Here in Austin – in the path of totality – it was a big thing for some people. Folks from all over have been arriving for days. Unfortunately, it’s a cloudy day here.
But we caught a few glimpses of the eclipse, and the crowds here on UT’s campus roared each time a window through the clouds passed above us, revealing a bright crescent for a few moments.
Regardless of how much eclipse fever you have, I offer this humble hymn to our cosmos as a lullaby of wonder and a prayer for protection. I hope this helps you feel held in our Milky Way’s starry arms tonight.
For Valentine’s Day, I recorded a song I recently wrote to tell the story of how I met my wife, Maile.
As part of a song game, I was given the title That’s When It All Changed. I immediately knew what changed my life and the story I wanted to tell: How I met Maile at the grocery store, how we started going out, and how, years later, I proposed there in the store.
That’s When It All Changed
On a day in the Summer in 1998
I went to get some groceries guided by the hands of fate
and I got in your line ’cause you were looking so fine
started a conversation, got your name and told mine
I’d think about you all week, find excuses to go to the store
I’d make sure we got to speak, told you I wanted more
Asked you out, but you had a boyfriend, you wouldn’t get a beer so I asked you again
What about lunch? You finally said Yes, that’s the first moment I’ll never forget
‘Cause that’s when it all changed
That’s when it all changed for the better
That’s when we caught flame
When I met you our love was new
We had a picnic by the pond and I walked you back to class
I remember when we parted thinking this could really last
Then we hung out at my place, took a walk around lake at night
Got coffee at Magnolia Cafe and everything was going right
Went to see a dollar movie, kissing in the parking lot
The power of those kisses is something I never forgot because
That’s when it all changed
That’s when it all changed for the better
As if it were pre-arranged
When I met you and our love was new
All the girls before when I just wan’t ready
All of the games I didn’t know how to play
All of the sudden everything is poetry
Only together could find our way
On a day in the Summer of 2003,
shortly after you got back from teaching overseas
We went to get some groceries at the HEB of Destiny
I knelt at the gumball machine and asked you to marry me
The magic was still working, you immediately said Yes
That’s another moment that I’ll never forget
Cause that’s when it all changed
That’s when it all changed for the better
The day we got engaged
Committed to each other as partners and lovers
That’s when it all changed
That’s when it all changed for the better
Got it all ordained
Goes to show you never know what you might pick up at the store
Maile and Anais gave me this incredible tribute song for my 51st birthday and blew me away with the care and tenderness of their song. It’s a personalized history of my life to the tune of Taylor Swift’s “Cornelia Street” which is a favorite of ours.
Anais and I learned to play it on guitar together and she played it in the recording below while they both sang it for me in my studio. Thank you both for this beautiful gift!!!
Maile Molin
Sunset Lane (Cornelia Street for 51st BDay 2023)
Maile MolinSunset Lane (Cornelia Street for 51st BDay 2023)
Maile MolinSunset Lane (Cornelia Street for 51st BDay 2023)
by Maile and Anais Molin (to the tune of Cornelia Street by Taylor Swift)
He was born in Arlington, Virginia, in the year of ’72
Tiny little clenched Fists,
Cute Face
Your mom and dad truly loved you
Going to Mrs Elwel’s, curly hair
Then Al Seeber comes along
Away for the weekend, flooding the
basement while you were gone
And we hope we never lose you, hope it never ends
We’d never lose the Flippy Flyer again
That’s the kind of heartbreak time could never mend
We’d never lose the Flippy Flyer again
And baby, I get mystified by all the pretty songs you write
And baby, I’m so goddamn glad that I’ve got you in my life
We’d never lose the Flippy Flyer again
We’d never lose the Flippy Flyer again
Working in the bike shop, The
Great Molinis doing tricks on the weekend Busking in the village, talkin ’bout philosophy with Manfred Moving down to Texas in KK’S House
Buying his own on Sunset Lane
Making Friends with Doug and Americo
Workin the band right into place
Going to class on your bike
Dye your hair blonde, writing songs for an open mic
And we hope we never lose you, hope it never ends
We’d never go to Tarka ever again
That’s the kind of heartbreak time could never mend
We’d never go to Tarka ever again
And baby, I get mystified by all the pretty songs you write And baby, I’m so goddamn glad that I have got you in my life We’d never go to Tarka ever again
We’d never go to Tarka ever again
98, HEB
Meet the checkout girl in her lane On one knee with a ring
From a toy machine
Tiny new beginnings
Crawling in the kitchen Kicking, laughing, spinning, singing And we hope we never lose you
We’d never do the Crabula again
Oh, never again
And baby, I’m so mystified by all the pretty songs you write
And baby, I’m so goddamn, glad that I’ve got you in my life
We’d never do the Crabula again
We’d never do the Crabula again never ends
We don’t wanna lose you, hope we you went
We don’t wanna lose you, yeah
We love you so much Hope you have a happy 51st birthday!
I am proud to present a new type of song that I have been working on for the last six months. I bought a looper (the Boss RC600) and a percussion pad (the Roland Handsonic) that allow me to layer all sorts of sounds and rhythms onto my songs in real-time.
I'm just beginning to understand everything these things can do and utilize them for new arrangements of my songs, but it's already sounding good to me and I'm having a lot of fun making a bigger sound as a one-man band.
Here's a recent demo of a new song I wrote for the song game called Blue Moonlight. I did not use Logic to record all these parts separately in multi-track recording software, as I would usually do to create all these parts.
Instead, I recorded each part as a separate loop and performed the song in one take, triggering different sections with the loop pedal. It's rough, but I'm really happy with where this is going and the possibilities for making a fuller sound as a solo musician.
Blue Moonlight
I feel alive
I think I'll sing tonight
My crystals are charging in the blue moonlight
But I can't swim with the howlers tomorrow night
At the springs 'cause I'm sick but I might
I see my likeness
In every scene, in every screen
While my clothes dry in the moonlight on Sunset Ln
I can't stay up for the meteor shower
I need my seven hours
or I run out of power the next day
I'm out for strides
I'm alone under the trees along the riverside
Moonlight is my only friend
Down the middle of the street
and through the trees along Blunn Creek
I lie and lie
And call it poetry and songwriting
Whipin' up an alternate persona
That sings about anything that he wants to die
Just to get it out, at least for a while
The formula is thin, I'll have to admit it
The camera frames a limited-edition life
So we can hear what makes us cry
My boundary detector is acting up today
I can't get a good reading off anything you say
I thought that when you smiled it meant that we were cool
But now I'm gettin signals I broke some sort of rule
I need you to help me take some readings
help me calibrate this thing before I hurt some feelings
I need you to help me read the scene
before I do more damage and say something I don't mean
boundaries, boundaries
surrounding me, confounding me endlessly
My boundary detector is setting off alarms
Calling for security and locking up my heart
It promised to protect us, keep us safe and sound,
But when the lines got blurred it tried to turn you down
I need you to help take some readings
help me calibrate this thing before I hurt your feelings
I need you to help me read the scene
before I do more damage and say something I might mean
boundaries, boundaries
surrounding me, confounding me endlessly
My boundary detector is learning all the signs
The tones that are closed, the invite in your eyes
Wait for me up ahead, I'm slow but I'm true
I tunin my instruments to make my way to you
I need you to help me let you in
help me understand where I end and you begin
I need you to help me disappear
let go of myself so  I can let go of my fear
boundaries, boundaries
surrounding me, confounding me endlessly
I took the photo above of street art in Lisbon in the summer of 2022. I snapped several of this artist's continuous line graffiti faces. The street art was wonderful and this artist was one of my favorites.
