Something For Nothing (A Libertarian Poem)

Live for yourself...there's no one else
More worth living for
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will only cry out for more

Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind
A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind
We can walk our road together
If our goals are all the same
We can run alone and free
If we pursue a different aim

You don't get something for nothing
You can't have freedom for free
You won't get wise
With the sleep still in your eyes
No matter what your dreams might be

What you own is your own kingdom
What you do is your own glory
What you love is your own power
What you live is your own story
In your head is the answer
Let it guide you along
Let your heart be the anchor
And the beat of your own song

Different eyes see different things
Different hearts beat on different strings
But there are times
For you and me, when all such things agree

Land of Confusion

Creationism now with Dinosaurs!

What happened to logic?

Though I guess humans and dinosaurs living together isn't that much far fetched if you already believe in talking snakes, resurrection, miracles, eucharist, revelations, 10,000 year old Earth, and all the other crazy religious dogma.

I don't think the battle is yet won
There's more education and work that must be done
Because this is the crap children are learning
But I do feel The Tide is Turning

Finding My Way

I got opportunity knocking on my door.
I got people giving me advice more and more.
But I just want to figure out what this life is for.

I've made a couple big decisions in the past couple of days.

I'm tired of being alone and want to be with someone.
I'm tired of people not taking me seriously.
I'm finally going to start writing the book I've been stewing over for the past two years.
I'm going to take up painting, which I've wanted to do for a while.

I've decided I'm applying to grad school for the fall semester. What I'm undecided about is whether to get my masters in History, Political Science, or Cultural Anthropology.

Right now I'm narrowing my choices down, but I'm going all out in selecting what schools I'm applying to. I got accepted in ivy league schools for undergrad, but said fuck it because I really didn't care. Now I kind of don't mind the idea of going to an ivy league type school for my masters to kind of prove it to myself that I can do it. I proved it to myself when appyling that I could get in, and at the time that was good enough for me. I've felt more overachieving lately than I have in a long time and I'm starting to miss college.

I'm starting to feel like I'm just filling in the cracks of society like most people do and accept, but I won't go without a fight. I can't give up on my hopes and dreams and just get some mondane career and just become another ant in the colony. I wish more people were empathetic or understanding of my wanting to say fuck it to much of societies norms and just find happiness in doing what I want to do.

Life sometimes seems to be a beauty contest, and I don't want to be a contestant.

I'm still torn on where to move, whether to still go with the plan on settling down in Chicago or moving to Detroit or somewhere crazier and more progressive like Portland or San Francisco. This moving decision is killing my job searching and I need to resolve that soon.

Brian Eno on Israel

Not only do I enoy Brian Eno's music, but I agree with his politics.

The Illinois Enema Bandit

This song is inspired by the true events of Michael Kenyon. Kenyon was arrested in the mid-70s for a decade long series of sexual assaults in Illinois against women in which he would give them enemas. Only Frank Zappa would write and perform a song about it.

Frank Zappa R.I.P.

Blast From My Past

I was messing around on youtube and found a video that I still remember watching when I was 7 years old. I'm not a big fan of commercialism or marketing, but I think marketing may have had its pinnacle in 1992. To the me the greatest commercial I've ever seen is the original Be Like Mike Gatorade commerical from 1992. I can still remember sitting on the couch at my grandparents watching Indiana college basketball with my grandfather and seeing this commercial. I don't watch or play or pay attention to basketball, but for that one minute of the commerical I do want to be like Mike. So I think maybe me as a kid wanting to be like Mike is what a lot of people are feeling now in hope from Obama. The impact of Michael Jordan as a cultural icon definitely helped paved the way to where America is today.

I still think it has the best and cathiest jingle I've ever heard in a commercial, which is probably why I think it's the best commercial ad. Watching it now after all these years, it just has this joyful Americana feel to it.

Obama is president now and is looking to inspire a nation, but I bet him being an avid basketball fan in his heart wishes he too could Be Like Mike.

War On Music Part 3 - Fear Of A Blank Planet

I am not particularly a fan of love songs, I find them boring. I've always been more interested in lyrics that deal with what I call "the real world."

The real world is not the always positive, everything turns out good in the end, disney world that a lot of pop music and pop culture concerns itself with.

The British Progressive Rock band Porcupine Tree is a band I've heard of for years, but only started seriously listening to within the last year. I think they are on the forefront of what I call Free-Thinking Rock Music. Their music is more darker and edgier and reminds me of a mix of Tool and Muse. Their lyrics are great, and they tend to deal with the negative aspects of society. They write about loneliness, prescription drug abuse, depression, violence, inequality, negative effects of technology, and conformity. So they fit right up my philosophical alley.

Their latest album is called "Fear Of A Blank Planet" and it's about the desensitization and dehumanization of mainstream western society. I think the lyrics to the title track sums up typical close-minded conformist America, which is quite large.

