NEW ALBUM IS IN MASTERING PROCESS + WAS PRODUCED BY BRENDAN O'BRIEN

[Nikkogino]

It's getting to the point where I could write an MMJ song.  Instead of making songs with generic "let's all get together and love" messages that are just vehicles for live jam sessions, I want some songs that actually make me feel something...not tell me to feel something.  Self titled had a few great tunes, but if this is indicative of what album 10 will be, I'm worried.

[RobRoy286]

It's getting to the point where I could write an MMJ song.  Instead of making songs with generic "let's all get together and love" messages that are just vehicles for live jam sessions, I want some songs that actually make me feel something...not tell me to feel something.  Self titled had a few great tunes, but if this is indicative of what album 10 will be, I'm worried.

The more you give, the more you get...

[Nikkogino]

It's getting to the point where I could write an MMJ song.  Instead of making songs with generic "let's all get together and love" messages that are just vehicles for live jam sessions, I want some songs that actually make me feel something...not tell me to feel something.  Self titled had a few great tunes, but if this is indicative of what album 10 will be, I'm worried.

The more you give, the more you get...

Haha, I feel so bad and my message above came across as super mean.  In the age of Trump I do love songs with a positive message, but songs like Love x 3, In Color, and this just don't do it for me.  I feel like Eternally Even had the same subject matter but did it in a more interesting way.  Looks like it is confirmed as a stand-alone single, so I'll relax, but I just am ready to love an MMJ release again.

[MusicofMyMindfulness]

This reminds me of a combination of Brian Wilson's "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" and something that the students from Young Authors Greenhouse would write. I think that Jim's Goethe-inspired reference to music being the architecture of the universe, and the thoughts that followed, were much more eloquent.

Personally, I think that maybe Jim is somewhere between Bob Marley and Alice Coltrane in his path right now...and what I mean by that is that he is somewhere between trying to convey a complex message in a simple way, and trying to transcend words altogether. Rick Rubin and Andre 3000 talk a lot about this in the creative process. In the past, I think Jim used his probative nature to mine the abstractions, so songs were mysterious and open to interpretation. That isn't necessarily who he is now/where he is at/what he is interested in/the message he feels is important. He (and Bo) are trying to move into more literal spaces.
Just because it isn't there yet, doesn't mean it won't get there. That is the artistic process we are all witnessing. Sometimes it feels cheesy and contrived to push in to new territories. Fake it til you make it.

Maybe... this is because a truly political message must be beyond politics to feel authentic...it has to strike at the heart of the human experience, not lofty ambition. The dreamer needs a plan. The poet needs to connect to the heartbeat of the streets. Alice was from Detroit. Bob grew up in Kingston.

But this is simply the opinion of a person who will never vote for one of the two major parties, and who lives in the middle-of-nowhere America.

[RobRoy286]

It's getting to the point where I could write an MMJ song.  Instead of making songs with generic "let's all get together and love" messages that are just vehicles for live jam sessions, I want some songs that actually make me feel something...not tell me to feel something.  Self titled had a few great tunes, but if this is indicative of what album 10 will be, I'm worried.

The more you give, the more you get...

Haha, I feel so bad and my message above came across as super mean.  In the age of Trump I do love songs with a positive message, but songs like Love x 3, In Color, and this just don't do it for me.  I feel like Eternally Even had the same subject matter but did it in a more interesting way.  Looks like it is confirmed as a stand-alone single, so I'll relax, but I just am ready to love an MMJ release again.

Hahah nah I totally agreed with you! Although I do love In Color. This new one does nothin for me.

[walterfredo]

beach boys-y sound/vibe with a classic Jim message. But yes I agree with what's been said above.

[Mr. White]

This reminds me of a combination of Brian Wilson's "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" and something that the students from Young Authors Greenhouse would write. I think that Jim's Goethe-inspired reference to music being the architecture of the universe, and the thoughts that followed, were much more eloquent.

Personally, I think that maybe Jim is somewhere between Bob Marley and Alice Coltrane in his path right now...and what I mean by that is that he is somewhere between trying to convey a complex message in a simple way, and trying to transcend words altogether. Rick Rubin and Andre 3000 talk a lot about this in the creative process. In the past, I think Jim used his probative nature to mine the abstractions, so songs were mysterious and open to interpretation. That isn't necessarily who he is now/where he is at/what he is interested in/the message he feels is important. He (and Bo) are trying to move into more literal spaces.
Just because it isn't there yet, doesn't mean it won't get there. That is the artistic process we are all witnessing. Sometimes it feels cheesy and contrived to push in to new territories. Fake it til you make it.

