My father was pretty religious.  A Catholic.  I was raised that way and give a lot of credit to Catholic teachings for a lot of reasons.  Yet honestly if there were a saint with a scroll at the end of my life, judging if I were a good Catholic or a bad one, uh…

In the early 80’s, my girlfriend introduced me to Scientology, and so I went with that for a few years.  Turns out they wanted me to hit up my parents to mortgage their home to pay them for auditing.  That was the end of Scientology.  But what I did glean out of the many books and courses in 3 years proved to shape my stronger side today.

Buddhism is not something I’ve ever really practiced, but have flirted with reading about.  Learning some of it’s teachings as well as the Tao.  So much wisdom and things to use in daily life here.

Hinduism same.  I love what they teach about Reincarnation, Karma, Sanskars.  It’s helped me heal from betrayal and so many other negative acts, where honestly other faiths failed.

Eckhart Tolle and practicing the Power Of Now has been invaluable for 18 years now.  Learning how to be present is finding joy.  You can honestly be happier in silence, sitting among trees and wildlife than any fancy car or home in the world.  Not easy, but with practice it comes into view, much like an autostereogram, if you remember those.

Anyway, my dad had a saying.  When things weren’t going my way he’d often say ‘well Jude, sometimes God says no’.  And that always stuck with me.  Sometimes God says no, or he’s like an usher that holds you back from entering a club about to go up in flames.  In my older age it’s been key to listen to that subtle voice.  Some call it God, some the universe, premonition, instinct, gut feeling, whatever.  We all have it, but the lower the vibration we are, the farther from it we become, thus hardest to act on.

So in the past there’ve been many things said about my music career like ‘the man was cheated’.  ‘most underrated and under appreciated’… things like that.  And while I honestly do appreciate the sentiments and know they come from the best place, the truth is that my life couldn’t have worked out better on the professional front.  I feel like the hand of God, universe, all the above put an arm out and prevented me from entering that rock star velvet rope club that today is literally up in flames.  It’s never really been attractive to me, but now less than ever.  The things one has to do, especially as a female to ‘make it’ are appalling.  Katy Perry’s latest VMA performance is a perfect example.  She’s not coming up with these concepts on her own.  She’s answering to someone.  She’s being handled.  Like many before her have said, the top stars have handlers.  MK Ultra is all about this.  No thank you.

If you watch the lyric video for ‘New Universe’ you’ll notice there’s an extra eye at the bottom of the screen every time there’s a single eye in the center.  That’s because the ‘one eye’ sign is a huge symbolic devotion to the cult.  You can look these things up for yourself.  This is not me spitballing.  There’s a cool site called vigilantcitizen.com where music and entertainment are the main focus, and how indoctrinated into satanic and illuminati symbolism the creators, artists and video directors are to this cult, and how the line forms around the block… meaning millions want in, but only a handful are chosen.  It’s a Studio 54 in it’s heyday, where the bouncer cherry picks the look that fits the agenda of the club.

In most cases, you show early signs of success with your art, then the club comes knocking, almost never the other way around.  And I know this sounds crazy.  I honestly don’t even want to believe it.  But after many years of digging, research, and being enough involved to have a panoramic view, all roads lead to a spiritual crossroads.  Robert Johnson pun intended.

So this last week I had a kind of major computer problem and had to buy a new machine.  A tech friend who helps me with these matters said it’s best not to do a migration as you may end up transferring the problem over to the new guy.  Consequently I’ve spent each day trying to get every app, instrument and plugin installed from the distributor website to my new studio computer.  !!! 

I honestly wouldn’t wish this on anyone.  For this A.D.D. brain i’m ready to punch the sky when I walk out of here each evening.

I hope to be back soon, and congrats to… drumroll… of all people Dr. Tom Ebalo for winning a signed “View” vinyl on YouTube!

Next contest will be a Start The Car poster, rolled and signed.

Best to all-

Much Love,
Jude

From the opening piano, stumbling gently down the stairs of time like a sad old barfly… “Funny How Time Slips Away”, the George Jones 2005 masterpiece encapsulates everything signature about the old, authentic Nashville.

Ever love a song for years then realize you have no idea what they’re singing about?

Some songs can bring us to tears.  Some make us want to fight, get romantic, or maybe tell a story.  A lot of lyrics these days are like a dox.  He cheated on me!  She’s a gold digger!  Personal, universal, gender power, inner struggles, outer struggles… lots of angles.

Then there’s Donald Fagen.  He’s in his own sandbox at the far corner of the playground.  Nobody can really tell what he’s building over there, but with black rimmed glasses taped on one side, button up shirt with pencil in pocket,  topping his creation off with a 1/2 pint of milk and pyramid made of cheese slices from the cafeteria… tada!  pure gold!

“I.G.Y.” stands for International Geophysical Year, and is the first track from his 1982 LP “The Nightfly”.

A four chord Fender Rhodes beginning with swirling electric piano notes and 2& plucks, like a cheap sci-fi alien aircraft cruising in from another planet to an immediately infectious jazzy/reggae influenced groove… enter the horn section to a down modulation and first verse.  One thing is clear with Steely Dan and Fagen alike, they sound like no one else, ever.

Even McCartney, likely the greatest songwriter of our time shows influence.  We can hear a mixture of 50’s rock & roll & British skiffle music with even more musical references to the 20’s.  I’m not a theologian of Beatle bibles, but would bet young Paul had exposure to much 20’s era music growing up.

