There’s A Light Out There

The thing about writing a very personal record is that when you perform it live you have to touch upon its subject matter. With regards to the new record, the one song that I have received the most email about is, without question, She’s In It For The Money.

First, as was mention in a review of the show last night, even one of the merchandise items seems to be causing confusion – that being the girl’s shirt that reads In It For The Money.

The shirt, which was designed by a company in Toronto and approved by yours truly, is obvious sarcastic in nature. While it obviously takes its inspiration from the song, it’s meant to be ironic, not unlike the now famed t-shirt that exclaimed that I’m an asshole all those years ago. It might surprise some of you to learn that that t-shirt was actually my idea – I mean how couldn’t it have been? We were selling it as merchandise at the time, so it obviously wasn’t part of some vast conspiracy. In truth, it was just a response to an article in a newspaper and I never thought that it would be sold past the show in St. Catharines where it first appeared. Hilariously, it sold out almost immediately, and you know what that means as far as management and revenue, etc, is concerned.

Anyway, as those of you that have attended shows know, when I introduce She’s In It For The Money I always state the same thing – that it’s the sort of song that no one ever wishes they had to write. With regards to that aspect of my life, I do not really dwell on it much anymore, but when introducing such a blatant song as She’s In It For The Money it is impossible not to explain it without providing context. I suppose that I could say nothing at all and just perform it. I suppose that, with regards to other stories, I could also refrain from being honest about the year that affected the making of Hospital Music, but is that really what fans have come to see? Would it be better that I not mention anything at all and simply crack benign jokes?

One thing that I will say is that I do not think it appropriate for members of the audience to boo when I introduce the song and talk about it. There’s no need for that whatsoever. I realize that many fans identify with what I have gone through, but I think the song speaks for itself and it should be left at that.

Also, I do not appreciate emails from women that believe that I am casting all women in the same light. That is certainly not the case whatsoever. What occurred in my life is, by no means, a representation of what all women are like. That said, it cannot be ignored that in modern urban settings it is something that occurs and there are those that are highly skilled at employing deceit to get what they want. Good looks and charm can do that, and I realize that I am just as much to blame for allowing it to happen, I have never claimed otherwise, nor would I. Love can do that I suppose, even if it is only really present in one person.

Make no mistake, there are plenty of men out there that are just as bad, and I am not at all unsympathetic to the reality that woman have to face in that regard, nor the things that they have to endure when single. As a 36 year old man I am constantly shocked at the aggressive behaviour employed by many men in social settings. It’s as if gentlemanly graces have vanished, and it’s appalling. So you see, it definitely works both ways.

But let me say this, because it is impossible to really understand a complete stranger when you watch him on a stage for two hours, let alone pass judgment on his beliefs. This might sound corny, so I apologize in advance, but I do believe in love. I believe in people and their inherent goodness. If that were not the case then I would not spend as much time writing what I do on this website. Many of you might see it as wholly negative and that by presenting such information on a daily basis that I am somehow of that nature, but nothing could be further from the truth. My goal has always been to highlight the darkest aspects of our world so that we might cast a little light on them. And the only way to do that is to address them head on and without fear or fatigue or concern for how it might portray us at the time.

But most of all, I firmly believe that love exists and that it is out there waiting for all of us. And while the deceits and manipulations of some can, at times, shake our belief that it exists and is pure, such things are really only tests of our belief in it and the willingness to ultimately surrender that portion of ourselves which is most vulnerable to another. To abandon all hope that someone exists out there that will take into their possession your heart and safeguard it with the utmost care it to live a life imprisoned. And no song written will ever change that. Not even as it applies to the person that has written it.