Sunday, September 07, 2008

LAZY SUNDAY # 37: WAITIN' ON A WOMAN

I swear I heard Brad Paisley sing this song about three or four years ago. It sent one of those "This is gonna be a huge hit!" shivers through me and I couldn't wait to hear it again. But I waited. And waited. And waited.

I started thinking maybe I'd caught some kind of preview. Maybe the song wasn't even on an album or the album wasn't out yet. Maybe it wasn't the first song the record company chose to release if it was. All I know is, it wasn't around.

A couple of other Paisley albums came and went and this song just never seemed to take hold. And that bothered me, because I knew it was good and something people should hear.

That happens a lot with good stuff. Films that floor you at film festivals never find a distributor. The best TV show you've seen in ages debuts in a dead-zone time-slot that kills it. A play opens on a rainy weekend and immediately closes. Nothing in this business is certain -- except that the wheat often gets blown away with the chaff.

I'm not sure why that keeps happening. But there's a saying that Artists live five years in the future, the audience lives five years in the past and nobody lives in the present. So maybe that natural disconnect is why this song is suddenly everywhere on Country radio.

Y'see, artists who know something is good don't give up and eventually their work finds its rightful place, often by finding other artists who enhance the original concept.

I understand Brad Paisley waited a long time to make this video. And some part of me now believes that if everybody involved had jumped on the song right out of the box, its production and presentation would have had a whole different quality and perhaps a less profound impact. For this is a music video you know required thought and care and sharing among the artists involved.

I hope you find it as special as I do. Enjoy your Sunday.

(Some clicks get a commercial first, so just skip to the title link below)


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey Jim
There has been a growing movement lately back towards the songwriter dominated market as opposed to the performer (Karaoke)dominated market. The reason I observe this, all roots back to one gifted conversation I had with Margaret Mead outside an elevator at The World Congress of Mental Health in Vancouver in 1978.I was attending the Congress with a delegation from Sask. I saw my chance to speak to her as she was standing with Rosalyn Carter and her security waiting for the elevator. I informed her triumphantly that I was a musician and she immediately asked me if I was left handed?..... Peculiar, I thought and so then responded that I was right handed...."Oh!"... she said..."that's too bad?" Why is that I asked? The answer was one of the most riveting 4 minutes I have ever heard. "Well she said, in my Anthropology studies, I discovered that the ancient tribal musicians were left handed, (she knew this by the scratch marks left by branches used to scrub their teeth. The scratches were consistent at an angle that reveals this truth).
She went on to say that the musician was considered the Godhead of the tribe and that often they were also the medicine man. Even the chief would defer to the musician for advice , healing , sex, creativity, mental health counseling, music and medicine. The musicians had another characteristic...androgyny!
So, as Margaret said with a wry wink in her eyes, if your not left handed (Right brain Dominate or Haptic such as McCartney, Hendrix, Curt Cobain) and you seek success with today's music fan tribe...you can at least be...... Androgynous!.".... LOL
So WTH does this have to do with Karaoke and songwriters?....one word,...everything. The rules are still the same as with ancient tribes...songwriters are infinitely closer to the creator(Godhead) than a vocalist will ever be! People still seek the truth today in our tribe and defer to the creators for cultural and personal inspiration. As far as the androgynous thing goes...just look at Jagger, Bowie or Elton for more of today's tribal truth to Margaret's theory.
Today this theory is reinforced, we idolize left handed, androgynous musicians and even they are deffered to for global tribal advice by our elected leaders. (BONO Geldoff)).So I digress, one reason your hair stood on end Jim is because you recognized a songwriter creator /performing his art.....not a performer acting to someone elses' art! Songwriters are very close to the creative flow, or are closest to the fire and can share the glow and the warmth. Long live a great song,... because it always does live long!

https://secure11.securewebexchange.com/saskmade.com/?page=fpotw

jimhenshaw said...

Joel Scott, Ladies and Gentlemen...

One of the smartest guys in Saskatchewan -- and believe me, that's sayin' something.

Also a guy who keeps losing his Google password ;)

Juniper said...

Nice post - both of you.

... I was just going to say that I hadn't realized that Brad Paisely was so dreamy!!

Jun