The Most Horrible Time (of the Year)

What? It’s December already?
Again?
Man, this year has flown by.
And what a year it’s been.

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Personally, it’s been a year with a focus on recording, filming, and releasing new original music every month.
Ok, so I did cheat a little, and one month I released a 35 year old song.
But it was original, and a new recording.
But I made it.
A new, original song every month for a year.
Starting with last year’s Twisted Christmas song.
Actually, it started with the release of eight loop-based songs, to pre-populate my YouTube channel.
I refer to them as The Stones, as they all have “Stone” in the name.
Building Stone, Made in Stone, Hot Stone, Not Set in Stone…
All have “Stone” in the name.
They were a series of experiments, to see what I could do with loops.
Some are more loopy than others.
And then followed by twelve monthly original songs.
Some serious, some silly.
So, twenty original songs released in just over a year.
And I still have another half-dozen at various points of production.
A couple of these, the music is complete, but haven’t been filmed yet.
The rest all need some parts to be recorded before they can be mixed.
So, I’m not done yet.
But I am going to relax the release schedule.
Things will be released when I get them to that point.
But I’m not going to keep to a monthly schedule.
At least for now.
And this year, I’m returning to form, as far as Twisted Christmas is concerned.
This year, one traditional Christmas song was speaking to me.
It needed to be twisted.
See, I’ve always heard about how this time of year is a popular time for suicides.
It seems that depression hits particularly hard during the holiday season.
And this year is likely no exception.
Considering how much gnashing of teeth I’ve seen over the past month.
It could be a problem.
So, if you know of someone who you think could be at risk, reach out.
Let them know that they are not alone.
And that things can get better.
If they just give it a little time.
Anyways, here’s this year’s Twisted Christmas song…

War At Christmas

This one is different.

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When it came time to sit down and think about what song to twist up for this year’s rendition, nothing seemed appropriate.

Maybe it’s because I’m too much of a news junkie.

Maybe it’s because I was already in a mental state of wondering how many more of these I wanted to continue creating.

As those that remember last year’s contribution can attest to.

Maybe my mind was spending too many cycles contemplating life in the various war zones around the world.

And this was well before the latest round of the conflict in Gaza started.

So, I started ruminating on the Christmas incident during World War 1 where an unofficial truce took place, with the opposing forces coming out of their trenches to celebrate with their counterparts on the other side.

Just for one day.

An incident memorialized in the movie Joyeux Noel.

And so, I decided to do something different this year.

What resulted is an original composition.

One that is dark and turbulent.

One that decries warfare, and the wanton destruction that it causes.

The waste of life.

The uncaring of the political leaders that cause it to begin with.

To paraphrase Carl von Clausewitz, war is politics by other means.

And there seems to be no shortage of it.

I guess everywhere, there are politicians with egos to feed.

All I can say is, God help us if by some means, this song manages to become canon for the holiday season.

And for parents with young children, some of the imagery in the video might be disturbing, so best to screen it before letting the kids see it.

So, without further ado, this year’s Twisted Christmas song is…

Toys That March

Columbus, OH

Twenty years. At this point, it’s been twenty years that I’ve been creating twisting Christmas songs every year.

Twenty years…

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Some years have been better than others.

More inspired.

More twisted.

Some haven’t.

Some years I had more time to spend on it than others.

It’s hard to find the time when you are spending most of your time on the road, in airports and hotels.

It forced me to simplify things.

This year wasn’t one of those.

Looking through the list of potential song to twist, nothing seemed right.

Nothing was calling.

It’s not like I didn’t have the time to spend.

Well, time was available, just needed to put others projects on hold to take the time.

As far as music goes, this has been a particularly creative period, with a ton of new original music in the pipeline.

Joined a band, had to learn their repertoire, maybe get a few of my own additions added as well.

Said a sad and painful goodbye to a beloved pet, and a chaotic welcome of a new one into the family a few months later.

And I do mean chaotic.

Combined with the chaos of a one-year-old grandson starting to walk and get into all sorts of trouble.

And our house full of half-stairways.

In short, life is full of chaos in my house at the moment.

Anything that doesn’t have to be done, is mostly left undone.

So, to say the least, there was a good chance this would fall into that undone category.

As is, it falls more into the category of something to fulfil the obligation than inspired creation.

And it has me wondering how much longer I’ll be producing these.

After all, it’s been twenty years. How many more do I want to do?

Oh well, here’s this year’s Twisted Christmas song.

For the full archive of Twisted Xmas songs, click here.

Need A Little Christmas

Columbus, OH

What a year it’s been.

In this country, we’ve got one side of the political spectrum living in an alternate reality.

And what’s sad is, it doesn’t matter which side you might be on, there’s a good chance you think I’m talking about the other side.

But I’m going to try and keep this away from politics.

Continue reading Need A Little Christmas

Pandemic Fever

Columbus, OH

Keep me cooped up too long, and something weird is likely to come out.

It’s just in my nature.

It probably has something to do with the fact that I get bored easily.

So I’m often looking for something different to get my hands dirty with.

And if nothing comes along, I’m likely to create something.

Which is what I’ve done.

As could be expected. Continue reading Pandemic Fever

Quarantining For the Holidays

Columbus, OH –

I’ll be honest, I was worried.

Not about what most of us have been worried about this year.

Not about the election.

I knew it was going to take a while to get it settled.

And besides, elections haven’t mattered to me for quite some time.

It doesn’t matter who wins, I know I won’t be happy with them, or what they do while in office.

Personally, I would love it if both the major political parties would collapse under their own weight, and end up splitting into two or more smaller parties. Continue reading Quarantining For the Holidays

Revolution

Columbus, OH

This was supposed to be a video.

At least, that’s what I intended to make.

A video consisting of images from the news.

But I need to admit that it’s not going to be made.

At least, not by me.

Or, rather, not any time soon, by me.

Maybe someone else can do that part.

Someone with the time to put it together. Continue reading Revolution

Me Too!

Columbus, OH –

This is not a Christmas song.

I mean, yes, it’s associated with the Christmas season.

It’s in the regular collection of songs we all hear starting sometime in November…

If not even earlier, when the stores all start bringing out their Christmas merchandise.

But thankfully, we’re only subjected to those listenings when in those stores.

We can choose to leave.

And mark that particular store off our list of shopping options.

While pity-ing the poor souls who work there…

And have no choice… Continue reading Me Too!

Brave New World Symphony

Columbus, OH –

Some time ago, well over a decade ago, I was on my way home from work, listening to the news on my car radio.

Suddenly I heard the opening strains of the 4th movement of Dvorak’s New World Symphony blasting through my car.

It was the start of story about some orchestra from the U.S. visiting someplace like North Korea.

But I didn’t care about that.

No, I had only one thought swimming around my head…

“That would sound great if it were being played by a rock band!”

So I did what anyone in my shoes would do… Continue reading Brave New World Symphony

Enjoying Life and the Pursuit of Happiness