Song of the Day: Amanda Palmer - In My Mind

Saving the best (in my opinion) for last, in this short series of Amanda Palmer songs.

"In My Mind" Music Video - Amanda Palmer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9WZtxRWieM

At the risk of quoting nearly the whole song, here are some lyrics that resonate.

"Maybe I've just forgotten how to see
That I'll never be the person that I thought I'd be"
>>> Funny how life conspires to throw things at you that you never imagined.

"I'm so busy with everything
That I don't look at anything
But I'm sure I'll look when I am older"
>>> I totally relate to this.  Yeah, sure.  When I'm older.  Except here I am, at the "older" stage (I've found white nose hairs, for crying out loud!), whatever that means.  Yet it rarely happens that I slow down to take a look around.

"How strange to see
That I don't wanna be the person that I want to be"
>>> Kind of like my Jackson Browne/Pretender post.  You have a certain image of what you want, what you think you want in life.  Then you get there and you say, wait, what is this?  Is this really what I wanted???  Why was I chasing THIS all along?

"And when they put me in the ground
I'll start pounding the lid
Saying I haven't finished yet
I still have a tattoo to get
That says I'm living in the moment"
>>> Well, I don't want a tattoo.  But I sure do want to do a better job of living in the moment.  There are moments when I actually do manage to live in the moment, and I try to savor them.

"But maybe it isn't all that funny
That I've been fighting all my life
But maybe I have to think it's funny
If I wanna live before I die
And maybe it's funniest of all
To think I'll die before I actually see
That I am exactly the person that I want to be"
>>> It is sad.  And maybe she's right, that we only realize that at the end.  Funny/sad at the same time.  But you have to laugh at it sometimes, and appreciate the ironies and the twists and the turns.  Because while I have regrets, there has been a lot of fun along the way, too.

"Fuck yes
I am exactly the person that I want to be"
>>> I don't think I'm at this stage yet.  But I WANT to be able to say this.


Well, I might as well show all the lyrics, since I've quoted half the song already.  :)   From AZ Lyrics:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/amandapalmer/inmymind.html

"In My Mind"
(feat. Brian Viglione)

In my mind
In a future five years from now
I'm one hundred and twenty pounds
And I never get hung over
Because I will be the picture of discipline
Never minding what state I'm in
And I will be someone I admire
And it's funny how I imagined
That I would be that person now
But it does not seem to have happened
Maybe I've just forgotten how to see
That I am not exactly the person that I thought I'd be

And in my mind
In the faraway here and now
I've become in control somehow
And I never lose my wallet
Because I will be the picture of of discipline
Never fucking up anything
And I'll be a good defensive driver
And it's funny how I imagined
That I would be that person now
But it does not seem to have happened
Maybe I've just forgotten how to see
That I'll never be the person that I thought I'd be

And in my mind
When I'm old I am beautiful
Planting tulips and vegetables
Which I will mindfully watch over
Not like me now
I'm so busy with everything
That I don't look at anything
But I'm sure I'll look when I am older
And it's funny how I imagined
That I could be that person now
But that's not what I want
But that's what I wanted
And I'd be giving up somehow
How strange to see
That I don't wanna be the person that I want to be

And in my mind
I imagine so many things
Things that aren't really happening
And when they put me in the ground
I'll start pounding the lid
Saying I haven't finished yet
I still have a tattoo to get
That says I'm living in the moment
And it's funny how I imagined
That I could win this, win this fight
            [Sounds like she said "win this winless fight"--yes, I did submit a correction.]
But maybe it isn't all that funny
That I've been fighting all my life
But maybe I have to think it's funny
If I wanna live before I die
And maybe it's funniest of all
To think I'll die before I actually see
That I am exactly the person that I want to be

Fuck yes
I am exactly the person that I want to be

Song of the Day: Amanda Palmer - Polly (Nirvana cover)

Did you know that the Nirvana song "Polly" was based on a true story?  Apparently it was.  And I didn't even realize it until I saw this song covered by Amanda Palmer, until I watched this video.

