Mixed blood – written yesterday, posted today

Song of the day today is a triple – I’m Not Like Everybody Else
Most People I Know Think That I’m Crazy and You Don’t Understand Me.

I’ve always been a pretty unique creature. I wanted to play football and cricket whilst all the girls I knew wanted to play rounders. I wanted to play drums whilst playing violin, I’ve been a sheep in wolf’s clothing and a wolf in sheep’s.

I once got into a fight that lasted a single punch, yet have selective mutism and get nervous nose bleeds. I spent thirteen years doing a pretty good job of wanting to destroy people’s noses, yet my own thoughts destroy mine. It’s fair to say, I’m an odd creature, but if the shoe fits, wear it. That’s why today’s songs of the day are what they are. Songs that make me feel like it’s okay to be different. Billy Thorpe was probably the first one to declare that. He was loud and brash and unashamedly unique. That attitude has left a lasting impression on me. Play loud and be proud of it.

Next on the list came The Kinks. I’m Not Like Everybody Else, they brashly declared. That’s true. I’m not. I’m a constant frustration to my family because I don’t play nice. If I don’t want to talk to someone, I don’t. It’s that simple. If I get the feeling that they don’t want to talk to me, I still don’t talk to them. Why talk to someone who doesn’t want to talk to you? Civility? Well, that works both ways. Couple my stubbornness with shyness and you have a stubbornly shy person that sometimes outright refuses to communicate. Admittedly, this can be counter productive and has been known to shit people to tears.

Why this song? Well, it also reminds me of being a 16 year old mod in a school of grunge heads and kids listening to the latest serve of Maroon 5 or whatever the fuck else was around at the time. I didn’t know what they were listening to, I was discovering the Travelling Wilburys. I don’t even think they remember what they were listening to. I still have that Travelling Wilburys cd.

The third and final song is You Don’t Understand Me, because most people don’t. That’s not their fault. I’m both shy and outgoing. I’m a bundle of contradictions all wrapped into one tiny, confused unit. Some days I have a hard enough time figuring out what goes on in my head. How do I expect anyone else to? Some people have bothered to try – one almost successfully. Keep trying, we’ll get there eventually. Happy April, peeps

Jack White

I had heard of Jack White before, but of course, there was hearing and there was paying attention. At the arse end of March a couple of years back, it was just the right time for me to start paying attention. I was going through what was best described in Jebediah’s Harpoon and to say it was an interesting process would be an understatement. The result of which was tattoos and the language of a sailor, as well as a few powerful realizations.

Anyway, back to Jack. I got into him because my buddy showed me a little bit of It Might Get Loud at a time when I was in a state to do nothing but listen. Not the whole thing, just enough to make me curious. How could I not be? Naturally, my insatiable desire to know everything came into play and the rest, as they say is history. The harpoon sized wound has also turned into a neat little scar. I covered it with a tattoo of the word “faith” and a bird.

The thing I love about Jack is that he gets it. Aside from being talented as fuck and a brilliant guitarist, the song writing is amazing. Hearing him in interviews, I agree with a lot of what he has to say.

I remember reading somewhere that he said love was like having a gun pointed at you – it should create the same amount of fear and respect. Upon reading this, I thought “finally! Somebody understands”

There is also his love of older or different guitars and the struggle with trying to play a difficult instrument. His attitude encouraged me to shy away from just playing the main guitar brands, to try more.

As far as the songs, the back catalogue is amazing. There are more great songs on one Raconteurs album than some people manage to write in their whole careers and trying to just pick one is ridiculous really. In fact, I was in the position recently where I had to put together a compilation album for a friend – it ended up being two CDs and even then, I still felt like I could have put in more.

So we come to this point – song of the day. As it is exactly that, I’m going to pick These Stones Will Shout. This may seem funny for some of you, but I relate completely to the communication issues that seem to be the theme of that song. I realise it’s one of the most frustrating things on earth – dealing with someone who just won’t communicate, but having been on both sides of the coin, let me just say “believe me, I’m trying” selective mutism is a bitch. Here’s the song.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1-8AOddGy4Y