The Musical Diary of Greg Scheer

Our final installment of the One Take Terrors is named after one of my heroes, T Bone Burnett. I’ve been following him since well before his Brother, Where Art Thou fame. But my digging deep into the Alpha Band catalog (on vinyl, I might add) is not the point of this post or this song. It is the ineffable nature of beauty. The very things we treasure most, we can’t grasp.

Explore the ineffability: T Bone Burnett, MP3

TBone Burnett
Greg Scheer, 1987

I’ve always wanted to meet TBone Burnett,
Charles Williams, or TS Eliot.
I guess there’s things in life that
I’ll never get.
Let me start again.
Let me start again.

Better than yesterday is not good enough;
I’ll keep on looking.
Better than yesterday is not good enough;
I’ll keep on trying.

I’ve always wanted to be a little sparrow’s friend.
I walk up slowly with my hands outstretched.
I tell him God’s my father, too,
but he flies of into the wind.
Sparrow do you know something
that I don’t understand?
That I don’t understand.

I don’t know that you could classify me as a tree hugger, but I do have my moments of feeling connected to mother earth. In this song, nature takes on a playful persona. Anybody want to nominate this as Earth Day’s anthem?

Maybe Fall Will Say, MP3

Maybe Fall Will Say
Greg Scheer
August 1989

Rain taps at my window as if it would tell me
he has been here longer than I.
He’s got no time for talking. He just keeps on working —
Greeting the trees, show’ring their leaves.
He’s running down the side walk
and racing down the street —
jumps in the river swimming his way to the sea.
Drifts to the ocean, surfs into the beach,
soaks up sun in the sand, then does the whole thing again.

How long has the rain come down? rain come down? rain come down?
and how many times have ocean waves struck the sand and rock?

The trees they are waving. I think that they are asking,
“Won’t you come too, and dance in the rain?”
I leave my warm window to burst into the backyard —
throw off my shoes — what good would they do me?
Dancing in my bare feet completely spent I fall
on my back see the trees are laughing at me.
They can go on laughing. I’m content just to be here
watching the rain steam from my skin.

How oft have I seen the trees dancing in an Autumn’s rain?
How could I ever resist the urge to join in?

The stones have their secrets; their centuries of wisdom.
These ancient seers have been watching for years.
How long have the rocks remained since they saw the first day?
and how long will mother earth rotate? Maybe fall will say.

This song is a biographical rumination about someone I worked with. They were what I describe as a “bulldog”–all of their communications were a pre-emptive strike on perceived attacks. I don’t know that it’s great psychoanalysis or great lyrics. But I can’t get the tune out of my head.

The Calm After the Storm, MP3

The Calm after the Storm
Greg Scheer, 2000

You lived by the dagger, but died by the sword.
It was bound to happen eventually.
You won every battle but still lost the war,
but that’s something you couldn’t see.

Because your mind’s eye could only see enemies
threatening to topple you from your fragile throne.
Each person a challenge; each challenge a defeat;
each defeat brought more anger; and your anger brought more war.

When did it all go wrong?
You used to seem so strong,
but maybe all along
you’ve been sad and small and
now you’re alone on the calm after the storm.

The struggle for power that raged in your mind,
you thought could be won with the right strategy:
if all those around you were cut down to size
it would add to your stature comparatively.

How could you be so wrong?
You used to seem so strong,
but maybe all along
you’ve been sad and small and
now you’re alone on the calm after the storm.

When did this begin? Who was the first to attack?
Are the people who surround you really such a threat?
Or is there some one in your past who you’re still fighting back
for the wrongs that they did; for the vengeance you’ll never get?

Because the only power one has over the wrongs of the past
is the choice to forgive or to feed on the hatred.
You can pass the hatred on like a bitter inheritance
or you can leave it powerless in this generation.

Why can’t you leave it alone?
It never will make you stronger.
Why can’t you see what’s wrong
has taken you over?

When did it all go wrong?
You used to seem so strong,
but maybe all along
you’ve been sad and small and
now you’re alone on the calm after the storm.

Today begins a series of “One Take Terrors.” These are songs in my back catalog that deserve to be heard, but have never quite fit into a larger recording project. To let them see the light of day, I went through a stack of them all at once, recording them quickly, without any frills and with no overdubs. Just raw songs.

This first one is something of a country ballad. To tell you the truth, I can’t remember what inspired it. I’m not much of a lonesome wanderer, so it’s not biographical. But I guess I tapped into the weariness of a long distance relationship, right at the point you’re wondering how long it can go on.

Listen to “Walk Away.”

There comes a time when I wonder why I’m calling.
You’re on the line, but your voice sounds like it’s miles away–and it is.
How long can I pretend that our love is what it once was?
No matter how hard I try, you’re fading away a little more everyday.
Everyday.

You know if I could, I would stop this foolish wandering.
I’d make up my mind to turn around and make my way back to you.
I’d make my promise good, and we would have all we’ve dreamed of;
but I don’t know how…maybe promises and dreams are all the same in the end.
All the same.

There comes a time to end all my talking.
I hang up the phone, find the road, and walk away…
Walk away.

September, 1990