Less Wreckage – or how a song got its 4th version

As I mentioned, “Wreck-less” already has three released versions. So, why did it need another one?

Times Change

“Wreck-less” is a formative song for me. I wrote and revised the lyrics during several wars. The current battles are both violent and personal. My day job, my friends, my family, and the country of my birth are all under threat.

At my stage of life, these kinds of threats call for a forceful response, but only after personal introspection. It’s that turning inward that this new version of “Wreck-less” represents for me. I’m doing my best to make it walk the line between confession and expectation. And I hope you can hear that in the delivery of the music and the lyrics.

And Stay the Same

Despair, avoidance, addiction, longing, inspiration, and expectation: all of these are part of this song. Some I’ve specifically named in the words and others I’ve tucked behind lines in the lyrics. Can you relate to these? I certainly have heard people relating to these in conversations. As always, my art reflects my life — including those stories I hear from other people.

The new version (or should that be plural?) of fascism has so many parallels with the ones that have gone before. Will the world soon realize how destructive this path is and revolt in more powerful ways? I hope so.

My primary way of responding to what’s happening in our world is through music. Whether it’s improvising on the piano during ceremonies or carefully crafting new versions of my songs, this mode is the way I deliver what I’m feeling and thinking. It’s not my only response, but it is by far my main one.

Versions Version

At this moment, I cannot imagine arranging and recording another version of “Wreck-less”. But if you had asked me in 2018 if I would ever create another rendition, I probably would have laughed. Little did I know then how much my life and our world would change within a few years.

Listen for the ripple of becoming a better humanity. It still lives.