Early Years in Spokane

There is a Planet (1970)

Oh there is a planet called Venus

She is the Goddess of Love

A pearly white light in the morning

A light that shines from above

And there is a planet called Mars

He is the God of War

A bloody red light in the still of night

And now his blood runs once more

And between these planets so far apart

There is a mixture of both

But it’s mostly war down here

Here on Planet Earth

Planet Earth, don’t fly away

We’ve come to know you well

Planet Earth, don’t fly away

We’d hate to see you go

Well if you want your Planet Earth

You better learn to treat her well

Cause if you don’t care for Planet Earth

Then you’ll just live in Hell

Planet Earth, you know we love you true

We’ll care for you right now

Planet Earth, that’s what we’re gonna do

If we could just learn how

Oh there was a planet called Mother Earth

Her people did not treat her well

So now they’re dead and she’s flown away

To where, she’ll never tell

I'm Thinking of You (1975)

All that I have done and all that I will do

Is wrapped up in a package that is there for all of you

To see to love I'm thinking of you

You're all that I have done and you're all that I will do

And when this fateful day is done I'll be home again with you

To see to love I'm thinking of you

When I step inside the door I'll know that I am in the right place

I'll see the one that I adore I'll see that one and only face of you

To see you once again is to see a flower in spring

To hear your golden voice is to hear a bird that sings

To see to love I'm thinking of you

When I step inside the door I'll know that I am in the right place

I'll see the one that I adore I'll see that one and only face of you

You're all that I have done and you're all that I will do

And when this fateful day is done I'll be home again with you

To see to love I'm thinking of you

I'm thinking of you

HOPE (1975)

Do you have hope?

I hope you do

For if you don’t have hope

There’s no hope for you

(H) Ain’t you gonna like it if we hope with you?

(O) Oh, I don’t know, anything we’ll do

(P) Peek behind my eyes

(E) Either one will show

What I’ve finally realized

I hope my hope will know what is wrong

And know what is right

Oh won’t you hope with me?

It’s hopeless, don’t you see?

Two million people starving there

With no hope just despair

Do you give hope?

I hope you do

For many need it more

Than you could ever hope to

(H) Ancient ways of thinking are never always true

(O) Open up your heart, a little hope will always do

(P) Peace and love defeat

(E) Each and every fear

Now I know what people need

They need some hope that knows what is wrong

And knows what is right

Oh won’t you hope with me?

There’s just an endless sea

Of hungry men with hopeless hearts

With minds that dream of shopping carts

Do you have hope?

I hope you do

For if you don’t have hope

There’s no hope for you

Do you give hope?

I hope you do

For many need it more

Than you could ever hope to

Oh won’t you hope with me?

It’s hopeless, don’t you see?

DIG (1975)

Well I was traveling over the rainbow

That is colored with red, white, and blue

I stepped into the mystical dreamland

That is now known by me and by you

Well in this country they now have some problems

That weren’t there yesterday

The ruler they call Mr. Mole Man

Cause everyday you can hear him say

DIG, DIG, DIG

Well this country has a buried treasure

The people want to go dig it up

But they just can’t find out where to start digging

Cause Mr. Mole Man has the only map

Mr. Mole Man gives them edited transcripts

For directions to this wonderful place

But he always leaves out where the map starts at

And the people always hear him say

DIG, DIG, DIG it up

DIG, DIG, DIG

Well people around here they tell me

That it’s happening everywhere

A ruler could bury all of us

And he wouldn’t have to care

‘Cause he could just say

DIG, DIG, DIG ‘em up

DIG, DIG, DIG

What a Farce (1975)

Oh what a farce it is

Oh what game

You lose your soul before you’re even playing

And when the counters come to count your chips

All you’re looking for is a pair of lips

Oh what a scandal’d start

If someone thought

That they could save their heart

By tying the knot

And so instead of love they hit and run

And leave them high and dry when they are done

So when you see a chick

Who’s with her man

You can be sure that she does understand

That when the daylight leaves

And the nighttime comes

So will he and she’ll have to take it or run

And so I’d have to say

That it’s all a joke

It’s pretty hard to take it without taking a toke

But try to be really tough

And do what you can

And if you make it through you’ll be a man

I Wish that I Could Look at You (1976)

YouTube demo

I look out on the morning

And I wonder how you've been

My eyes dance off the dew drops

And I feel the eastern wind

I look out on the sunrise

And I wonder how it feels

To know that when the earth dies

You'll be shining still

I wish that I could look at you

I look up towards the tree-tops

And I wish that I was high

Cause when you finally drop me

I know I'll need to fly

I wish that I could look at you

It's not that funny, but watch me laugh

I want all of you and not just half

I look out on my lifetime

And I see that it has turns

I'm stranded in the desert

And you know the hot sand burns

I wish that I could look at you

I wish, I wish, it could be true

Commentary

This image is a self-portrait from the early 1970’s. The first song in this collection, There is a Planet, was written at age 12, still a couple of years from when I would first play a guitar. I was primarily self-taught on the piano (starting at around age 4), but never came close to the skills of our Dad, who was an excellent pianist – ranging from classical (Beethoven, Chopin) to jazz (Dave Brubeck, Vince Guaraldi). My other early influences reflected our parent’s eclectic mix of records: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, obscure musical comedy (Harvard’s Tom Lehrer, Britain’s Flanders & Swann), Crosby, Sinatra – and (a little later in childhood and quite strangely given the otherwise absence of Christianity in our secular home), Jesus Christ Superstar, which stood as my only youthful exposure to the “Gospel” (albeit distorted!).

Of course, I grew up in the 1960’s so I was also exposed to the Beatles. I don’t remember seeing the original February 1964 Ed Sullivan episode (I would have been only 5), but I vividly recall seeing Paul’s TV performance of Yesterday in 1965, as haunting and hypnotic to me now as it was then. So, we four kids grew up as Beatles fans and those were the first albums that we convinced our parents to get for us. I am still a huge fan and was thrilled to finally see Paul perform live when he came to St. Louis’s Busch Stadium in August 2016 (almost precisely 50 years after performing in the city's previous stadium of the same name, a performance witnessed by my first wife, Sima!). I was then also truly blessed to see Paul's first post-COVID show, which he miraculously scheduled in my hometown of Spokane, in April 2022.

The songs I wrote in those years had two recurring themes that continue to emerge in my work today: (1) comments on societal issues of the day (especially environmental & political); and (2) expressing personal emotions, particularly loneliness and longing for love. I now see Theme (1) as a strange combination of the Dylanesque societal commentary with the satirical humor of Lehrer, Flanders & Swann. Theme (2) now seems an attempt to recreate the magic of Yesterday, but always falling far short of Sir Paul!

Early Years in Spokane

There is a Planet (1970)

I'm Thinking of You (1975)

HOPE (1975)

DIG (1975)

What a Farce (1975)

I Wish that I Could Look at You (1976)

Commentary

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