Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The Beggar's Tune

Sometimes you have a tune sitting around inside your head for months. Nothing to do. It was a sweet chord progression that I was especially proud of because it modulated between Jazz and Folk. I wanted to put it to work but nothing happened and I began to worry forgetting about it.

Then one day I was heading downtown on the D train. A man came on and said:
"Can anybody please spare a little change today. I do not rob or steal but I make my living this way."
 "Great." I thought. "What a great lyric that would make." Maybe you have heard him?
I jotted it down in my book. The words were so powerful that they choked me like an incantation. 

It fit as effortlessly into the tune as a fisherman getting into his boat. We rehearsed it and the rhythm section, Zack and Jerome, added a samba beat beneath my bluesy fingerpicking. Kosi added an Anglican riff that hangs above the melody like icicles.  Like a welcoming mother a space opened up for it in my rock opera Kepler 22B (coming this spring). If you are around this Sunday come have a listen.


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