It's Christmas morning, the presents all unwrapped

The paper's spread across the floor, the bank account is tapped

The little ones have disappeared to bedrooms full of play

A Christmas Story's on TV, the 15th time today

But Daddy's waited patiently, the real fun begins

The gravy's cooking on the stove next to the muffin tins

I'm gonna grab my plate, and get into the line

I started early with a healthy glass of wine

I'll walk up to the counter and start with something green

Nevermind it's Jell-o from a big tureen

Chorus:

I'm puttin' a hurt on Christmas dinner

Between that roast and me, I think I'll be the winner

I've been in training every meal, since last spring

And now the time has come again to get back in the ring.

From there I'll take some olives, a carrot stick or two,

Some whole wheat biscuits and a pat of butter too.

Up next, I'll grab the spoon then serve myself a plop

of sweet potatoes, corn flakes toasted on the top

Chorus

And now we're comin' to the prize, a steaming hot prime rib

I made a bed to put it in, a mashed potato crib

A liberal pour of gravy cross it's salty rind

No worries that it ends up on my fat behind

Chorus

We're runnin' out of onions, and the macaroni's gone

The countertop is empty by the coffee pot is on

The final round is startin' with three delicious pies.

I guess I'll take a piece of each, don't wanna make my momma cry.

Chorus

Dessert is gone, and all the plates are clean,

But poor Aunt Clara drank too much and made a scene.

And if, by chance, someone should need to come and search for me.

You'll find me lying comatose, beneath the Christmas tree.

I will be doing an episode for Terra that will not only talk about some of the technical aspects you see me share here, but also a broader spectrum of conversation that features the whole work in its best recorded form. I hope you enjoy this preview, and that you consider subscribing to support my work. It helps me pay the bills and keep new music coming.

If you enjoy this work, please help me share it with others. I am charting a course away from the exploitation of artists embodied in the Streaming economy and as an artisan of musical works, am looking to find that smaller more connected community of patrons who value my work. I am grateful for you and your support.

If you’d like to access the recording of the piece elsewhere, here are links to the audio recording on different platforms:

Apple Music:

Spotify

YouTube

Here is a link to the poem I read-

from The Princess: Tears, Idle Tears

If you enjoy this series, please consider recommending to a friend. Your subscription and your advocacy will help me grow this community and create new musical experiences. Thanks for joining me!

I welcome your feedback for the community. You can comment or share in the chat

I can’t undo what is, but I can explore a different path with my friends in the hopes that, although I can’t be with you in person to share music, I can create a digital experience that promotes attention, care, and connection. This video explains my new offering here on substack, that is available to paid subscribers. Each month I will release a new video designed to create shared connection with you and with my music. Please join me!

N.B. Thanks to those of you who helped with my ‘Beta Test’. That will be an additional, heightened way for you to create in-person events that expand on what I will share in these episodes. I will have more details about how to access those in the months ahead.

This final episode of our series on active listening. We build on our introduction to some of the elements of music and take a look at the larger structures that create longer pieces. We listen to some of the fundamental building blocks of my piece, Inspiration, and hear how they work together to tell a story over the course of 5 minutes.

In this second of our three-part series, we dive into the elements of classical music, melody, harmony, meter. We listen to section from Inspiration and hear fragments that help peel back the surface and hear the component parts from which music is constructed

In this episode, I begin with some thoughts about 'cleansing the palette' and then connecting with the players and context in which the music was made.