Anyway, Centerfold

Today's songs:
"Centerfold" by the J. Geils Band, and "Anyway" by Martina McBride.

"Centerfold" now belongs in an ever-growing medley I call "Songs in the Key of G".  The medley includes but is not limited to "Blackbird", "Wake me Up When September Ends", and "Chasing Cars" (which is in A, but playing "Wake Me..." makes me want to play it).  I managed to peel myself away from ebay long enough to listen to a few of the surprisingly numerous covers of this song.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised, because that opening riff is really catchy. 

"Anyway" - to be learned after dinner (do-it-yourself sushi here at my sister's place).  This song belongs to a small set of seasonal Songs that Pertain to Important and Meaningful (if Often Tedious and Annoying) Life Lessons Learned This Year, or SPIM(OTA)LLLTY for... short?  Hm.  Well, anyway - unintentional pun - I'll list those songs with short explanations:

1. "Crystal Ball" -
a. Pink's songs are formulaic (my exploration of Funhouse album in early spring was how verse-chorus-bridge form really sunk in - went from knowing-it-in-my-head to ah-ok-so-that's-what-that-is), but I like them anyway.
b. I-IVsus2 = instant pop song
c. There are a lot of lyrics in this song that resonate with me after this year.  I don't think I can sum it up into one pithy sentence, so just go listen to the song.  That's why they exist, after all.

I'm sure I will have geeky musical thoughts about these songs too, but I haven't worked on them yet, so no conscious observations...

2. "Anyway"
I don't know if my career is ever going to take off to the point where I'm being paid to be creative, or if I will remain a respected-in-my-circle but unknown accompanist/music director.  I intend to cobble these posts together with other journaling and writing I've been doing this year into a book, and I intend to record an album that includes some of the songs I've worked on this year, but who knows if it will reach beyond those who already know about it.  I put so much time into things that may never pay off.  But what am I gonna do, not try?
Again, the song says it better.

3. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
There are so many more songs in the world!  I still need to suck less every day!  Ack ack ack ack ack!
I will study music my whole life.  Hopefully I will have the good fortune to make my living at it too, since that's just a more efficient use of my time - on-the-job training.

4. "Only For Now"
Avenue Q is one of my favorite musicals.  It is so expertly crafted, in addition to being funny and irreverent, which entertainment should be if it possibly can.
The bitch about live performance is that you have to get it right time after time, not just once so you can hand it over to the editing team (TV/film actors = sometimes a questionable casting choice for the Broadway stage, just sayin').  As my technique improves, I am beginning to sense that consistency in my playing might actually be in the realm of possibility.  That's exciting.  But I still have to pay attention to what I'm doing.  Because music is only for now.  Or something (go listen to the song).

And then I learn songs like "Centerfold" to crack myself up...