DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
My Fellow Americans, Life is actually just a microscopic, deluded moment in time, so let's cut to the freakin' chase. One look at our impending election debacle can solidify my case. It has been my contention since birth, that the answer to every difficulty we encounter on this sacred yet demented Stone, can be revealed with ultimate clarity through the ultra neurotic engagements of Music, Art, Literature, Film, Poetry and a good Pastrami sandwich. Why would any sane human spend so must time on a film set (Do you know how long you gotta wait until your 8 second deliverance of an edited beyond repair line gets a chance to become a professional embarrassment etched in time forever? ) or expend so much energy in a recording studio, piecing together another ode to a man or woman who could not care less how much love existed within your digestive tract? It's all about hymns and prayers and a quest for mercy and forgiveness and silence and faith. We were blessed with Charles Bukowski, Gene Chandler, Lenny Bruce, Mitch Ryder and a legion of creative explorers whose influences provided the air we breathe. So Let's Dance! This site shall explore the reaper, find a way to disarm the stench of injustice, discover some true loves and talk it all over before it's all over. So what's the worst that our desires could produce? Failure? So sue me. I'm going to require your assistance in making as much trouble for the grown-ups as possible. Let the record show that my childish heart yearns to disrupt the madness. Join me Ladies and Germs!
With Gratitude For Gena Rowlands, Nancy Sinatra, Jerry Quarry, Leo Gorcey, Arthur Alexander and Joey Heatherton, Your Splendid Bohemian, Rich Buckland.
DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
BONUS EPISODE! OBLIQUE STRATEGIES: 3 SONGS BY BILL MESNIK, CREATED IN RESPONSE TO BRIAN ENO’S DECK OF CARDS.
To spur my songwriting juices, I got this deck of "Oblique Strategies" cards, created by Brian Eno, designed to prompt creativity. Here are a few examples.
INSIDE / OUTSIDE
(Oblique Strategy: “THINK - Inside the work, outside the work”)
Inside - outside: it’s hard to reconcile
Inside is terrified, though outside may beguile
If I stay inside I just might hide from tribulations and the trial
Of outside’s obligations to display the latest style.
Inside is a cozy place, my home made out of bricks
Outside is an endless space, with hucksters full of tricks
Who wait around each corner to deliver blows and kicks
Or, subtler art to break your heart no medicine can fix
INSIDE - IT’S WARM
OUTSIDE MAY DO ME HARM
OUTSIDE - IT’S COLD
INSIDE I’M GROWING OLD.
It might agoraphobia, this reluctance that I feel
Or, maybe something nobler, some grace for me to heal
It might be something sinister, a cage of the mind too real
But, whatever the urge I need to emerge a person who can feel.
Inside - outside: sings out of harmony
A discordant strain of grief and pain
An obvious forgery
Turn on the light, step into the night
And accept what’s meant to be
Wherever you go, at least you’ll know
What it feels like to be free.
REVERSE
(O.S.: Reverse)
I’m stuck in reverse, and way round the bacK
The brakes are all worn and the axle is cracked,
The steering is worthless, it’s totally whacked
I’m headed for trouble and everything’s black (and everything’s black)
I’m up to my elbow in sulfurous muck
And as far as all I know I’m dead out of luck
But, if it’s not too late I’ll sell you my truck
Let fate steer the crate, and earn Satan a buck
Reverse ain’t the worst
If you face it with grace
It’s like running in place
Or, a pie in the face
Reverse is just relative
A black hole in space
It ain’t something you need to erase.
Perhaps I’ve been looking at my problem all wrong
Maybe Reverse is the point of my song
It could be “ass backwards” will make me last long
And, what doesn’t kill me might build me up strong.
FOOL’S GOLD
(O.S.: what are you really thinking about just now? Incorporate.)
HAVE A DESIRE TO CREATE, BUT NOT A SINGLE IDEA
WOULDN’T IT BE REALLY GREAT TO PULL AN “AVE MARIA”?
I’LL PRAY TO THE GOD OF ART
TO ASSIST ME AND OPEN MY HEART
OR AT LEAST TO MAKE A START
TOWARDS SOMETHING TRUTHFUL, SOMETHING BOLD, SOMETHING HONEST
THAT’S NOT FOOL’S GOLD.
IT’S NOT MY FINEST HOUR
BUT I WON’T LET MYSELF BE SOUR
I STILL HAVE HOPE FOR SUCCESS
AND THOUGH I SPEAK TO AUDIENCE OF ONE
WE’RE STILL HAVING FUN
SO FORWARD! AND DAMN ALL THE REST!
I SHOULDN’T COMPLAIN IF THERE’S NOTHING TO GAIN
BY YEARS OF WASTED TOIL
THE UNIVERSE HAS MADE IT PLAIN
WHY BURN REGRETFUL OIL?
I’LL PRAY TO THE GOD OF ART
TO ASSIST ME AND OPEN MY HEART
OR AT LEAST TO MAKE A START
TOWARDS SOMETHING TRUTHFUL, SOMETHING BOLD, SOMETHING HONEST
THAT’S NOT FOOL’S GOLD.
