This is one of the neat tunes that was recorded at both Studio Dud (which is little more than my laptop) in Decatur, GA and East Hall Studios in Fayetteville, AR. I did all bass and vocal tracks at Dud, and Chris Moore added drums and Hammond M3 at East Hall. Chris also mixed it at East Hall. All the bass tracks were recorded direct using my Fortress One four string. The effects were added later in the mixing process. This tune was supposed to be a bonus track that was “hidden” at the end of the album, but Chris who was the producer for the album equilibrium convinced me otherwise. Sorry that there’s no link to listen to this track. If you want to hear it, you’ll just have to get a copy of equilibrium.

The title of the track is definitely not about cutting down trees. It comes from part of a conversation I had with my wife and a couple of our friends. We were all staying at a seminary in Malaga, Spain for a literary conference at which my wife and our friends were speaking about papers they had written. I was just tagging along. We were sitting in the garden outside the seminary (monks really know how keep a friggin’ rockin’ garden!) and discussing methods of becoming successful in our different careers. This is a topic I don’t much care to discuss, but we were talking about it anyway. One of our friends was very adamant but saddened about her traditional path to being successful. She said that she had to play by the rules of those in power to reach her goals. She spoke of methods tried and true that were set up by the powers that be. Sure, they work. Folks probably wouldn’t hoot and holler so much about them if they didn’t, but I find them dangerous (I’ll explain soon).

I responded to her concerns by pointing to a patch of forest past the seminary grounds. There were a few tall trees soaking up the sunlight, and a many young, vibrant trees snatching up whatever sun was left to trickle through the foliage of the big trees. I said something clever about how the big trees will eventually fall, and the young growth will have it’s time in the sun. The forest will no longer be about the big trees. The new growth will be the forest. 

I’m not certain she caught my meaning, but that’s fine. In fact it’s perfect. At the dinner table later that evening we made a toast to the falling of the big trees. This song is about that toast, and about how I feel about the nature of truth and right action.

This is what I feel is dangerous about some traditions. To me, standing on the shoulders of those that came before is a tricky thing. Your view will be skewed in relation to theirs. Since you won’t be seeing the world the same way, you won’t understand your predecessors’ reasons for their methods. Your actions, though replicating the actions (perhaps extremely well-meaning actions) of previous generations, will have a drastically different and possibly tragic outcome. This not to say all tradition is bad. I’m just saying that I think one must question tradition to make sure it’s still necessary.

I heard this story told by Robert Rodriguez in the extras section of Once Upon a Time in Mexico DVD, but hopefully it will get my point across. A husband was puzzled by his wife’s process of cooking a roast. Before putting the roast in a big pot, she would cut off both ends of it and throw the ends away. The husband asked his wife why she did this. She replied that her mother had taught her to cook the roast that way, and she never questioned why. The husband still wondered what could possibly be the reason they would waste the ends of a roast, so he requested his wife ask her mother why she cooked a roast that way. When the wife asked her mother about the roast-cooking method, her mother replied, “I had to cut off the ends, because we didn’t have a pot big enough.”

Forgive me for being preachy, but I also have a strong opinion of right action. If you live by the rules of a society you feel is flawed, eventually you become that society. Please don’t get me wrong. I enjoy living in my society, but I do think it could be changed for the better. While there are many good things, we still need tons of work. War is still an accepted form of acquisition. We abuse our resources. The poor are used to make the rich richer. We are encouraged to eat what is bad for us, and buy products that destroy our earth. We police the poor and allow the rich to make their own rules. We are told to consume past our means. We teach our youth to be violent. A small minority holds the “power” while the rest of us are told we have none. I could keep adding to the list, but that would take me further from the point and make this way too negative. I also know that pointing out problems is a far cry from actually solving them, but this is a start.

I feel that following old ideas is threatening our chance at a better future where these problems are no longer around. Old trees bring disease that can wipe out a whole forest. No, this isn’t a stab at elderly people (I learned this concept from an elderly person!). It’s a stab at dogma. I hope for people to realize that each one of you is the captain of your own vessel. Question all established truths that came before you until you find which ones still hold true. Make your own truths for your world, but don’t let these become the new dogma. Question your own truths as well to test if they remain applicable to your world as it moves through time. Find what works and leads to a path of right action. Then, let it fly.

This song is about seizing your opportunity to stand in the sun and change our global