How did you spend your Tuesday
night? Chances are at least 50% of your Tuesday night was spent just like mine.
If you are an even remotely politically
aware American, that is.
I spent my Tuesday night knee-deep
in CNN updates and election forecasts.
I spent my Tuesday night cramped in
a refurbished closet, as we laid down drum tracks.
I soaked my mind in concern for two
futures: the nation’s and my own. And when my mind was wrinkled like a prune,
having lounged too long in worry, I found the fate of both futures had perhaps
different ends, but similar processes. The process of electing a president is
very much like that of recording a song.
I’m a singer-songwriter, in case
you missed my bio.
I spend any free moment I have thinking of poetic ways to rephrase clichés and
recording little ditties that swirl around my head on my iTalk app. People
probably think I’m allergic to daylight with the amount of time I spend in the
basement practice rooms at Vandy. But the result of my basement-dwelling, never-silent
brain is a song. And right now, a song the best thing I am capable of creating,
so it’s a joyous event. Sometimes I think
about naming them and yelling “It’s a girl!” …Too over the top? But a song is nothing if it is never
heard. It might as well not exist. You must record the song – add different
instruments, layer the voices, tailor it to a certain style or genre if you
wish.
So the recording process begins.
So the recording process begins.
Though I have recorded demos
before, this is my first experience recording full band tracking for my songs. I’ve got an EP in the works! More on that here. With modern technology, the
recording process has become both simpler and more in-depth. For my EP, we are
recording one instrument at a time (in that little closet I mentioned). First,
you get a clean take of the guitar track, playing to a click. Then you lay down
some scratch vocals over the top so that all of the other instruments have some
sense of a flow of the song. And this is where it gets fun! You bring in different
instruments and have them each record unique complementary parts.
Layer upon layer upon layer.
Hour upon hour upon hour.
Then you’ve got to decide what you
like and what you don’t. You can decide that along the way, weeding out the
parts that clash early on. But in the very end, there comes a point where you
add finishing touches, artistic flare to make your song unique, catchy,
appealing, and standout.
At last, you have a masterpiece.
You’re about to introduce something new and revolutionary to the ears of the
universe. You’re welcome, world.
And just before you send the song
to iTunes, somebody suggests you mute all of the tracks except for the original
acoustic guitar and lead vocals, just like it was when you first wrote it.
Sounds like a fun idea. Just for kicks, you do it. You scroll back to the
beginning of the tracks and push play.
Ah. That sound! It fills the room
and resonates in your mind. It sounds so pure. So true. It sounds like the song
you created in the basement with all of its promise, all of its sincerity, all
of its simplicity. So just like that, you scrap all of
the other layers of tracks on tracks and send just the acoustic version to
iTunes.
Was all of that work for nothing?
No! It was the process.
You had to go through it to realize
that you wanted what you had all along.
So, sometimes, I spend my Tuesday nights
recording things that will never be heard, all to realize that I had what I
wanted all along. And that’s the 50% of my Tuesday night that probably doesn’t
match yours. Once every four years, however, there comes a Tuesday night on
which you and I are undoubtedly doing exactly the same thing.
The election process comes to an
end. Finally.
And whether you are knee-deep with
me in politics, or you are wading in political ads, or you are drowning in the
vast ocean of information that is available and pertinent during the
presidential election season, we are all in the same pool.
 |
| Guess this makes me a real adult. #yeahright |
From studying the history of the presidency, here’s what I’d imagined: A couple of good-natured people decide that their best way to create positive change in the world is to govern the nation, they run for the presidency, and one wins.
Now, I’m not naïve. It was
impossible to maintain this “founding fathers” perspective on the process of
presidential elections. My democratic dreams were squashed with the first
television campaign ad I saw.
But I do still hope that those
politicians who manage to work their way up the bureaucracy high enough to run
for the presidency have some sense of ethical and moral responsibility. I
imagine that both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have good intentions and ideas
for bettering the American people.
They probably each started off as
regular guys; grew up with an interest in politics and realized that social
change through policy was the best thing that they were capable of creating. They
jumped through the hoops and passed the tests, and along the way they picked
up ideas to make them each unique, catchy, appealing, and standout.
Plan upon plan upon plan.
Promise upon promise upon promise.
At last, you have the presidential
candidates we know today. And, Republican or Democrat, they’re each about to
introduce something new and revolutionary to the universe. You’re welcome, world.
Somewhere hidden in all of the
political rhetoric and debate, there must be a remnant of the original person
who is now the candidate. You’ve researched the hot-button issues and you’ve
decided on a candidate because they have a new, interesting approach to solving
America’s problems.
And just before you put the ballot
in the mail, somebody suggests you mute all of the media sources yelling in
your head, evaluating the candidates’ actual ability to carry out the role.
Sounds like a good idea. And it is. So just like that, we scrap all of
the political nonsense and choose someone we deem reliable and true to his
word.
Was all of that work for nothing?
No! It was the process.
You had to go through it to realize
that you wanted what you had all along. In
this case, America wanted Obama.
PS Just as a song is nothing if it
is never heard, so is an opinion nothing if it is not voiced. Thank you to all
of you who voiced your opinion in this election. And remember that the
presidential election isn’t the only important election!
