. . . and I find in the image of the Statue of Liberty a symbol of that idea

I'm a socialist with ever-growing anarchist tendencies, but I am unapologetically in love with the America as an idea, as a set of principles and assertions about human freedom, rather than (as the Right would have it) as a tribe bound by blood and soil . . .

The main riff is supposed to be big and stompy -- it's vaguely inspired by "Kashmir" -- and again, I'm not sure how well it works. I like the layering of the guitars on the verse portions, though. I should redo the vox, too -- I overdid the reverb.

Last one for now: I've been chipping away at this one for a long time, and I don't know entirely how I feel about it. The lyric takes a big swing -- trying to articulate an explicitly leftist patriotism, without getting melodrama or purple -- and I'm not sure I stuck it.

I had some terrible hokum lyrics, but they were so bad that when the time came I couldn't bear to sing them, even as placeholders; so finishing it would be a matter of writing words, tracking vocals, and adding a couple of instrumental flourishes and solos. I just haven't gotten to it.

This one's from late 2024, but I meant to finish it last year and didn't. The idea was simple -- a heavy boogie, like Link Wray playing John Lee Hooker. In its current form, it's pure groove, no melody.

Anyway I was unhappy with this first (unfinished) attempt -- the drums are clunky, the vocals are tentative, and the rhythm guitar tone is terrible due to a combination of bad amp choice, bad mic placement, and a fucked-up compressor pedal. It all needs to be redone. Accountability!

It somehow ended up being reminiscent of several Dire Straits songs at once

. . . but I felt moved to write about it, too; about grieving, and how there's no one right way to do it, how it's different for everyone. Ad because he's guitar player, I wanted to give him a big spotlight so he could wail -- twelve choruses over the "royal road" progression (IV - V - iii - vi)

This is one of the few songs I've ever written *for* someone -- not made to order, but as a sort of gift for a specific person -- in this case a guitarist friend who was struggling emotionally after a death in his family. We had some good long talks about it . . .

I spent a couple of weeks last fall thinking I might establish a songwriting partnership with a local hard rock dude who's got a million hooks and a love for sci-fi. I fitted lyrics to a track of his, sent it over, and got silence -- not even a "No thanks." Musicians, man.