I started work on the sad song cycle that became ‘I Used To Be Sad & Then I Forgot’ a long, long time ago. It all comes to a quietly shuddering anticlimax on Friday May 1st at midnight in this perfect world. I shall be released. What can you do about it?
Plenty! Thing is, for me, however good it is, it’s gonna feel horrible. It’s the moment its truly taken from my hands. A wild animal, a raptor or something, lovingly tended, rehabilitated, hand fed by me for a while, reared to not only not mind but thrive in my human company. We’ve become dependent. That’s how you know, we’re done. I have to let it go. So, eventually, I drive the thing, caged in the back of my car, to a wild place, open the door and watch it leave. Confused, at first, unable to really believe or understand whats happening, finally, it spreads it’s wings & disappears off into the great beyond, never to be seen again. I dare to hope I did the right thing, taking it, injured, from it’s natural habitat in the first place, and that it will be better off, now, with the lessons I taught it, the strength & nutrition I gave it, but will I ever know? I will not. It is a wild animal with a life of it’s own. I have to let it fly. All that euphoria & loss. It’s terrifying. What if you hate it? What if you don’t? This post is the instructions you leave mother nature herself for how she can feed that bird, now it doesn’t live in your sanctuary anymore. A waste of time, really. But such is human nature. We are compelled by forces I doubt any of us really understand to fight for unknown things because of confusing compulsions. I’m just another of one those stupid humans. This album is my greatest wisdom & it’s really no wisdom at all.
SO WHAT CAN I DO, I HEAR YOU SCREAM INTO SPACE?
Follow me on Twitter & Instagram. Engage with me. I’ll engage back. Every click an endorsement. I will support you & I appreciate it when you support me. I notice when you don’t. You can hurt me, there. I hope you know when you do and it gives you what you need. Those platforms work differently for different people, but for me, I enjoy the discourse & likes, comments & retweets all help my broken bird to spread her injured wings.
Follow my wordpress website – I try to keep it up to date with the various projects I get involved in and share insights into the process, a backstage look into the operating theatre of the creative industries. Lots of photos & words. I suppose you know this, because you are here right now!
Follow me on Bandcamp – Bandcamp is the best of them. A real sanctuary. It’s been around forever and it was designed to work for everyone. They take a cut of sales but they provide a platform that is equitable. It’s growth is hugely encouraging. Your support here means more financially than anywhere else. I try to use it as a fan, but my funds are limited, so please do excuse me if I can’t buy everything I want to. I’m sure the day will come. There’s a CD available & you can also buy it as a digital album.
Follow my YouTube channel – they say once you get to a thousand subscribers and have four thousand hours of watch time, you can get money for the thing you made! This is a distant dream, and I need more content, but I am making more content, and a follow here counts for quite a bit 🙂
Follow me on Spotify or your preferred streaming service. Add my songs to your playlists! I’ve written about this in other places. Spread the word! Streaming is great! I get told what playlists I’m on & where you’re listening & I love knowing that. There’s only one song there right now, but not for long…
Come to my listening party on Twitter! It’ll be a lot of fun, I’ll share photos & thoughts & insights about the making of the record and what it all means. Here’s the poster. Just use the hashtag #SADLP to read & please do ask me anything!
Write about my album. Lots of folks have & it means a lot. Review it. Tell me what you like about it and what you don’t. Discourse is good. Honesty is good. I’ll share & shout about it, help to promote your platform as much as I can.
Play a song on the radio. I hope I’ve set up PPL & PRS right so when Dean Jackson plays my tune, I get a quid or so. I might not have I’m working it all out alone and it’s deliberately confusing and maze-like. I’ve done my best. Tell me you’re going to play my song, so I can promote your show, which I’ll do as best I can.
You can not mind that I keep going on about it! It can feel stupid, to keep sharing the same post, photo, radio play, blog, review. But it all helps. I’ll keep making new stuff & yelling about it. That’s all I know, really. You hold your end of the bargain & we’re all good 🙂
There are probably other things. What have I missed?
It’s nearly out of my hands. There is time to stop it, but I won’t. I could keep it in a cage at my house, deny it the open sky, for all my own reasons, but I shall let it go. It’s all yours now. I’m all in. Committed. Money where my mouth is. Please be gentle, if you see it out in the wild. It took a while to make it strong enough to fly on it’s own. Tell it I said hello.
