trifecta

my trifecta: music + writing + love = ___________________

the blank is the most exciting part. most times i have no idea what will be there. in today's case...it was a song that i wrote. i know you're probably thinking that's an obvious outcome when you combine the three, but it's not always true in my case. a lot of times it's just thoughts. boooring.

when i listen to music...i'm constantly breaking it down. anything from the lyrics and what they REALLY mean...to the guitar parts and what they REALLY mean. i listen for background noise, too. i always try to put myself in situations where i can apply the song to my life and break it down that way. in case that doesn't make any sense...i basically overanalyze music to the point where it's borderline obsession/psychotherapy.

writing to me is not a form of therapy. i'm not the type of person that goes through some situation and thinks, "dude...i have to get this down on paper or else i'll explode." i simply see it as more of a way to express my ideas/thoughts/personal findings/beliefs. that doesn't even make sense to me, so don't feel bad.

love...is awesome. did you know that the philadelphia international airport is the best airport for making a love connection, according to an online survey. seriously, i guess if you're on the hunt for that special someone...schedule a flight there.

anyway...back to the part about the song i wrote. my trifecta...music, writing, and love. all three were involved/happening when i was working on this new song i was calling "fight." creepy part is...i titled it before i had lyrics...dun dun dun! it'd be really cool if i had it recorded and i could put the song up here for all to hear...but i can't at this time.

this is what happened: a few weeks ago i wrote this cool guitar part and wrote it down. then, i kept playing it and kept changing things here and there until i liked what i heard. about a week ago i wrote some lyrics down and tried it out. it sounded okay...to me. i played it for emily (she's my honest critic) and she gave me some classic "emily's corrections to make this sound better, please don't hate me for being honest, but i think it could sound better, even though it sounds okay now, it should sound better than okay, please still love me" advice on how to make it better. i made the changes..and yes, it was better...and i still love her.

so today...i'm playing through the song and i make another small change. then it happened...it turned into the saddest song i've ever written and i think it's incredibly depressing. it's a song about divorce. see why the title is so creepy now? most people know that musicians don't always write about their own lives. obviously in this case...this is one of those occasions where the song isn't about me personally.

back in high school, i had quite a few close friends with divorced parents. i can actually remember each of them telling me when it happened. at the time...my reaction had to be meaningless. they knew i'd never gone through it, so what would i feel? mostly true...all i could do is feel bad and try to love that person through their tough time. hopefully i did some good. that's what i learned/re-learned through this song. no matter what happens to you, someone you know, or a complete stranger...love is always present. lennon was right...all you need is love. so now the "BOOYAH" part: if all YOU need is love...where are you getting it? is it healthy? if it's true love it is. this could very easily turn into some sort of "you need Jesus" speech..and as much as i believe that to be true...i really just want to love you and everyone else in the entire world. don't you think that if every human had this approach to life...the world would be a little better? please don't take this the wrong way...i didn't invent this and i'm not saying i'm the only person trying to live this way. there are TONS of people doing a way better job loving others than i am. i'm simply stating what i'm striving to do and hope that it might motivate someone to do the same. have you ever seen the powers of ten video? the universe is big...so what? like we can't make an impact by loving people. yeah, i guess you're right...we might as well not even try. ORRRRR...we could make an all out attempt at changing the world and making it as awesome as possible!

"love to an 11!"
-tony