I was driving yesterday on an amazingly nice day...and although my allergies were begging for mercy, it was one of those days you just HAVE to put the windows down and crank some kind of loud music...I think it's that very scenario that captures America.  I mean, surely Thomas Jefferson had the new Chilli Pepper's album and a convertible in mind when he signed that piece of paper back in 1776.

Ive found myself feeling very bloggy lately bloggy meaning I have something to say and dammit those who are willing to extend the energy of a mouse click to my benefit will get to see what I have to say.  The band and I were having a conversation the other day about perception.  It's always fun I think to speculate how you are perceived by people...because for the most part we really have no clue at all.  We are usually completely off, either to one end of the spectrum or the other.  And when I think about how our band is probably perceived by other peopleand other bands...Im sure a lot of them think we are extremely "cheesy".  And I say that because I've seen it written in reviews, I've seen us compared to tv theme shows, you name it.  Basically when you boil it down...we throw our hearts on the table and say...here it is while everyone else is trying to figure out how to walk the every-changing line of cool and uncool.  What is "cheesy" anyway?  How come if you were cheesy before 1990 we chalked it up to the "cheesy 80s" and the like but if it was after 1990 and it had the same content, it was "cheesy"?

I don't even attempt to write lyrics that are going to be cool in 2006...I write lyrics that are going to be cool when my great grandchildren are reading through them and I'm nothing more than an old picture on a dusty mantle.  If that's cheesy in 2006, then proclaim me the king of cheese...and I will wear this title proudly.  Because being able to touch someone no matter what the year on the calander and what walk of life they come from is what it's all about.  Did you know it is now pretty much common practice to never use the word "love" in a song lyric by most composers?  Ben Folds says he'll never use the word "love" in a song because it's cheesy and turns people off.  Know what the number one song in the world is right now?  It goes, "You're beautiful...you're beautiful...you're beautiful it's true".  If we can ever get over this fear of being cheesy we might be able to get back to making some good music that evokes emotion in people which just to remind you...is the reason we like this music shit so much in the first place!

There's such an influx of these "underground" indie people right now and I blame several of the major mainstream magazines (you know who they are) for trying so hard to make it "cool to be uncool" (just for the record, I'm not talking about the bands...but the people who swear by this music and condemn everything else).  So to oversimplify...you have people who so desperately want to avoid the "mainstream".  And in order to do this...they build up a huge group of people who feel the same way and basically make the non-mainstream become the mainstream.  What a concept.  What is so scary about mainstream to these people?  That the artist might actually make a few bucks?  I guess we can trace this stupid theory back to the very first stoned hippie from the 70s who coined the phrase "sell-out".  Do you realize what the odds are of having financial success in the mainstream music business?  You have a better chance of being the next power-ball billionaire then you do to have more than 2 years success and a positive financial outlook in American music.  And that was BEFORE the digital age of distribution which has ravished the industry leaving it less than half of what it was and thousands job-less (not even counting the musicians).  We're talking about people who dedicate their lives to an art knowing fully well they have a 1 in a million shot of ever being compensated for it...and throw their lives into it regardless.  Then when the day comes that they make a few bucks...we call them a "sell-out" and go find someone who is more "indie".
Sounds like a hell of a deal to me.  If you have a name that can make you money use it!  Sell Doritos, dance with the Muppets, pose with a milk-mustache...why the fuck not!?  You worked so hard to create value for your name only so that you can turn down opportunities to profit from it because some kid might call you a sell-out inbetween bong hits?!?!  People worry way too much about perception.  Mother Theresa had people in the world who couldnt stand her and literally wanted her dead...and we think we're going to get everyone to like us.  It ain't happen'... so why lose sleep over it.  Anyway, that's my "in case this sucks" clause as I share with you the lyrics to our newest song, titled, "In the Now"...

In the Now

Sleeping til noon makes short afternoons when weekends are life,
But wasting the day with someone you need is always alright,
Like a child who breathes the future as it happens,
Every breath is a victory, but not for long...

Digging up days of innocent ways can bring us to life,
But giving your prime, to those next in line will keep us alive,
Like an adult who plans the future on a balance sheet,
When our assets are family, its time we realize...

We're here right now,
Tomorrow's a mystery and yesterday's history,
And the rains will drain from the sky,
But theres only so much left that can fall in your life,

Fearing the day when lives have to change is hard to avoid,
But here in the now, the moment is proud and never backs down,
Like a lifetime that sees the future as the family tree,
when a legacy finds you, It's time we realize...

We're here right now,
Tomorrow's a mystery and yesterday's history,
And the rains will drain from the sky,
But theres only so much left that can fall in your life,

Cause time is just two lines in a wheel,
And a battery can't tell us what's real,
And time makes the old feel much older,
It's time we realize...

We're here right now,
Tomorrow's a mystery and yesterday's history,
And the rains will drain from the sky,
But theres only so much left that can fall in your life,

Oh and as for the title of this blog it has several meanings I guess.  I
remember being very young in school and having that 15 minute period per day where teachers basically forced you to read.  Well I remember reading this sort of medical journal for kids...and there was a section in which people would write in questions about health-related issues and the magazine would respond inprint.  An example would be "Why do we sneeze"?  And they would answer, "Because when foreign objects are introduced to your body, you sneeze to get them out".  Well one day I decided I was going to write in a question and ask "Why do we itch?".  Well you would have thought I had asked them to draw me the molecular makeup of the cure for cancer because they couldnt answer it!  Something so simple..."Why do we itch?".  And when you think about it...as a kid...when you got an itch from the chicken pox or a mosquito bite, or a rashwhat would your mom tell you?..."DON'T SCRATCH IT!".  And when you think about it...your mom was giving good advice.  The more you scratch it...the more it itches.  You get satisfaction for a second knowing fully well it's going to itch worse as soon as you are done.  Perhaps an itch is something much bigger than an itch?  Maybe it's some kind of tiny temptation that helps us avoid bigger temptations?  Who the hell knows...but what I do know is...if it itches...DONT SCRATCH IT!