Below is the lyrics to the song, which I think are fantastic and the video which is an edited version of the song because Porcupine Tree is on Atlantic Records and they're not going to make a video for a 7 minute long song.

Fear Of A Blank Planet

Sunlight coming through the haze
No gaps in the blinds
To let it inside
The bed is unmade,
Some music still plays

TV, yeah it's always on
The flicker on the screen
A movie actress screams
I'm basking the shit flowing out of it

I'm stoned in the mall again
Terminally bored
Shuffling round the stores
And shoplifting is getting so last year's thing

X-Box is a god to me
A finger on the switch
My mother is a bitch
My father gave up ever trying to talk to me

Don't try engaging me
The vaguest of shrugs
The prescription drugs
You'll never find a person inside

My face is Mogadon
Curiosity has given up on me
I'm tuning out desires
The pills are on the rise

How can I be sure I'm here?
The pills that I've been taking confuse me
I need to know that someone sees that
There's nothing left, I simply am not here

I'm through with pornography
The acting is lame
The action is tame
Explicitly dull
Arousal annulled

Your mouth should be boarded up
Talking all day with nothing to say
Your shallow proclamations
All misinformation

My friend says he wants to die
He's in a band, they sound like Pearl Jam
Their clothes are all black
The music is crap

In school I don't concentrate
And sex is kinda fun, but just another one
Of all the empty ways of using up the day

How can I be sure I'm here?
The pills that I've been taking confuse me
I need to know that someone sees that
There's nothing left, I simply am not here

Bipolar disorder
Can't deal with this boredom
Bipolar disorder
Can't deal with this boredom

You don't try to be liked
You don't mind
You feel no sun
You steal a gun
To kill time

You're somewhere
You're nowhere
You don't care
You catch the breeze
You still the leaves
So now where?

War On Music Part 2

I've been scavenging youtube recently and found some live video gems.

I make no secret that my favorite drummer, one of my favorite musicians, and one of my heroes is Bill Bruford.

I have always admired Bill for his willingness to venture into unchartered musical waters and his creative drumming style .

Bill is the most creative drummer and one of the most creative musicians I've ever heard. He constantly reinvents himself as a drummer. Bill will probably be featured numerous times on the War On Music because his career and musical style is vast.

The clip below is one of my favorite examples of electronic and synthesized drums used to write music. Bill didn't want to just use drum machines when the electronic drum wave came out in the 1980's. Bill is actually one of the first musicians on the planet to dabble in sampling, and it led Bill to create what he called "Chordal Drums" where he programed electronic drums to play notes and then played the drums melodicly and literally wrote and performed melodies on drums. Not too many can say that.

The tune is called "Stromboli Kicks" and is performed by Bill Bruford's Earthworks.

War On Music Part 1

Being a musician I'm not fond of a lot of music that exists in the pop mainstream.

Being The Drive To 2011 is very much about self-awareness and personal creativity I thought I'd share some things in my blog of music I appreciate and others might too if they are exposed to it. I have dubbed these blog posts my War On Music.

The first part of the War On Music is a beautiful song I love written and performed by one of my favorite percussionists Gavin Harrison. Gavin is one of the best musicians I've seen live and plays in the bands King Crimson and Porcupine Tree.

The song is titled "19 Days"

Constant Reinvention

I've been pondering lately what direction in life I want to go in. I had been hellbent for sometime about relocating to Chicago, but now I'm not as hellbent now as I once was. Changes can be hard to decide because you don't know what the outcome will be. I'm always trying to put myself in a situation to better myself, and I'm not totally sure what direction to go in.

A large problem I have is being a musician. Playing music is the greatest and sometimes also the worst thing that's ever happened to me. Like so many other people my age I wish I could just go get a job and be happy or go off to grad school and be happy, but I wouldn't. I want to do something with my life that involves music. I want to make people happy. I want to creatively inspire people. I've been posting some songs on my myspace page recently and the feedback I've gotten has been phenomenal. It's really encouraged me to maybe stick my neck out a little more than I normally would as far as taking my music more seriously.

I think my musical career is ready for another change in its constant reinvention. I'm a believer that once you somewhat master something and get a grasp of what you're doing then it's time to move on and try something new and different. I've been playing in rock bands for almost 8 years and I love rock music, but I often find myself thinking about well what if I was doing this with music instead. I want to maybe explore jazz and/or electronic music more. I use to play with a hybrid drum set featuring both electronic and acoustic drums, which was my most productive writnig phase. I think it might be time to get experimental again.

Where I move will also depend on what happens with my musical reinvention. I'm tired of playing in bands and playing music that sounds like something, I want to create something new that people haven't heard before. I have to put myself in a situation where I can find and play with musicians who think the same way as me. I also want to put myself in a situation where I'll be happy outside of what I think and do with music.

Socially I'm ready for a change as well. I'm tired of smalltown Michigan. I want to meet more people like me. My social circle and influence is dwindling. I have made some new friends recently, which has also helped me open my eyes to the fact that change can be good, and change is what I need.

