Friday, April 17, 2020

Forbidden Planet


I live a secluded life. Even under normal circumstances, I don’t see actual humans other than my immediate family that often. I don’t mind it so much, to be honest. I’m used to it. Recently the gloom of impending doom has been extra strong. I took a trip to California and got back to Ohio just under the wire before the pandemic and the travel restrictions set in. That first week back was a strange transition. I had just come home from a wild and fun experience. But Ohio and home were different now. I lost my straight job (selling and delivering draft beer for a cool micro-brewery) and was faced with many quarantine related family and health dilemmas right away. I’m sure that anyone reading this went through similar trials. I know it’s tough. These are the times that define us.

I write songs. That’s what I do. Earwig has been on a break for a few months and we were scheduled to get back to work on 2 upcoming album projects upon my return from the West Coast. Currently that’s all up in the air. But I did sit down at the piano and write this song that first week back. Being home without work and uncertain of what the future held, I spent some free time watching old VHS tapes that I have collected. The first movie I watched was Forbidden Planet. The current situation mingled with the image on the VHS cover is what sparked me to write this song. I felt powerless in the onslaught of the daily news cycle and it all came out in this song. I did try to include some positive lyrics. Something I’ve tried to do more as I grow older and keep writing songs. I hope that comes through.

After writing and recording the demo, I immediately tried to find a way to record this song with Earwig and get it released. Ideally, I’d like to see it on some sort of compilation or fund-raiser to aid artists who have lost their income stream because of the COVID19 outbreak. Alas, that has not happened yet. We’re working on methods for Earwig to continue recording our new album and have it released this year. This song will likely end up somewhere in the mix. 


FORBIDDEN PLANET

am I trying too hard
just to make something happen for us
maybe it's a forbidden planet
and we just don’t know it yet

tell me something beautiful and fast
give me something so I can relax
and sink into the emptiness of fear

if these demons come for us
I will carry you home
what if it’s a forbidden planet
and we just don’t know it yet
tell me what I should have been
if all my fantasies are wrong
I will always be the one 
who will carry you home

I will always love you more
in a world that’s beautiful and fast 
here comes the thunderhead
singing we are not alone

I will always be the one
who will carry you home
maybe this is a forbidden planet


and we just don’t know it yet

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