A recurring theme in my art is “overcoming my own gravity.” It’s probably the reason I enjoy writing space fiction so much. The dual meaning of it hits all the right notes in my head.
Writing-wise, things have been a bit bleak lately. I’ve attempted to write some short fiction (2000 words) and had a fun idea, but couldn’t make it work. I think I’ve been out of practice with fiction, and I feel the need to change that. The last song I have written and enjoyed was called “Gravity.” And this was about a month ago. The prompt for it was “Circus Style,” probably because the coffee shop where songwriter’s group is held is next door to a Circus Mojo. I decided to write it about the my longest running fiction work-in-progress, my space circus fiction, which had the first words thrown at it in roughly 2001. Back then, it was called “Jane of the Waking Universe,” which is a Guided By Voices song. That’s still its working title, though I have some other ideas of where I might take it.
I decided I was going to record a new version of the song, since the one I recorded a few weeks back is a little rough, mostly because I was at the first stages of a nasty lingering sinus infection. Turns out, writer’s block and the goob are excellent partners in crime when it comes to halting progress on a songwriting project. But clearly, I need to quit moping, shake off this sad-sackitude, and get some words out, even if the next thing is awful. Because maybe the thing after that will be awesome. That’s always the hope anyway.
But then I realized, nope, I’m totally going to post the shaky version of the song. One of those reasons might be laziness, but moreso it’s because of the lessons you learn from seeing your mistakes on camera. Shaky parts of the song that didn’t need to be, notes missed, places where the song drags. It’s always worth it, to some extent, to the end goal of making it better. Clearly, I need to overcome my own gravity, which is the line that earned this song its title.
And so without further ado, here is a rough and shaky version of “Gravity:”