Maybe... this is because a truly political message must be beyond politics to feel authentic...it has to strike at the heart of the human experience, not lofty ambition. The dreamer needs a plan. The poet needs to connect to the heartbeat of the streets. Alice was from Detroit. Bob grew up in Kingston.

But this is simply the opinion of a person who will never vote for one of the two major parties, and who lives in the middle-of-nowhere America.

[mdgsolo]

This reminds me of a combination of Brian Wilson's "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" and something that the students from Young Authors Greenhouse would write. I think that Jim's Goethe-inspired reference to music being the architecture of the universe, and the thoughts that followed, were much more eloquent.

Personally, I think that maybe Jim is somewhere between Bob Marley and Alice Coltrane in his path right now...and what I mean by that is that he is somewhere between trying to convey a complex message in a simple way, and trying to transcend words altogether. Rick Rubin and Andre 3000 talk a lot about this in the creative process. In the past, I think Jim used his probative nature to mine the abstractions, so songs were mysterious and open to interpretation. That isn't necessarily who he is now/where he is at/what he is interested in/the message he feels is important. He (and Bo) are trying to move into more literal spaces.
Just because it isn't there yet, doesn't mean it won't get there. That is the artistic process we are all witnessing. Sometimes it feels cheesy and contrived to push in to new territories. Fake it til you make it.

Maybe... this is because a truly political message must be beyond politics to feel authentic...it has to strike at the heart of the human experience, not lofty ambition. The dreamer needs a plan. The poet needs to connect to the heartbeat of the streets. Alice was from Detroit. Bob grew up in Kingston.

But this is simply the opinion of a person who will never vote for one of the two major parties, and who lives in the middle-of-nowhere America.

So great to know your mind!  Very thoughtful and well written.  Artistically, this was not presented as a single from the new album and more of a one off, at least that's the hope.  I love it and the message but you are not wrong.  If it wasn't for the weight of at least one of the impending and current potential choices before us being maybe the single most divisive force this country has seen since the civil war, I would say a vote by not voting might count.  Unfortunately, I don't think that is a luxury we have.  A vote erring on a side leaning unity is a vote for love no matter the minutiae that we could easily get tangled up in.  To right this ship we need a left turn from the politics of division, inmho.  And that's also coming from someone that lives in the middle-of-nowhere America.  Love to all

[MusicofMyMindfulness]

Thank you for the sincere and insightful thoughts on this topic, mdgsolo.

A two-party system is one party away from a tyranny. Howard Zinn, who is Eddie Vedder's hero, speaks eloquently about this in his book "Passionate Declarations." We live with the illusion of pluralism because we have a vote. Citizens United ended any hope of not being a corporatocracy. Now, choice is relegated to the laundry detergent we buy, the bands we stream on Spotify, and abortion (or lack thereof, as men on both sides of the issue have decided that women's bodies and minds are their property...ahhh, what that object-driven lust does to the soul of man).  Continuing to advocate for the viability of third-party candidates is a rallying cry against the duality that begets the very divisiveness of which you speak. The Hegelian dialectic. They create a problem and then offer you a half-assed solution shrouded in half-truths and moral compromise. It is important to note that I express this respectfully, and with a deep love of humanity.

The marginalized communities that are distrustful of the electoral process are the same people who organized breakfast campaigns for children while watching their leaders get assassinated and their cities burned to the ground (Tulsa/Philly/Detroit etc). They organize every day as active citizens. They bring corporations and the militaristic capitalist system to its knees with their courage. And a whole lot of them don't dig Trump or Kamala. Because they don't represent us/them. They represent the repressed American shadow.

Rock n' roll began as a revolution, a soundtrack to the defiance, but was co-opted when politicians wanted to become rock stars and rock stars, politicians. Unity can still exist with the separation of church and state, so to speak. In a country where culture is the greatest export, freedom will only exist when artists take back the power.

At any rate, the song in discussion was pretty okay live tonight. Given the nature of the song, as a call for unity, it would have elevated the experience if it had used the chorus as an invitation to the audience in the call-and-response style gospel and kirtan that played before the show. However, the whole experience made me realize that I personally no longer want to support artists who sell tickets through Ticketmaster. I guess, in that way, my dollar is my vote.