To celebrate the momentous occasion of having seemingly survived the worst of winter, I’ve uploaded another new song to my Bandcamp profile. Well, not exactly “new,” as the song’s been percolating for about 5 years in my head, and in various live configurations. The recording’s only been completed in the past few months, anyway. It’s called “Light of Day,” and it’s something I wrote to remind myself. Of what, I’ll let you decide, because, hey, maybe you need a reminder, too.

As usual, you can download it for free (all I ask is your email address, so I can keep you in the loop when I make yet more music), or pay whatever you want to download a higher bit rate version of the song.

Take a deep breath, enjoy the weather, whatever it’s doing (it’s supposed to be sunny and mild here), and let me know what you think.

I originally wrote this back in September, after hearing the news of David Foster Wallace’s suicide. Recent events have caused me to rethink why I was sitting on this post…

Make no mistake about people who leap from burning windows. Their terror of falling from a great height is still just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling remains a constant. The variable here is the other terror, the fire’s flames: when the flames get close enough, falling to death becomes the slightly less terrible of two terrors. It’s not desiring the fall; it’s terror of the flames. And yet nobody down on the sidewalk, looking up and yelling ‘Don’t!’ and ‘Hang on!’, can understand the jump. Not really. You’d have to have personally been trapped and felt flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling.

David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest

The sad irony of this passage is that the man who wrote it as an observer (“you or me”) became the person for whom the fear of falling couldn’t overcome the fear of the flames.

Apparently, David Foster Wallace battled crippling depression for over 20 years. The antidepressants stopped working. I think this is the part that sticks with me. At least two of the most important people in my life are wrestling with depression right now, and it scares me to think someone can get so hopeless that this is the only way out they see.

It might not seem like much to those feeling the flames, and ultimately, it’s trite and cliche, but true. Something like this really does make you think about the big stuff – what’s important – and hopefully let the people you love know that they are just that.

Loved.

When panic grips your body and your heart is a hummingbird
Raven thoughts blacken your mind until you’re breathing in reverse
All your friends and sedatives mean well but make it worse
Every reassurance just magnifies the doubt
Better find yourself a place to level out

Bright Eyes – If The Brakeman Turns My Way

I couldn’t stop listening to the album this song comes from all last week. I didn’t realize how prescient the opening verse of this song would be…

Interpretation for those who aren’t me: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the piano version of “Return.” You may resume streaming, downloading, and basking in its awesomeness.

I was recently burning a few extra copies of Prodigal Songs when I noticed the copyright date – 2003. Yes, it’s been 6 years since I’ve released any recorded music.

2009 marks the end of that silence.

Over the past few months, I’ve been playing live at an open mic in Augusta – trying out new songs, getting re-acquainted with old ones, throwing in a few covers for something familiar. It’s been great fun, and given me the confidence to start recording stuff again.

It also helps that I simplified my “studio” setup to make it easy to just sit down and start recording.

With all this in mind, I bring you the first of what I hope to be many “digital singles” of the coming year: “Return,” a ballad-y thing in two flavors (piano/vocal, and synth washes and bleeps). The feel of this song seemed appropriate for a late, reflective winter night.

You can stream both versions from the embedded player below, or download it for free. Should you be so inclined, you can even contribute to the Starving Musician’s Fund (name your price from $0.50 up) to download higher-quality copies. The “share” link gives you options for embedding this into your own website/Facebook/myspace/whatever, so please…pass this around!

Happy 2009, folks. Let’s pray this is a better year for everyone.

Return (piano version) by Andrew Thomas

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

Or maybe something else.

Even some of the beleaguered auto makers of America, as hard-up for money as they are, have slashed prices on a decidedly non-auto-related product this time of year.

You see, it appears that America has forgotten how to enunciate. The logical mind knows that the Christian radio announcer is asking you to give a “Year End” gift, with a long “e” sound and hard “d” at the end of the phrase. But the ear doesn’t hear either one of these signifiers. This mushing together of syllables makes it sound like they want us to pee in a cup and send it to the station.

For that matter, maybe Ford’s having a clearance sale on clean bodily fluid samples. Drug addicts have to pass their mandatory tests somehow, right?

So, as 2008 draws to a close, please remember to consult a yearologist, should you have trouble “contributing.” Also, that indoor plumbing and its role in proper disposal of waste products is the greatest “year end” gift of all.

Either way, I had fun putting it together.

Thanks to Cobblah for the suction-cup Bender – we finally found a (temporary) place for him.