AMANDA PALMER & THE GRAND THEFT ORCHESTRA: "POLLY" (NIRVANA) OFFICIAL VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg0dWANc3mo

Wow, that is a powerful and haunting song and video.  Covers usually don't do the original justice, but I think this one does.


Here is the story behind the song, couple links I found.

From Wikipedia:
"Polly (song)"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polly_%28song%29

From Complete Nirvana:
"The story of Polly"
http://www.completenirvana.co.uk/php/information/polly.php

From Songfacts.com:
"Polly by Nirvana"
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2715

From Snopes:
"Topic: Nirvana's 'Polly'"
http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=30;t=002579;p=0


Finally, two links to the original, one studio version and one live version.

"Nirvana - polly lyrics"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2Fr90sOxbs

"Nirvana - Polly (Unplugged)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd3rpF9v-1o

Song of the Day: Amanda Palmer - Astronaut, and "The Art of Asking"

How was Amanda Palmer kept a secret from me for so long?  Seriously, there are so many good artists out there that you and I have never heard of, it's amazing.  Once again I say: Why bother listening to the radio anymore?

First the song.  Then keep reading below, past the lyrics, for the "business" part of this post.

Okay, back to Amanda. Here's a great song, live:
Amanda Palmer "Astronaut" Live at Paradise Rock Club Boston
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udHpzUnoHSk

Studio version, which I don't find as compelling as the live versions.  I find it a little overproduced, a little too dramatic
Astronaut - "Who Killed Amanda Palmer" Video Series: Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O6GqCwjh-k

"And I am still not getting what I want
I want to touch the back of your right arm
I wish you could remind me who I was
Because every day I'm a little further off"

I see this song either as a long distance relationship or, more likely, as a relationship where the couple is growing distant.  Something many of us can relate to, sadly.

It could also mean being with someone who is growing distant due to a substance addition, I suppose, but I wouldn't know about that, fortunately.


Lyrics, from AZ Lyrics:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/amandapalmer/astronautashorthistoryofnearlynothing.html

Astronaut: A Short History Of Nearly Nothing

Is it enough to have some love
Small enough to slip inside a book.
Small enough to cover with your hand
Because everyone around you wants to look

Is it enough to have some love
Small enough to fit inside the cracks
The pieces don't fit together so good
With all the breaking and all the gluing back

And I am still not getting what I want
I want to touch the back of your right arm
I wish you could remind me who I was
Because every day I'm a little further off

But you are, my love, the astronaut
Flying in the face of science
I will gladly stay an afterthought
Just bring back some nice reminders

And is it getting harder to pretend
That life goes on without you in the wake?
And can you see the means without the end
In the random frantic action that we take?

And is it getting easy not to care
Despite the many rings around your name
It isn't funny and it isn't fair
You've traveled all this way and it's the same

But you are, my love, the astronaut
Flying in the face of science
I will gladly stay an afterthought
Just bring back some nice reminders

I would tell them anything to see you split the evening
But as you see I do not have an awful lot to tell
Everybody's sick for something that they can find fascinating
Everyone but you and even you aren't feeling well

Yes you are, my love, the astronaut
Crashing in the name of science
Just my luck they found your upper half
It's a very nice reminder
It's a very nice reminder

And you may be acquainted with the night
But I have seen the darkness in the day
And you must know it is a terrifying sight
Because you and I are living the same way



Not only is Palmer a great singer, but she is a tremendous communicator and shrewd, perceptive businesswoman in general.  There are a lot of lessons here for salespeople or any businessman, really.  There have only been two other posts on this blog that I have cross-labeled with both "Business" and "Music" labels.

One such cross-labeled post is:
Mick Jagger, Businessman, from Friday, February 4, 2011
Jagger focuses on his fans, and his most direct source of income, by touring.

Here is another such post:
Music Economics, from April 15, 2010

Note this link in that post...
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2010/how-much-do-music-artists-earn-online/
...which shows the many ways musicians make money.  But it doesn't show one particular way.  Read on...


