was just re-listening to tonight's podcast, and wanted to give the lyrics to the new demo i played. in case anybody's interested... :)

up up up the downward steps
is the way i always wanted to go
down down down the wrong way, head over kettle,
it's always this way, i know
i guess my mom and dad were right about everything
there's no hope of the world ever changing
so i guess we should just give in

(chorus 1)
and up up up, up up up
i always wanted to sing
i always wanted to try (with you)
and who says the possibility holds the key
to the question that's been on my mind?
keeping me up, up up up
and even if i'm wrong
sometimes wrong can turn out right
that's what it means
to have faith in g-d.

when you've given, given, given, your heart away
it's true you might regret it given time
but i don't know how to love, love, love, the world
without turning a blind eye
and i know it's true that it's dark outside
and the maps we've made've turned out lies
but i honestly believe on the other side
that's what it means to be alive

(chorus 2)
and on your way up, up up up
i always wanted to sing
i always wanted to try (with you)
and who says the possibility holds the key
to the question that's been on my mind?
keeping me up, up up up
and even if i'm wrong
sometimes wrong can feel so right
that's what it means
to have faith in g-d.

and when the sun, sun, sun, finally does decide
she wants to give something else a try
cuz she knows, knows, knows, how it feels to burn
that it's wrong and she don't know why
that's when i know we'll see a sudden flash of light
and all the doubts we've dreamed about
will suddenly feel all right

(chorus 3)
so just look up, up up up
yeah, we're all gonna sing
and we're all gonna try
and who says the possibility holds the key
to the question that's been on my mind?
keeping me up, up up up
and i know that i'm wrong
and i still think it's all right
that's what it means
to have faith in g-d.

thank you for listening and being here. really.

<3
russell

Posted by russell at 05:53 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

i'm gonna be out town this week, so won't be able to do a podcast on wednesday night... which sucks, cuz i really wanna get part two of the interview with ryan sharp up. unfortunately, i'm not done with the editing yet. i apologize for my slowness, and promise it will be the next podcast i post! :) in the meantime - in lieu of our regularly scheduled podcast this week, i just uploaded a special sunday night edition featuring one of my favorite cobalt season songs "help me out here" (from their 2007 cd in search of a unified theory), and a demo of a song i just started writing this weekend...

re: the latter - as usual - i'm feeling a little bit self-conscious about posting a demo of a brand new song. especially now, as i'm typing this and re-listening to it. eeek. it definitely needs more work. oh well. hopefully you won't mind too much, and will see some value in it regardless. if you have advice, or thoughts, i'm curious and open. you can always say hi at: rsopple@comcast.net. i hope you will. :)

have a great week!
russell

ps - while we're waiting for part two of ryan's interview, don't forget to visit www.thecobaltseason.com.

Posted by russell at 05:15 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

as i've mentioned on the podcast a few times recently, ryan sharp was kind enough to drop by and say hi a few weeks back. we recorded some songs live, and talked about a whole range of fun stuff - songwriting, art, language, politics, history, religion, and more... some tangents, some related to his songs, life in general, being us in the u.s., etc. it was a good conversation, and i'm really happy (+ thankful) that ryan made the time to visit and participate with the podcast. it means a lot to me. :) the result is a pretty cool two-part interview! tonight features part one. i hope you'll take a listen.

if you don't already know ryan's music and his band the cobalt season, i really hope you'll check 'em out at www.thecobaltseason.com, learn more, and pick up their new cd "fragile iconoclast".

all the best,
russell

Posted by russell at 06:31 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

i mentioned foundreality.com on the podcast wednesday night, but forgot to give a link. you can find it at www.foundreality.com. i hope you'll visit. :)

happy saturday,
russell

Posted by russell at 07:23 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

the internet is cool. for the fun of it, i just googled the title of this week's podcast. and a whole bunch of stuff came up - lots of christian missionary sites, some political books, the lyrics to a dashboard confessional song... some things i expected, some i didn't, and some i had no idea existed 'till now. and it's funny, cuz as opposite as some of these things may appear (and are) on the surface, there's also a real sense in which most of them bear the meaning i intended. in their own way. admittedly, it's often the mirror image of how i might think politically, or what i'd choose to do or say, or where i think the emphasis should be. true enough. and my first reaction is usually to judge and distance myself, and remind myself (and others) of those differences. but then, sometimes - i stop. and i think maybe it's ok. maybe somebody needs to put emphasis in the areas i neglect? maybe there's something i need to learn about the other side? as thoughtful and right as i like to think i am on any of these issues, this seems even more true.

so - as i was wandering around the other "good fight" products out there, i couldn't help but notice that the people who created those sites, and work for those missionary groups, and wrote those songs and books, were probably inspired by something (a feeling? an idea?) very similar to my own tonight. and i also bet they experience the same sense of struggle over trying to be better, and get closer to the truth, and do the right thing. they come to different answers, yes. but the underlying motivation connects us. and that - to me - feels like a big starting place for understanding. obviously, there are lots of people who disagree with all this, call it pollyannish, etc. so, maybe i'm just naive? or wrong? could be. given the complexity of human motivation and psychology, seems there's a better than decent chance i am. fair enough. but i guess this is where faith comes in? cuz i need connection to be possible. and i want it. and since i have to live in the world never knowing or understanding completely, i wanna err on the side of common ground. and i wanna hope for understanding. and live like it's possible.

when i talk about "fighting the good fight of faith" in my own life - this is pretty much what i mean. cuz i do believe we can make something better here. just us. by listening. it's never simple or easy, but it does happen when we're willing to stand up, tell the truth that's going on for us, really listen when others hear and feel what we're saying differently than we intend, and see the truth of the opposite perception. i don't know how it happens. or what makes it happen when it happens. it's hard as hell. confusing. scary. and it takes faith. but it does happen. even on a lazy wednesday evening, surfing google...

so, long ramble, just to say that tonight's podcast is here. i hope you can take a listen, and that you'll visit and learn more about the artists and links i mentioned...

julius caesar - myspace.com/thekoedonarmada
tom mcshane - myspace.com/tommcshane
penny distribution - www.pennydistribution.com
ryan sharp & the cobalt season - thecobaltseason.com

early 20th century (not 19th as i misspoke on the podcast)
poet rainer maria rilke's book on love and other difficulties.

love,
russell

Posted by russell at 04:33 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

the title of this week's podcast is borrowed from the first line in julius caesar's new song "near death"

"you'd better get a grip, kid / change the shape you're in...
startin' to look a little worn for the wear, wonderin' if you're still in there
i know it's been troubled times, but hey, it's time to be alive
and change the shape you're in..."

in listening to ryan's new songs the past few weeks, i've been reminded how often music prompts me and leads me in ways i don't expect. but need. in a way, i guess most of it just down to the crossroads of everyday decision making? all these endless possibilities that exist in any given direction. and why and how we choose things the way we do is so limitlessly complex and odd and random. y'know? and miraculous too. it's a strange thing.

this feeling echoes in the podcast tonight. and it says a lot about ryan and heather's songs. i wanna thank them both for sharing their work with me over the past year or so. their songs have become a part of my life, and i completely admire the ability they have to evoke mood and feeling and metaphor so personally. as i've mentioned before, the way music does this - reaches inside, connects, gets past our emotional defenses, undoes our pretense - is neverendingly inspiring to me. and i realize i've said the same thing in many different ways over the course of 94 podcasts and blogs now. over and over? maybe. if i do, it's simply because it taps into a feeling i can't put into words, or seem to get right... but want to. and songs like these do it - time and time again.

so, i dunno. maybe this is all "sacred" ever means? i think so.

as i was editing the show tonight, i realized how the last few weeks have been filled with some amazingly rich talent and voices. i'm very much thankful to everyone who's participated - heather, keith, chris (of sparklebritches), ryan (of julius caesar), and the upcoming music and discussion with ryan sharp (of the cobalt season), nick fitzsimmons (of penny distribution) for sharing tom mcshane's recent work, and angela for sharing foundreality.com. there's some really cool stuff coming up in the next few weeks. i hope you'll stay tuned, and share as much as you can with other friends who might be interested. :)

so, hm - come to think of it - the sparklebritches song "on the one" (about half way through tonight's podcast) is what i mean by all of this. that feeling. it says it better than anything. i hope you'll take a listen, and check the links to everyone i mentioned tonight...

julius caesar - myspace.com/thekoedonarmada
sparklebritches - myspace.com/sparklebritchesmusic
khalil gibran - on wikipedia
ryan sharp & the cobalt season - thecobaltseason.com

wishin' u the best,
russell

Posted by russell at 04:39 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)