And it starts with a word.

Heartwood and Palace

When I think of the sheer brilliance of spoken language and our ability to transfer emotion and thought so particularly, I am often left…well speechless. Expertly we interpret the subtle and nuanced inflection of tone, vowel shape and consonant execution to, in real time, pass along our point. This has always been a fascination for me as a writer and performer in musical and non musical settings. Here I present an older piece of mine And it starts with a word. Dating back to 2007/2008 this spoken word piece outlines four distinct styles of wordplay. The first is written in prose and was actually initially written on a napkin. The second section removes the need for depth and meaning and plays with words simply based on their taste and how they roll off the tongue and begins with a playful anagram (a self describing sentence). Thirdly, a lyrical style with clear cadence, rhythm, rhyme and image driven language. The final portion is a sonnet in the Elizabethan form, written for a dear friend.

Please also enjoy an audio recording of my performance. How do you interpret the words differently whether read or spoken? How do you inflect them as you read? Which is your preference?

And it starts with a word. (will open new window with audio, click back over to read along)

And it starts with a word.

Words defined him. He thought this excitedly as he raced to free himself, scribbling furiously, but with a flow, a rhythm that was carried into those words. To him the medium was of no consequence; paper, pencil, pen, marker, written, typed, recorded, spoken, thought or sung. Words defined him. After filling half the napkin there was a pause, a reflection and surprisingly not of the words in front of him but of the shape they took, the image they gave. Stripped of meaning the characters played a new role, a visual one. Would he dare to speak them? To unlock them? To reveal their final illusion? To feel them inside and out, to understand them and taste them, to build them and break them, to liberate the words in front of him? A seemingly easy task and yet he remained silent, almost pensive. Clearing his throat and taking a deep breath, he spoke, “And it starts with a word.”

Word word word word word word

Six words sitting in a row

All the same, all the same

Click, pop, snap, boom.

Undeniably, indescribably

All the while we sympathize, criticize, commercialize and revolutionize

This cameo, contrary though it is to the rest,

Defines itself, reminds itself and finds itself all over

Under over, behind over, underneath and on top over

It won’t stop or drop over the beat, the flow, the feel

Concealed, revealed - the real deal

Step it up, hit it, hold it, blow it, taste it, don't waste it

This cornflake and me are done sitting

Music is a drug let the rhythm do the work

Felt within, this kind of flow, it’d take a wizard make it work

Calmly spin I let it it out

Here it comes just listen now

Fuck. Bake. Ants, Flow. Sit. Fire. Ready, go.

Super suntan, appletini, summer train rides, Lost in Fiji

Complete and easy, spare tire war machine

Propaganda, str8 marketing

Understand you can't stop the beat

So know now that this rhyme is done

And every word was so much fun when

Words are flowing out and in like fluid through my open veins

My open mind, my heart contained

Stay frozen waiting like a dream

Then chosen systematically

To pull, to push, to break and bow

An endless stream flows stronger now

Consider just a sunny day

Sustaining me in such a way

Absolving like a heavy rain

Resolving like a chord sustained

Find pity not in words refrained, for endless possibility

Nor anger left for those that speak where words will fill silence, complete

A word like love forever speaks the truth

So listen when it whispers soft your name

To folly and to doubt defines our youth

To love, to live and ask for none to blame

Oh how these eyes have seen beyond the stars

And glimpsed upon the sweetest kind of soul

So take not lightly what could be just ours

For galaxies n’er hold my love the whole

Entanglement, on such fine lines we stray

To hold complete a person held so dear

To wake up happy in your arms and pray

You feel the same, for when I hold you near

A word like love speaks many words to me

A word like love will simply set you free

This week I am recommending Tal Farlow’s The Tal Farlow Album. Simple, dizzying, elegant and thoughtful all at the same time. Highlighting the combo era jazz trio Tal Farlow takes you on a journey in every piece, reminiscent of a Tom and Jerry soundtrack at times. The playful and effortless execution throughout is a reminder of why Tal Farlow is called The Octopus of jazz guitar.

The Tal Farlow Album