Song of the Month - July 2024
Plus, Budapalooza July!
The song of the month for July is the title track of my latest solo album, The Brightness of an Ordinary Star.
The seed of the song came from a DVD I picked up at the library not long after making my previous album Branches Breaking From the Weight. The DVD is called Our Night Sky, and it features several half-hour sessions on the stars, planets, and other space phenomena. Exciting stuff, right?
From this DVD, I learned a few things.
First, I learned that there were these things called ordinary stars. These are stars that have no particular specialness in the grand scheme of things. They’re not Sirius, or part of Orion, or part of the Big or Little Dipper. They’re just ordinary stars. There are billions and billions of them.
Second, I learned that there is a scientific measurement that quantifies the brightness of stars, and this measurement is called, you guessed it, brightness.
As I watched the scientist discuss these terms, he said, “The brightness of an ordinary star.”
I was floored. What a beautiful line! I stopped the DVD and found my pad and wrote it down. It was at the top of the page, and I would spend the next few months adding more random lyrics to the page. I would eventually fill the page with scattershot lyrics, but I rejected all of them except for that one line I pulled from Our Night Sky.
To me, the song is about being an ordinary star in a galaxy where other stars outshine you. Still, you have brightness, and one goal of life ought to be to do everything you can to make your brightness shine as much as possible. You never know who or what might be paying attention out there.
If you like this song, the best way to show your support is to purchase the album The Brightness of an Ordinary Star from Bandcamp or iTunes. The album is a great listener all the way through, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think “The Brightness of an Ordinary Star” is a special track. I believe in it in a way that I’ve never quite believed in one of my songs before, and that feels nice. Thanks to my cowriters and buddies Bret and Kevin for their help getting us there.
By the way, you can hear me play “The Brightness of an Ordinary Star” solo acoustic this Friday at 5 PM PST for free from your home. It all goes down at Bandcamp. RSVP now!
Until then, let your brightness shine.
Art
