Modern Guilt – Beck

Taught To Be Proud

Taught to be Proud

Words and Music by Trevor Garrod of Tea Leaf Green

I was taught to be proud of where I come from
And I’m so sad that I’m the only one.
Like a cold preacher boy talking only to himself
How did he think that he got to promised lands?

Sometimes I’m confused and I don’t know where I’m going,
Mistaking gentle rivers for that cold wind a-blowing.
I’m always sure of an angel when she gets here,
But I never see her coming and I miss her when she disappears.

Gone, gone, gone,
Not gone for long,
If you’re taught to be proud of where you come from.

Gone, gone, gone,
Not gone for long,
If you’re taught to be proud of where you come from.

It’s hard to be cool when you’re playing for the prophets;
They really know if you got it or you lost it.
I’ll sing this song but I don’t know where it came from,
Reminds me of a mountainside to stand upon and gently hum.

Sometimes I’m confused
I don’t know where I’m going,
Mistaking gentle rivers for that cold wind a-blowing.
And I’m always sure of an angel when she gets here,
But I never see her coming and I miss her when she disappears.

www.tealeafgreen.com

Blind, but Starting to See…

I remember back when I was a freshman in high school, some 14 years ago now, talking to a guy friend telling him that I wished everyone were blind. I wished that we were forced to only look into each others hearts to make decisions on who we chose around us. That we would choose only the highest quality people for who they were on the inside not how they appeared to be on the outside.

 

My first music festival in 2005, Vegoose, was a turning point in my life. I went originally to see Jack Johnson whom I had been listening for a few years, but had no idea what to expect. It was a brilliant mix of artists, some who I had heard of before, but most that I had not. I liked the beat and the feel of the festival and that scene so much that I really started to get into it. I didn’t really know what it all meant, but I was loving it.

 

Sometime in 2006 I remember a friend posing a question to me… If I had the choice to be blind or deaf, which would I choose? I immediately said that I would choose to be blind, thinking back of my youthful wish. I was still so much into music and moving my body to the beat that I couldn’t imagine not being able to experience it. Along with that, if I were blind then I would be forced to solely rely on my intuition to lead me in the right direction.

 

Then came a huge physical turn in my life… I moved to Brazil. I heard people all the time singing along to songs and not knowing the words and I realized that I also, didn’t really know either. I began on a personal mission to look up lyrics of my favorite songs. This has been so revealing. I didn’t know the lyrics and I certainly didn’t know the meaning of the words that my favorite artists sang. This lead me to start looking up the artists themselves. It inspired me to learn about history so that I could understand the climate of the world and the US at the time the artist grew up and when they wrote the lyrics. I wanted to know why they chose the words that they chose to sing about. I wanted to know why they chose to sing about those topics. I didn’t understand, but I really wanted to so I just started to try. I was blind in another way, for so long.

 

I still don’t know if I really see, but I am beginning to and that makes me feel good. I can only try to do my best in any given circumstance while striving for truth and honesty in every situation.

Why is the Artist removed from what they produce?

Why is the artist removed from what they produce? Why is a song distributed to the masses without concern as to what the songwriter had in mind when they wrote it? Why is the significance of the meaning lost when it is put out there? I understand that words should be taken literally but that certainly isn’t the case as I see it. I also understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but in this day and age in music and fashionable art, why isn’t the message digested along with the art itself?