Publish or Perish?

Perish the Thought

For a couple years I’ve been chewing on the idea of self-publishing a book (is there any other way?). It would be a combination of my song lyrics along with photographs and/or images of some of my other artwork. I envision printed lyrics superimposed over the original pencilled out sketches of a given song, most of which were scratched out in bed while half-asleep. Since I’m a borderline hoarder, I still have most of the scraps of paper that I used when I was writing lyrics over the years. I use a #2 pencil but I often crossed out a line instead of using the eraser. It’s quicker and when ideas are coming you work as fast as possible.

Well, the main question is; is this a good idea or a bad idea? It’s a way of getting my thoughts and ideas out into the world which is what I do as a musician and visual artist, and to some extent, this blog you are reading. It’s also a way to flush money down the whirlpool of dreams.

Aside from the money factor, and specifically for this project, it would be a way for the lyrics/novellas/poems to be read without the distraction of the music, and I think many people react to music more viscerally than intellectually. Maybe people would dig it…who knows?

So, here is an example page of the song ‘Young Danny Lee’, which was cut #4 on Tallsome Tales. You can see the original sketches underneath the printed lyrics.

What’s not included so far in the above sketch, and would be included on an opposing page, is the story behind the lyrics. I often joke on stage, when getting ready to perform one of my originals, that this is a True Story. This particular song is based on a friend of mine in the little Kansas town I’m from who was tragically killed by his own father when he was 15. In a town so small, it was a devastating event as everybody knew everybody else. The family lived on the east edge of town and, as Danny’s mother Annie was the vet in town, we used to take our dog Candy to her for worms and other dog ailments. Also, Danny and I were in Boy Scouts together. Small town, small town life. One of the Church Ladies sang Danny Boy at the funeral and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house, including those hardened farm men. It was also the first time I heard that song, age 13.

You’ll notice I speak of the house in the last verse. It is still standing but long abandoned with the windows broken, the furnishings still there, and an amazing amount of vegetation growing wild covering the house from the main road. I visited the house a time or two but have not ventured inside. I’ve been torn about going in the house; I am insanely curious, but it is also eerily spooky, and also don’t want to disrespect the family’s past and previous home.

When in Kansas I usually try to visit my home town as my folks and grandparents are both buried about a mile east of town.

In case it’s difficult to read the lyrics from the image I posted, here they are:

Young Danny Lee

Young Danny lived at the edge of town
Only fifteen years was he
While lending a hand to his father Jack
Climbed up the roof to see
Time Stood still as if transfixed
By the knife of memory
In a room below Jack raised his gun
And shot young Danny Lee
O, he shot young Danny Lee

A cold wind on the prairie
The day young Danny died
The small Kansas town was turned upside down
For he was his father's pride
O, he was his father's pride

Old Annie Danny's mother
Healed animals by trade
His father Jack a stoic man
Had nothing much to say
His brother and two sisters
Too young to understand
Moved on through life not knowing
What Danny might've been
What Danny might've been

On the edge of that small Kansas town
Tucked back all dark and gray
The husk of their house still remains
As if they walked away
The furnishings all smell of mold
Their clothes in disarray
Dead vines all scattered 'cross the roof
Where Danny Lee did lay
Where Danny Lee did lay

A cold wind on the prairie
The day young Danny died
The small Kansas town was turned upside down
For he was his father's pride
O, he was his father's pride

I brought in Catherine Zavala to sing on it, along with Karl Hoffmann on bass, and Joe Fanning on acoustic guitar and mandolin. You can take listen if you’d like right here.

And if you’re a Spotify user, please follow the band by clicking here. Make some playlists with our songs! Aaaaand, if you’d like to download Young Danny Lee for under a buck, go here! You may refer to me as Mr. Commerce hence forth. Mr. Big Bucks. Yep, making the large ones here…

If you have an opinion about publishing; do it, don’t even think about it, meehhhhh…please leave a comment below.

Now for your moment of contemplation…