It Is Very Important What Not To

The Problem Being: For Years I Was Struggling - First To Prove That I Had Any Talent, Then To Create Some Skills And Finally To Fulfil It Reasonably. But Then Once I Got There It Was, "ok. I Did That, But I Want To Be Happy." And That's A Whole Different Deal. It's Kind Of Like A Dance. Being Active Seems To Help. I'm 70, So Sometimes A Little Voice Is Going, "just Take It Easy".

I Thought That If I Practiced Doing Melodies For A Year Or So At Home, I Would Learn To Think Melodically, And When I Went To Work It Would Come Out, And It Did, On This Album. What Else Was Important To Me...? I Spend A Lot Of Time In The Grocery Store, Shopping.

Well, After Zombie Birdhouse Came Out, I Toured Behind It In The Fall Of 1982, Into The Spring, And In The Summer In The Far East. At That Time, I Found My Work Self-referential; It Was Getting To Be Rock Songs About A Rock Singer Who Lived A Rock Life On The Rock Road, And I Was Starting To Wonder What I Would Be Like To Rent My Own Apartment, What It Would Be Like To Have A Checkbook.

I Never Had A Checkbook. It Used To Be Cash In Hand, Stuff In The Pocket, Or A Manager Would Keep Some Accounts And Give Me Money. I Started To Wonder What It Must Feel Like To Actually Make A Profit, Pay Taxes, And To Have A Phone Listing, And A Manager. And Also, I Was Sick Of Sleeping Around Every Night.

I Stare At Myself In The Mirror And I Think, 'wow, I'm Really Great-looking.'... I Think I'm The Greatest, Anyway.