Two songs saying come as you be

As the title and subtitle indicate, this article concludes a two-part exercise called Saying It, Tho Haltingly. The first part, published here under the same name on July 21st, looked at the hymn Be Still My Soul and wrote the first two verses to so he’s calling you again, huh? As I said there, the song is intended to operate on two levels; see if you can discern what is the second meaning.

This time our featured hymn is Just As I Am. It’ll lead us to Nirvana (the band, not the place) and then to finishing our own song. Since it’s summer, our featured drink here in the Pine Room is the gin-a-colada, recipe compliments of craftginclub.co.uk. There’s white wine for those who prefer it.

Just As I Am was the song that used to play at the end of Billy Graham’s presentations to large audiences, accompanied by an invitation to come down to floor level and join the faith. This might sound hokey to you but it was meaningful to many, some of whom remained adherents and some of whom later drifted back out. The hymn has a welcoming message, telling us we can come to God even if we’re a mess.

The title to the Nirvana song Come As You Are has much the same ring. The song’s message is little unclear, though, as in “Take your time, hurry up.” Also in “I swear I don’t have a gun” in addressing “an old enemy.” There’s an apparent drug reference in “Come doused in mud, soaked in bleach.” Confusion, guns, drugs — how could these be the themes advanced by Billy Graham? Oh wait, he was the last paragraph here; this is Kurt Cobain.

Be you on a good road?

So with similar song titles we get extreme differences. In one, faith, desire for comfort, trying somehow to improve oneself, and the like. (Yeah, I know Billy Graham became political, but I’m talking about the hymn, not him.) In the other song, a tortured reaching out, from a young songwriter who killed himself two years later.

The world of art tends to portray healthy attitudes as naive and boring, and sick ones as courageous and real. Yeah, that’s true art, expressing things that are crappy about the world. Yeah, do at least some of the following: be poor, do drugs, drink too much, make your loved ones unhappy. That’s many of our artistic heroes, like Cobain.

But most of us can’t translate unhealthy lifestyles into great art, so maybe it’s better for us to stay naive and boring. This is the choice our own song heroine faces, the sister on the other end of the phone convo. It’s what her brother is confronting her with. Here’s the completed song:

I’ll see you here in the Pine Room again soon. Be well in the meantime.

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Lyrics of completed song (so he’s calling you again, huh? written in collaboration with my friend Tim Connelly):

So he’s calling you again, huh?…
It seems it’ll be better this time, huh?….
Your breakup last time was tough,
He even got a bit rough;

He’s a Christian now, huh?…
Telling you just how, huh?
He took you to fancy places
And cursed in the servers’ faces;

And now Mama through tears,
Mama through tears,
Says you’ve got to do better;
He’ll tear us all apart;
I know he’ll break your heart;

So I’m Googling while we talk,
So the charges are trump’d and he’ll walk, huh?
As your brother I would say,
You’re too good for this, stay away;

Papa he cleaned,
Cleaned his gun,
Says he’ll answer the door;
The coward will depart;
Take heart my sister, take heart.

Saying It, Tho Haltingly (Part 2 of 2) was originally published in InTune on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Mystery in the Pine Room

I’ve written on a couple of hymns already, in my earlier Medium articles Yeah, Religion Seems A Little Weird and then Plunging Into The Second Measure.

I’ve also written stories on two levels before. One of my earlier stories was Not Gonna Take My Girlfriend, about a guy named Arthur Ingles. Who is Arthur Ingles? Only a couple people got it, but that’s my fault; it was apparently too obscure. You can go back there if you want, and try to discern the second level.

We’re going to write a song that tells a story on two levels today. Thanks for coming to the Pine Room to be a part of this. What do you want to drink? I’ve made a batch of red sangria. Or you can have a cocktail.

Halting words, simple song

Our hymn for today is Be Still My Soul. The words are by Katharina von Schlegel and the music is taken from the famous longer piece Finlandia, by Jean Sibelius. We’re only going to look at the first line of the hymn and I’m going to describe just two of my impressions of it: the rhythm is nicely different, and the notes are few. Here’s me covering the first line:

The rhythm is interesting in a couple ways. First, it’s in 4|4 time but the vocal doesn’t start ’til the second beat. In other words, there are only three beats in the first measure. This makes the listener scramble (if only subconsciously) to get coordinated with foot-tapping.

