Ten years ago, this month, I talked about the root of all evil. No, not congress. Although, they come in a close second most of the time.
Of course, the root of all evil is money.
There I said it. But it needs to be said. Especially right now when Halloween is only a couple of days away. And that’s the holiest day of all. For those who love evil, that is.
But ten years ago, the eyes of my understanding were clouded. And I hadn’t yet seen “the light” of the truth about money. I even share a sappy, little story about my little dreams when I was kid…
“When I started singing, as a little boy, I began to dream that one day I’d rise to the top and have all the money my heart could possibly desire. And I could see that money in gold, silver, green, and diamonds. Piles of it, buckets of it…for cryin’ out loud…truckloads of it!
So…as I began to practice, I repeated, over and over to myself: “money money money.” Then, I’d add few more la la la’s and then repeat “money money money”. It didn’t matter that I was six. I knew if I could envision it, I could make it happen.
And if you believe this story so far,
You don’t know me at all.
I spent 10’s of thousands of hours of my life singing and practicing and learning music theory, scales, sight-reading, and everything music related. For the love of money? Absolutely not! For the love of music. Music has been a constant companion and best friend to me for as long as I can remember. And all the years I spent as a full-time musician never got me even close to riches. But I loved it all the same.
So…in this age of digital downloads where so many people say all music should be free…have I forsaken my love for singing and songwriting? Not on your life. And if you explore my blog, you’ll find plenty of free music available. Still…I’ve discovered something odd in America.
It still takes money to buy groceries, and gas, and cars, and clothes, and housing, and…well…just about everything. What’s up with that?
You know what I’d like to see?
Everybody works for free and everything is free. Wouldn’t that solve the problem? Or should it be just the goofy singer songwriters and other artists who should work for free? Call me crazy, but that doesn’t seem balanced, fair, equitable, or even sustainable to singer songwriters and other artists.
My track record proves I don’t live for the love of money (which IS the root of all kinds of evil). But I do live…in a society/culture where money is necessary to live. So…call me crazy again, but…I still work to create and provide musical enjoyment to as many as will listen…and I’d still like to charge for my products. That way I can afford to keep up on the gear and resources to create and provide more musical enjoyment.
What do you think? Is this just crazy talk?”
So, there’s my silly kid story. Thank goodness I’ve come to my senses finally. And thank goodness I realize how money is the root of all evil. Oh yeah, by the way, please support my efforts to get the word out about this evil problem. Drop a little something in the tip jar…