Let's take a look at what Palmer does.  Her business model includes touring, like Jagger and like most singers.  But it also involves letting her fans download her music for FREE!

From her web page:
"Free Music | Mission Statement"
http://amandapalmer.net/producttypes/featured/


Palmer describes her approach in this TED Talk:
"Amanda Palmer: The art of asking"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMj_P_6H69g

And the media asked, "Amanda, the music business is tanking, and you encourage piracy!  How did you make all these people pay for music?"  And the real answer is: I didn't make them, I asked them.  And through the very act of asking people, I connected with them.  And when you connect with them, people want to help you.

Palmer completely trusts her fans, and that trust has apparently been repaid in full.  Check out the video at 10:50 onward.

This was a Ninja master level fan connection.  Because what I was really saying here was: "I trust you this much.  Should I?  Show me."

Some people are scared of Palmer's approach.  She is giving away her music for free, and asking them to pay what they want to pay.  But Palmer takes a different approach.  In Palmer's words:

Celebrity is about a lot of people loving you from a distance.  But the Internet, and the content that we're freely able to share on it, are taking us back.  It's about a few people loving you up close, and about those people being enough.

You can be successful if you have a few deep connections.  It's about quality, not quantity.

So a lot of people are confused by the idea of no hard sticker price, they see it as an unpredictable risk.  But the things I've done--the kickstarter, the street, the doorbell--I don't see these things as risk, I see them as trust.

The perfect tools aren't going to help us if we can't face each other.  And give and receive fearlessly.  But more important, to ask.  Without shame.  My music career has been spent trying to encounter people on the Internet the way I could on the box.

When we really see each other, we want to help each other.  I think people have been obsessed with the wrong question, which is: "How do we make people pay for music?"  What if we started asking: "How do we let people pay for the music?"

Wow.  Powerful stuff.


Here is how the New York Times described her approach:
"Giving Love, Lots of It, To Her Fans"
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/arts/music/amanda-palmer-takes-connecting-with-her-fans-to-a-new-level.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

“It doesn’t feel like a windfall,” Ms. Palmer said in an interview before the party. “It feels like the accumulated reward for years and years of work.”

“It’s not about fame,” said Yancey Strickler, a founder of Kickstarter. “Fame is a lot of people caring about you a little. What Amanda has is something different. It’s a few people caring about her a lot.”

And I would be remiss if I didn't post a link to her Kickstarter video pitch:
AMANDA PALMER's new RECORD, ART BOOK, and TOUR (pre-order on KICKSTARTER)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TveAzAs6NAY&feature=youtu.be

This is "the art of asking" at its very finest.  Extremely well done.  The "ask" is very clear and very well-tailored to her audience.  I was amazed at how well it was done.



Finally, here is a picture illustrating one of the things she mentioned in her TED talk.  I have to admit, I don't believe I could do this!  Well, maybe if I were doing the signing, but not the one being signed!

Song of the Day: Tegan and Sara - I Was A Fool

Another song where I love the mood, the vibe.  I can listen to this over and over.

Tegan and Sara - I Was A Fool [OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv5p-7XXldc

"I was a fool for love.  I was a fool for love.  I was a fool.  I was a fool."
"But stand still is all I did."


Okay, one more.  Same comment as above.

Tegan and Sara - Now I'm All Messed Up [Official Lyric Video]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cksZLD0y5WU

"Go.  [please stay]  Go.  [please stay]  Go if you want.  I can't stop you."

Song of the Day: Tegan and Sara - Closer

Love this song.  Isn't this what we all want?

"Tegan and Sara - Closer [OFFICIAL HD MUSIC VIDEO]"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e9NSMY8QiQ


Lyrics:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/teganandsara/closer.html


"Closer"

All I want to get is a little bit closer
All I want to know is, can you come a little closer?