The second thing about the rhythm is that it has a bit of beautifully awkward hesitation. There are two instances of it in the first line, and they combine for a mild stammering effect. When the singer gets to “on” there is an unlikely pause at a not-emphasized word. It’s as if we’re hesitating to say the rest of the sentence. Then we blurt ahead with a very short note for “thy,” to the last word “side” that is sung unusually here as two syllables, like we’re having trouble getting it out. I’m a little sensitive to stuttering, having gone through a mild phase of it when I halfway fell apart during law school. It wasn’t very dramatic outwardly, but I felt it (and went and got good help for it).

Also distinctive is the seeming simplicity of the melody. There are only four different notes in the part I sang, and it actually doesn’t go much further out than that in the rest of the song. I remember one of my music theory professors telling us that simple is best, little movement among tones. I’m starting to get that.

We have our own halting words

So what can we in the Pine Room do with these musical traits, in writing a song of our own? Well, we’re only going to do part of the song this time, and finish it in the next article. Here are the first two verses of so he’s calling you again, huh?:

I think you can feel that the beats are a little off normal, and that the narrator/singer in this one side of a conversation is struggling a little a first, to enter into an awkward topic. He’s also staying within a narrow range of tones. His chords are mostly minor; the poor naive person on the other end of the call (speaking without words, as a flute) is valiantly trying to stay in major key.

We’ve done the first two verses this time, and will write the rest of the song in our next short hymn study, coming up soon.

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Lyrics of first two verses (written in collaboration with my friend Tim Connelly):

So he’s calling you again, huh?…
It seems it’ll be better this time, huh?….
Your breakup last time was tough,
He even got a bit rough;

He’s a Christian now, huh?…
Telling you just how, huh?
He took you to fancy places
And cursed in the servers’ faces;

[rest of song: next time]

Saying It, Tho Haltingly (Part 1 of 2) was originally published in InTune on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Since starting my company, ArtistConnect, I have had to work on deals with dozens of record label bosses and their artists. In the beginning, I struggled to handle the artists’ personalities. They were extremely sensitive, eccentric, spontaneous, and unreliable.

I couldn’t understand how the record label bosses managed to work effectively with them. However, through observation, I realized that the record label bosses exhibited three key characteristics that made them the best allies for these artists. These characteristics are valuable for anyone dealing with “special” personalities at work.

Patience

It gets hard to keep your temper when artists constantly change plans, visions, and directions. Record label bosses have dealt with this for decades. They know they cannot direct artists anywhere. The best they can do is provide them with the resources they need (most often budget) and let them create their art, even if it seems like it’s going nowhere.

“You can’t rush the creative process. Patience is essential in allowing artists to find their true voice and vision.” — Clive Davis, Former President Columbia Records

They truly have patience with the artists they initially believed in. In your day-to-day work, stay patient with people who don’t follow your exact instructions. If you provide them with the resources and freedom they need, they will likely deliver the results you want.

Cultural Awareness

Respecting an artist’s cultural background is crucial. So is understanding how the artist puts it into their songs. Culture, especially from childhood, shapes every human being. Artists create songs based on their cultural background, and record labels do not judge any of that. More importantly, they try to empathize with the culture and understand it better without claiming to fully comprehend it.

“The soul of a label is its artistic output, its people, its aura. To prosper you must survey your own territory.” — Martin Mills, Founder of Beggars Group

At your workplace, go beyond respecting other cultures. Do this by actively learning about them. Understanding your peers better will make collaboration easier. It will also increase the chance that they will appreciate and like you.

Conflict Mediation

Artists often think everyone else is the problem, but not themselves. This is usually not true. The record label boss is responsible for mediating these conflicts. Typically, the boss empathizes with the artist’s opinion but works in the background to find compromises. The artist feels heard, while everything is resolved in a way that is acceptable for all stakeholders.

“Mediation has been a very big part of my freedom, because it allows me to watch all the things going on and allows me to focus.” — Russell Simmons, Co-founder of Def Jam Recordings

Make your coworkers feel heard while you work on finding solutions in the background. First and foremost, they should sense your empathy.

Bring These Skills Into Your Own Life

By embracing patience, cultural awareness, and conflict mediation, you can effectively manage and collaborate with “special” personalities at work. Provide resources and freedom, respect and learn about cultural backgrounds, and make others feel heard while finding solutions. These strategies will not only enhance your working relationships but also lead to better outcomes for your projects and team.

3 Key Soft Skills You Can Learn From Record Label Bosses was originally published in InTune on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.