I’ll give away half.

In a bit..

–tf

Was going to record a really personal new batch of songs I have….but something is holding me back. I’ve decided to go back to the notebook and write more. Wrote one last night I like a lot (at least for now) called “Wallflowers”.

Who would have guessed who would have known / Friday nights on the telephone

I want to create something accessible. I want to explore things that might mean as much to you as they do to me.

In a bit..

–tf

Woke up this morning with an itch that I couldn’t reach. So I wrote and recorded this song…

We Deserve Better Than This   Wanna see if I can still make you smile
see if maybe we can rest awhile
head down to the lawer’s to deface our wills
share a 6-pack and a sleeping pill
cause we deserve better
we deserve better than this

Nine to five on an assembly line
if it weren’t for nickels we wouldn’t have a dime
love ain’t enough to keep you warm
when the furnace blows in a winter storm
cause we deserve better
we deserve better than this

How many years we count the days
how many friends lost along the way
how many lies underneath the bed
how many slaps upside the head
cause we deserve better
we deserve better than this

They say you get dealt a hand
and it you play it the best you can
well that SOB’s dealing from the bottom of the deck
I’m gonna find his ass I’m gonna break his neck
cause we deserve better
we deserve better than this

My clothes don’t fit me anymore
so I’m wearing what my old man wore
tax refund gone missing my hair gone gray
one of us should leave but we’ll both stay
cause we deserve better
we deserve better than this

Wanna see if I can still make you smile
see if maybe we can rest awhile
head down to the lawer’s to deface our wills
share a 6-pack and a sleeping pill
cause we deserve better
we deserve better than this

We just kicked it off this week. Always wanted to write with Mike Stevens. One of my favorites.

We’ve pledged 2000 words a week. On whatever catches our fancy. Come for a visit.

In a bit…

–tf