Sometimes you have a tune sitting around inside your head for months. Nothing to do. It was a sweet chord progression that I was especially proud of because it modulated between Jazz and Folk. I wanted to put it to work but nothing happened and I began to worry forgetting about it.
Then one day I was heading downtown on the D train. A man came on and said:”Can anybody please spare a little change today. I do not rob or steal but I make my living this way.” “Great.” I thought. “What a great lyric that would make.” Maybe you have heard him?I jotted it down in my book. The words were so powerful that they choked me like an incantation.
It fit as effortlessly into the tune as a fisherman getting into his boat. We rehearsed it and the rhythm section, Zack and Jerome, added a samba beat beneath my bluesy fingerpicking. Kosi added an Anglican riff that hangs above the melody like icicles. Like a welcoming mother a space opened up for it in my rock opera Kepler 22B (coming this spring). If you are around this Sunday come have a listen.