Here comes the breath before we get a little bit closer
Here comes the rush before we touch, come a little closer

The doors are open, the wind is really blowing
The night sky is changing overhead

It's not just all physical
I'm the type who won't get oh so critical
So let's make things physical
I won't treat you like you're oh so typical
I won't treat you like you're oh so typical

All you think of lately is getting underneath me
All I dream of lately is how to get you underneath me

Here comes the heat before we meet a little bit closer
Here comes the spark before the dark, come a little closer

The lights are off and the sun is finally setting
The night sky is changing overhead

It's not just all physical
I'm the type who won't get oh so critical
So let's make things physical
I won't treat you like you're oh so typical

I want you close, I want you
I won't treat you like you're typical
I want you close, I want you
I won't treat you like you're typical

Here come the dreams of you and me
Here come the dreams
Here come the dreams of you and me
Here come the dreams

It's not just all physical
I'm the type who won't get oh so critical
So let's make things physical
I won't treat you like you're oh so typical

I want you close, I want you
I won't treat you like you're typical
I want you close, I want you
I won't treat you like you're typical

I won't treat you like you're typical
I won't treat you like you're typical

All I want to get is a little bit closer
All I want to know is, can you come a little closer?

Zurich!

My business in Switzerland took me to Lenzburg, so I wasn't sure I'd get a chance to see Zurich.  As it turns out, my return flight was on Thursday morning so they suggested I stay at a hotel near the airport Wednesday night.  They put me on a train from Lenzburg to the airport (with a stop at Zurich HB--Zürich Hauptbahnhof, the main train station: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%BCrich_Hauptbahnhof), where I would catch a shuttle to the hotel.  I thought I wouldn't have time to see Zurich...

But I found myself at the hotel by 6:45 or so, with time on my hands.  Turns out that the trains in Switzerland are very easy to figure out, even for a foreigner who can't speak German.  They also run right on time, no delays that I could see.  So I shuttled back to the airport and took a train back to downtown Zurich.  Here are a few of the pictures I took, all from April 10, 2013.

Somewhere in Zurich, west side of the river.

Somewhere in Zurich, west side of the river.  Near St. Peter Church.

St. Peter Church.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter,_Zurich

Fraumunster Abbey.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraum%C3%BCnster

Looking south, over Lake Zurich, from Qualbrucke bridge, towards the Alps.  Cell phone camera doesn't do this shot justice.  The view of the Alps was STUNNING.  Picture taken from here:

https://maps.google.com/?ll=47.366394,8.542186&spn=0.000527,0.000549&t=h&z=21

Looking north, back up the river, from Qualbrucke bridge.

One of the steep, narrow streets in old Zurich, on the east side of the river.

I love beagles.  Even stuffed Swiss beagles, apparently.  Especially if they have a Swiss blanket on them!

Berner Teller for dinner.  Beef, sausage, ham, sauerkraut, and potatoes.  Delicious!

Things I Learned While Flying - Part II - Atlantic Edition

Saw the movie "Life of Pi" while somewhere over the Atlantic the other day.  It was an older plane, without a video screen in each seat in front of you, so when a heard this quote I wasn't able to rewind to get it exact.

Here's what I heard, as I scrambled to pull out a pen and paper:
"The whole of life becomes learning to let go.  Take a moment to say good bye."

Looking it up online I found a slightly different (and undoubtedly more accurate) version.

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/life%20of%20pi%20quotes

"I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye"

That got me thinking.  I'm now at a point in life where I probably have more life behind me than ahead of me.  Kind of gets you thinking.  When you're young you think of all the things you can do, will do.  But at some point you realize that there are many things you meant to do that you won't get a chance to do.

No sense crying about it, better to accept it and make the most of it.  I think that part of "accepting it" is learning to say no.  To let go of stuff.

It's hard to say no sometimes.  You wouldn't think so when you're young, at least I didn't.  And it's hard to let go, even when you know you should.

Seems like this blog post is incomplete, that there's more to say.  But you know what?  I'm done with it.  I'm letting it go.*   :)

Once more, Dragonette sums it up:
"Dragonette - Let it Go (Official Video)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KsPIJK17uk





*Just this particular blog post, not the whole blog.  Fear not, my seven (estimated) readers!