Jim Lama-dama -yabba-dabba-do wrote:
<<BTW, Clark, your CD is very interesting. The first time I heard "Boys On
The
Sand", my jaw hit the floor. (For those who haven't heard this song on
Clark's CD, it's a sort of gay spin on the Beach Boys song "The Girls On The
Beach"). I always suspected that gay/lesbian people had these deep feelings
too but there's such a big wall that these things are rarely expressed by gay
artists. (Or maybe they are but since it's not my genre, I've never seen it
before.) Anyway, my hat's off to you for this courageous lyric and for the
warm nod to Brian Wilson:
"My car ain't really cool
But I still get around.
I can't be true to school cause it's been years since cap and gown.
I may not have a boyfriend but I'm singin in a band.
And (on) weekends I got
My boys on the sand.">>
Hey Jim -
Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys are in the top 5 of my pantheon of musical
deities. I love Brian's early "fun" songs and I love his later experimental
work. Few people know that the Beach Boys did their very best work in the
early Seventies on "Sunflower" and the ironically titled "Surf's Up" album.
As a child, the Beach Boys colored my fantasies about life in Southern
California, and even now their music is a part of this wonderful place.
Although Brian Wilson couldn't surf to save his life, he was always obsessed
with water. Very often I am at beach-y kinds of gatherings and always happy
when someone puts on the Boys' "Greatest Hits" or "All Summer Long".
I spend most every weekend at the beach playing volleyball and swimming when
it's warm and I love to get out there and rollerblade a couple of times a
week. I wrote Boys on the Sand as a love song to a fun, wonderful group of
guys who love to party, love to play volleyball, and who welcomed me with
suntanned arms into their circle following a messy break up six years ago.
Jim, you might have noticed that the album tells a story, and the placement
of the songs is a continuous narrative.
Interestingly, straight guys have all responded to this song. Oh yeah, gay
guys get just as excited about the guys at the beach (are all within reach)
as straight guys get about girls. Jim, you get a free bottle of sun block
for recognizing all the references to Beach Boys lyrics in my song.
I love it when I hear someone's taken another listen to my CD. I wanted to
write songs that naturally expressed my own feelings about gay love and gay
life, which in many ways, is not so different from straight life. Most
"gay" music is escapist, but I wanted to jump in and express some feelings
which I don't believe have been written about yet in complete honesty. I have
yet to meet/see/hear of any other gay man who writes songs for the guitar in
an open, confessional way. Rufus Wainwright writes his songs to and about
men on the piano, but even he fudges on his pronouns.
Some of my favorite comments have come from our own resident political
conservative and provocateur extraordinaire, Marcel, who said "Boys on the
Sand" gave him a huge laugh and that all the demos ranked an A plus for
originality, among other things. I believe every word of that as we all know
Marcel is not one to offer false praise much less hold back on his true
opinions. For me, this means we can all put the political discussion aside
and remain united as a list now that the election is finally over. Thanks to
both of you and everyone else just for listening!
Universal love,
- Clark
NP: Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition
