Because of Love

I had a dream in which I

was playing an unbelievably

beautiful chord on the piano.

Two white notes were

played together as part of

the chord structure.

When I went to the piano

the next morning I tried

to recreate the sound,

but I couldn’t hear it.

Yet, I was haunted and finally

did compose a song and called it

Because of Love

~~~

Last week I began rereading SHUG,

the earlier version of the

“Confessions of a Blue Tomato” Memoir.

How authentic is this

writing, I mused, 

“This is the voice of love.”

Here’s the new Foreword,

"From the time I read Dear Store

(Rich’s Department Store)

to the reading of Driving Miss Daisy,

I’ve longed to write of the Atlanta I remember. 

Growing up in the 40’s,

a time of streetcars and blackouts,

the dusty playground of

Joel Chandler Harris

Elementary School

where soldiers from Fort McPherson

gave bouncy jeep rides

to school children during World War II. 

It’s a story about being an only child,

listening to the radio

collecting movie star photos,

and riding my bicycle to see

the Saturday movie Serials,

the smells of popcorn,

sticky floors and childish screams,

as the Mummy raised up out of his tomb

in the darkened Cascade Theater.

It’s a deep south '40's story of fresh peaches,

mimosa fronds, kudzu, Dutch Oven rolls,

Stone Mountain, Peachtree Street and the U.D.C

(United Daughters of the Confederacy).

It’s a city world, too,

growing up in the early days of television

and Stars of Tomorrow,

with the promise of an educational adventure

in drama at the University of Georgia.

And finally,

It’s a story in which our heroine

winds up as a gloved and girdled

girl of the 50’s,

miscast in the role of Betty Crocker.

~~~

Even so, it’s always been a story

about loving life

Amor Fati

(love your fate)

and loving to write about it

(Because of Love)

and write songs about.

This is a "crooner song"

for all of you who know that phrase.

I'd love for Frank Sinatra to sing it. 

stay tuned . . . 

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“I Am the Music”

“My Blue Tomato World”

====

I AM THE MUSIC

How much do I love to make music?

Back in the 80's I sold

 my wedding silver “Candlelight”

and bought a used Rhodes keyboard. 

I recently sold my Mother’s ring set

to buy my new Yamaha Keyboard.

Both times it was worth it.

I have a little love affair

with every song I’ve ever composed.

It’s born with those first few notes,

that linger and breathe

from a perfect space

between the intervals, 

with the perfect

amount of time

to take my breath away.

Sometimes with a rush of expectancy

or a gasp of delight

or a collapse into an undefinable sadness.

The musical phrase

that soon becomes the song,

expresses an emotion I’m feeling,

or have felt, 

but had repressed until I

heard that particular new combination.

I stay in love with chords, too!

D-flat major 7th, in particular.

I love to improvise in that key

my fingers gliding over all those black notes.

(good jazz title - all those black notes

stay tuned . . .)

I Am The Music

is a song I composed

from hearing a poem

The Musical Soul

written by a boy, Kris Kirk,

who loved music, and knew

he was dying.

I chose a Pop arrangement style

because he especially loved Metallica. 

Now, I've made a music video using

 photos of some of my old lead sheets,

guitar, flutes and other

music memorabilia.

I’ve added on-screen lyrics

throughout the song.

They express even more

my relationship with music.

“So grab a note, come fly with me,

and we will soar, like birds so free.”

Thanks for listening . . .

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“My Blue Tomato World”

and

“Was Sisyphus Happy?”

===

A BLUE TOMATO WORLD

A Blue Tomato World

Welcome to a Blue Tomato World,

a world of music and design.

Humor and Hollywood nostalgia.

I’ll just start by saying that

writing songs is more about

being born with a broken heart

than anything else.

I know it’s hard to think that

a baby can come out of a womb

so sad, and all, but I did.

It was like having a port wine

stain on my heart, 

except that no one could see it,

especially me . . . not until later.

That’s when I wrote my first song

“Yesterday’s Love” at 16.

So take a look around my house

and listen to a song I composed
on this piano.

“I Really Miss You, Tonight!”
This is a new arrangement

I made on a Yamaha Keyboard
with saxophone, guitar, piano/vibraphone.

Don’t think I still feel sad.

I love making art out of sad stories.

When I was 8, I was to be in a May Festival

with my first long dress.

Mother got a free trip

to her home office in Omaha

and a side trip to Chicago.

She was gone for a week.

She had never left me before.

I had to sleep on an old cot, because

a neighbor came over to stay with Grandma..  

and she slept in our bed.
I missed her so much that week.

So here's the song from YouTube

That's what Blue Tomato music is about.

Thanks for visiting.


stay tuned . . .

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“Was Sisyphus Happy?”

and

“How Then Shall I Live”
~~

Was Sisyphus Happy?

Was Sisyphus Happy?

He was condemned to heave a

huge round stone up a hill

only to have it 

roll back down thunderously,

over and over again.

 In Albert Camus' essay.

The Myth of Sisyphus

Camus writes: 

“The struggle itself toward the heights

is enough to fill a man's heart.

One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

~~~

Rollo May’s interpretation in his book

The Cry For Myth, writes,

“For Sisyphus is a creative person

who even tried to erase death.

He never gives up but always is devoted to

creating a better kind of life;

he is a model of a hero who presses on

in spire of his or her despair.

Without such capacity to confront despair

we would not have had Beethoven

or Rembrandt or Michaelangelo

or Dante or Goethe or any others of the

great figures in the development of culture.”

~~~~~

May’s interpretation inspires me

and makes me feel like I’m not so alone

in writing songs, especially when they

 may never be heard.

Yet, composing music out of despair

gives my life meaning.

I see from this journal entry

 I was once again

 disappointed

but continuing to create.

 Here's a new

YouTube Creation.

I took some photos of my art attempts.

I’ve Waited So Long For That Day

is The song behind

Blue Tomato Creations

I wrote that song thinking of

what someone would sing if they’d won

the American Idol Contest.

(opening lyrics)

I’ve waited so long for this day,

It seemed so far away,

I’ve found a place where I belong

Someone to hear my song

Someone to hear my song.

press arrow to PLAY

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