Below is a video I find on youtube of my favorite drummer Bill Bruford. It has a little boring introduction, but once it starts I think it's the most melodic, danceable, and most creative drum solo I've ever seen. I wish I wrote it, and this song was the main influence my song "Bill's Boogie" which is a melodic drum solo I wrote and recorded which is on my myspace page. http://www.myspace.com/williamcovert

I find this video to be a reflection of the kind of music I wish I was playing now. Where's jazz fusion musicians when I need them!

Everyday Is Like Sunday

It can be hard to go to sleep at sea if one has never done it before. I remember as a young boy when I would spend the night on my grandparent's house boat in the summer. At night when you lay down to try and sleep the boat rocks. It feels as if you are constantly rocking back and forth and can be quite annoying if one is not use to it. Like most things in life though after awhile you no longer feel the constant rockiness from waves hitting the boat and it's just like sleeping in a bed on land.

The reason I'm even thinking about sleeping in a boat is because that's how I feel in my life right now. I feel like there is a constant rocking that's just slightly throwing my off of my balance, and I'm trying to get my balance back. I'm waiting to get re-adjusted.

I have had some people say some things to me recently that have just thrown me off, and seem to have come out of nowhere from my perspective. I feel my days living at home are numbered, and ultimately I'm sure that's more of a good thing than bad.

I think one problem that a lot of people have is pride. I have no pride, or at least very little and I don't want anymore pride. I think my lack of wanting pride makes people who are very prideful uncomfortable.

I am a musician, but I'm not prideful about my music, and usually won't go into detail talking about my own musical career unless asked.

I'm an educated person, but I don't boast my academic success, which is always a reason why I went to Ferris State University a college most have never heard of opposed to Harvard, University of Southern California, and other more prestigous schools I was accepted to. I went to school to get educated not to boast about my alma mater.

I have no pride in any job I've ever had. I do not believe in the Japanese business model, that you should take pride in your job. I think that's a stupid way to unbalance your priorities. I don't care about work or about having a career, because what does that get you when your dead? You gonna wear your gold watch when you're a rotting corpse in the ground. Have fun with that.

I believe you should do what you love, and fuck the rest. That tends me to live an unmateralistic, unmotivated to work, philosophical thinking, and for the most part stress free life. Yet when I tell people this, more people get pissed off than accepting of how I choose to live. I don't get it. I'm trying to figure it out, and the only thing I can decide is those who live very prideful lives and have a lot of pain in their heart doesn't like to see someone who lives without that unnneeded stress and pain. That makes me sad, I wish there was less anger in the world, and sometimes I feel I cause more pain than joy, which is not my intentions. I'm a musician to bring happiness to an unhappy world, but lately I somehow have been bringing a lot of anger to people. I don't feel any different, so I hope it's not me, and that's why I feel like my world is rocking in a sea of confusion. I still have hope for the future and am upbeat about things to come, so we'll see.

King Of Pain

Well it's 2009, big deal right? With every passing year I tend to reflect and at this new years I thought about the lyrics in the Pink Floyd song "Time" specifically the line "Shorter of breath and one day closer to death." I might have a morbid perception on new years, but I associate new years with death. With every new year that comes it's closer to our last years of life. From my perspective, I don't want to die or get really old so I see new years as a reminder of man's mortality. Oh who am I kidding, I probably really hate new years because i know that means my birthday is in a month, and I do not want to turn 24. Mid 20's yuck!!!

I feel a lot better at the start of 2009 than I did at the start of 2008, and for me a lot of it has to do with the knowledge of creating your own path in life. I'm not in the exact situation I wanted to be at this time, but I know I can change my path and I'm optimistic about what lies ahead. I'm glad I'm not depressed like last winter, but I do have some lingering feelings of loneliness which is really I think the result of my own doing. If I wasn't such an anti-social, annoying bastard, I probably wouldn't be so lonely. I have some good feelings about the next couple weeks, so we'll see what happens.

I was listening to The Police today, and Sting has such a knack for writing upbeat pop songs, that are actually quite depressing if you listen to the lyrics. One of favorite examples of this, well at least my favorite song for today is the song "The Bed's Too Big Without You." Such a strange song, it's an upbeat reggae song with lyrics about a guy who's missing his lover and talks about how he makes love to his pillow at night, but it doesn't seem right and all this sappy stuff. Yet it's really catchy.



In other strange news, I saw a squirrel die today. I'm not a hunter nor is my family so I was not brought up to be desensitized by the death of animals. I was outside today walking to my van and I heard a noise in a tree above me and I look up and this squirrel was running along a tree branch and then just feel right out of the tree from about maybe 3 or 4 stories high and just landed smack on the frozen ground. I went over to it to see if it was still alive and it died on impact, it was a sad sight really. This small little animal with its arms still sticking straight out and its mouth open. Never a dull day in the Midwest.