From ANDRAS JONES: REBECA POTASNIK joined our Pop Oracle session with KENDL WINTER with a thoughtful question. Every year she comes up with a theme for the year. She was pondering her theme for 2019 at the time and that formed the basis of her question. I just reached out to see what she ultimately settled on. Here’s her response, “Strike! As in- no hesitation. Decisive action”. This bears some relation to today’s randomly chosen song from The Pop Oracle. I wrote it when I was working with the Boston band Jim’s Big Ego on the first stage version version of Radio8Ball that featured their music as the oracle fodder and them as the musical guest at every show. It was called “The Ego & The Oracle”. After a successful series of shows in Boston and Seattle the band’s management decided to go forward with the show without my involvement and without crediting me as the creator of the show or paying me anything for its use. Stung by their decision I took decisive action and struck. First I wrote the song below and then I actually showed up at their next performance in Cambridge with flyers explaining that the band were plagiarizing my show. It was a weird scene. Not comfortable at all for anyone. In subsequent years, whenever they have tried to mount a production I’ve sent press releases to the local press giving them the full story. I would have preferred a less antagonistic bummer of an approach but you work with what you got. It’s been a while since Jim and the band have tried to put on their version of my show, which is sad, because I would have loved to let them keep doing it if they had only been willing to do so honorably. I’m not sure if this is the kind of decisive action Rebeca is thinking of. Being one who acts decisively hasn’t made my life any easier so maybe one of these years I should try a theme of “Wait and see” but not this year. This year, and with this show, it appears I’m going to be decisively acting all over the place because…I see it differently.

POP ORACLE Song of The Day (February 14, 2019): ANDRAS JONES “A Serious Sincere Question”

I See It Differently

In the corner of my mind I keep a place for you to stay
there are blankets on the bed
the doors open partway
when i walk the long hall down
i like to take a look inside
make sure you’re doing alright, in the corner of my mind

and in the middle of my house sometimes you’re sleeping on the couch
not really making noise just kind of hanging out
often a presence in my living room, pointing out a way
you don’t live here anymore but it seems you’re here to stay

It could be wrong, you could call it that
but I see it differently
to be holding on, you could call it that
but I see if differently

People say that I should go, find myself a new place to be
perhaps a smaller home, where the rooms are still empty
hand out an eviction notice and let you be on your way
but I like our morning routines what ever time of day

It could be wrong, you could call it that
but I see it differently
to be holding on, you could call it that
but I see if differently

In another place and time we are living side by side
watching beautiful sunsets and going about our lives
and now I’m doing about the same, these skinny walls and unbrushed roof
keeping a little light on in the room I keep for you

It could be wrong, you could call it that
but I see it differently
to be holding on, you could call it that
but I see if differently

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