TRACK NOTES (Scroll down for lyrics)

Nominated for a 2016 EmPower Music Award.

I wrote this crazy song while waking up from a nap. It was pretty much just there in my head. (One of the easy ones.) It helps me remember not to take myself too seriously. A lot of therapists tell me they use this with their clients. Even as far away as Sweden.

One of the things I really like about this studio version (there's also a live version) is the way the drums go to half time at the first modulation. If you don't know what that means, after the first three verses we raise the key a half step (from G to A-flat) and that's called modulating. You'll notice that when that happens, the drummer starts playing half-time, which basically means he's playing half as many beats. So it really changes the feel of the song from "rock" to "bluesy." Then after two verses of that, the drummer changes back for the last two verses. It's an easy and subtle way to make the song more interesting for the listener.

This is a funny song with a funny song title and funny song lyrics, recorded with a band instead of a live audience. We recorded it at Jim Kimball's Hot Closet studio (for my Grand Design CD), with a fantastic band of great Nashville players. Big fun.

BAND:
Jim Kimball: acoustic guitar, high string guitar, engineer
Chris Leuzinger: electric guitars
Don Kerse: bass
Jimmy Gianetti: keyboards
Tommy Wells: drums
Pat Bergeson: harmonica
Background vocals: Kim Parent, Ray Barnette, Britt Savage, and Greg Tamblyn

Lyrics

WRITER’S BLOCK
(THE LONG TERM POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF WORRY)
(Greg Tamblyn)

I was worried about not writing any songs
No words, no tunes, nothing for way too long
I was worried I’d never write again
Maybe there was no more ink in my pen
And then I thought about that, and I began to feel ashamed

I was ashamed that I’d been worried about not writing
I’d been through droughts before and come out fighting
Seemed like my worry was out of control
And I was ashamed about it down to my soul
Then it hit me what I was doing, and I started feeling guilty

I was guilty that I could let myself feel shame
Over something so insignificant as this writing game
I thought I’d released that stuff long ago
And I felt guilty that I had such a long way to go
And then I realized what I was doing, and I got embarrassed

I was embarrassed that my shame could make me feel guilty
All these negative thought patterns, man, it was silly
If someone could see inside my head
They’d give a drug and put me to bed
Yeah, I was embarrassed, and that made me mad

I was angry that I could be so immature
I was angry at me, I was down on myself for sure
And as my anger turned into resentment
I thought about what the long term effects of that meant
And I realized what I was doing to my body, and I felt afraid

I was afraid of what I was doing to myself
All these negative emotions affecting my health
If body and mind are so interconnected
My shame, guilt, worry, and fear were making me infected
And I was afraid that I was becoming depressed

And as I began to sink into depression
The effect on my body and mind became an obsession
The outcome of this could not be in doubt
And that gave me something new to worry about
I knew that I might not be around for too long
So I wrote it all down and I had a new song
And when I thought about that, I was fine again

© 1999 Ramblin’ Tamblyn Music, BMI