On the 11th of November I heard the song below performed by Bill DeMain at The Bluebird Café… I’m a huge fan of David Mead, (who was playing with that night also) and many of Mead’s songs are written with Mr. DeMain… so I find a very natural progression into coming to appreciate his lyrics as well…

I find a great deal of comfort in adopting mantras from various sources… One of my favorites to date has been the chorus of a David Mead song, “Indiana”… the “Come on Sugar just say I Love You” has been posted more than a few times on this blog…

Oddly, many times I’ve repeated this lyric to myself, or posted it by itself or maybe even hand written the words when I knew I needed to do the right thing, follow my heart and be the best human being I can be… All that to say, I guess, I’m calling myself “Sugar” as I’ve always said the kindest voice you should hear all day is that of your own… With the just say “I Love You” as a way to remind myself to keep my priorities in perspective… That more often than not that intense moment of fret, angst and panic is only just that… a moment…not who I am or what lay ahead of me.

Anywhere from getting cut off in traffic, having a disagreement with your loved one or a squabble with a co worker was a handy place for me to state, “Come on Sugar, Just say I Love You”… to myself… now obviously I wasn’t throwing out I Love Yous to co workers or other transients on the road ways, more over I was just reminding myself that these were just little flashes of tiny insignificant seconds that contained no baring on my heart’s intentions, my wishes, wants, future or love… So with a kind moniker to myself (Sugar) accompanied with the best phrase ever said I was able to remind myself that essentially, I want to be a good person ALL the time, and that putting something loving out in the world held far more potential than shooting a bird or wasting time, and breath on whichever energy vampire may come calling…

As far as when I adopted these words as a reminder to myself, I remember vividly… It was the first time I’d ever heard the song, riding in a car; this song was one of the driver’s favorites… All I remember after that was I knew I wanted to be the best man I could be, for me, and for her… When I heard her beautiful singing voice that she tries to hide, sing “Come on Sugar, just say I Love You”… I knew I wish she was singing them to me… Because I knew in that affirming moment all I ever wanted to be was good to her… I give no insight as to what David Mead may want to infer with the sentiment, I’d be willing to make a wager or two with my best guess… To me however, I know I apply the prose just as much inwardly, as I ever do outwardly… (although there may be those who disagree :)

While sitting at the Bluebird Café and hearing the song below, I felt a great deal of comfort in how wonderfully and simply a beautiful lyric can widdle the world down to a much more manageable size… “Closed My Eyes and Kept Believing”… I felt as if I’d lived these words most of my life… the words immediately became something that I wish I’d created…

I’ve not had time to fully absorb much of Bill DeMain’s work, I’d give myself a Master’s degree and going for the PhD on David Mead but I consider this song the first in my studies of the teachings of Bill DeMain… I look forward to the absorption… I’d bet, I’ll be better for it…

Close Your Eyes and Keep Believing… (more to come)




Once I Lived in London

Once I lived in London, right near the Vauxhall Bridge
In a room on a corner the size of a fridge
A bed, a desk, a window, and a fog across the Thames
Drinking English tea each morning in the sound of Big Ben

I went busking every day
Trying to find somewhere rich to play
Cold and nervous
Closed my eyes and kept believing
Closed my eyes and kept believing
Closed my eyes and kept believing

I quit my spring semester and sold the junk I had
Naïve I believed the stories in the music rags
Alone I walked the ancient streets looking for a magic key
Winding home through the dusk of London, just me

I sang Spandau Ballet’s “true”
Jobim, Yaz, The Plastic People too
Sang you near me
Closed my eyes and kept believing now
I closed my eyes and kept believing now
I closed my eyes and kept believing

It doesn’t last, a winter a spring and a summer
A turn of the tide and it’s over
And London’s crystallized on an 80’s postcard
Faded and burned on an 80’s postcard
Written to you on an 80’s postcard

I sang Spandau Ballet’s “true”
Jobim, Yaz, The Plastic People too
Sang you near me
Just close your eyes and keep believing now
Close your eyes and keep believing now
Close your eyes and keep believing now

© 2008 DeMain / Scott