With Fagen you just can’t tell.  We know he loves Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles… and it’s evident his jazz influences are greater than his pop… but what pop did he listen to?  There’s no Beatles, no Stones here.  No Hendrix or Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.  There’s R&B, but how rare for a jazz/R&B lover to have this much pop success when it appears he didn’t really listen to or even care for the genre?

His drum and percussion tracks are always perfectly recorded, perfectly in the pocket, even isolated.  Ringo’s like that.  Check out a solo Beatle track sometime and you can feel the song even before all the bells and whistles.  This is the foundation of a hit song, and Fagen/Becker know when they have it.

Probably why Steely Dan would cast sessions with all different players to get a panoramic soundscape of the best direction to go.  Genius if you’ve got the budget.  Few do.

‘You’ve got to admit it, at this point in time it’s clear‘.  So much predictive programming on the subject made people think we must already have the technology.  Certainly in 30 years time (the 80’s) we’ll be real life Jetsons.

‘On that train all graphite and glitter – Undersea by rail’.  -Such cool imagery, and scores a kind of futuristic ‘Virgin Railway’.  We’ve had the concept for high speed rails that could move us under oceans for years.  They’ve yet to appear, but still fun to think about.  And what an image, “all graphite and glitter.. undersea by rail”.

‘Ninety minutes from New York to Paris, well by ’76 we’ll be A-ok’ -He’s truly marching to the beat of his own drum.  I’m so happy to read lyrics that don’t need to explain themself.  This is a totally random inspiration you can read about in an interview or make your own interpretation… anything goes.

Why does it work?  Because the chorus.

“What a beautiful world this will be   What a glorious time to be free”

That’s universality.  That’s driving a convertible to summer beach.  Flying to Costa Rica or parasailing over Hawaiian shores.  Skiing down powder slopes in the California sun. Fine Columbian (Hey Nineteen) at the Hollywood Bowl with your friends before the lights go down.  The crowd cheers, and Fagen’s chorus is what everyone hears no matter the band, no matter the song.  This groove with these words are everyone’s best time.  It’s part of his genius.  It doesn’t matter what he’s talking about in the verse because yeah, what a beautiful world it will be.  Let’s make it now!

People love to leave their best impression.  IG, FB, TikTok & X are filled with good fortune.  Good folks on lavish vacations, new cars, remodeled homes, infinity pools, pricey ‘fits’ for every day of the year, perfect bodies, or even just “# blessed I found the love of my life.”  If social media were a gauge for human success, we’d want for nothing.

I try not to use it as a ‘show & tell’ for adults, but sometimes my lack of revealing personal issues lead some to believe I don’t have any.

And that impression couldn’t be farther from reality.  The truth is, the last 6 years have been the most challenging of my life.  I don’t talk about it publicly other than broad-strokes… because it’s ugly.  It has to do with people.  Trust.  Betrayal.  I chalk it up to paying a karma from long ago, and some beliefs that may need an adjustment.

Back in the 80’s there was an SNL skit with Al Franken playing a character named Stuart Smalley… an insecure, effeminate man in pastel blue and purple sweaters looking sheepishly in the mirror, reciting things like ‘I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it people like me!’

It was pretty funny actually, but as I got older I realized it was also a little sad, because it ridiculed and laughed at something most people desperately need… and now more than ever.  Positive reenforcement.  Positive beliefs.  Positive affirmations.

Before I had a hit song on the radio, I was in a state.  My first record had gone straight to the ‘has-bin’ and my deal with Warners was in jeopardy.  I struggled to make rent.

Funny side note… one day Michael Bay, the director was still in college and you know… a rich kid from Brentwood, all that.  Anyway he visited my apartment because our girlfriends were friends, and as he stepped inside he looked all around, up and down along the walls and ceiling in amazement.  I wasn’t sure what he was going to say but finally he opened up his mouth and laughed ‘you live here??’.  Ha!  Funny I was kind of proud of that apartment until that day!

Anyway, a dear friend and sort of guru handed me a copy of the Louise Hay book ‘You Can Heal Your Life’ and said ‘Jude I think you need this’.  I did.

One message from the book was that whatever is wrong with you is due to your very own belief system.  True or false I liked it.  It left me in control, not anyone else.  It also came with a tape of daily meditation/affirmations.  I did it every day.  Until I felt a shift.  And you know, it worked.  Not only then, but every time I’ve had to reinvent or realign myself.

The next record ‘A View From 3rd St.’ wasn’t exactly Dark Side Of The Moon on the richter scale, but it did a few significant things to change the quality of life.  I created my own signature sound… plus ‘Baby, It’s Tonight’ was a huge radio song and earned a good deal of money from airplay.  It also allowed me to keep my record deal.

Coming from a fairly healthy amount of dysfunction… little play on words there… I like what Tony Robbins says about self calibration.  He likens it to a pilot with a navigation system.  The plane drifts and constantly goes off course.  The navigation system adjusts repeatedly and brings the aircraft back to a place where you can literally land it on a dime.

That’s most of our brains, emotions and life.  Constantly going off course and in eternal need of calibration, realignment and self-care.  It’s like our bodies and the gym.  We don’t go to a gym and work out for 6 months, then say ‘ok i’m good!’.  We have to eat right and constantly work our body parts with motion and muscle.  The same is true with ‘E’motions and mental health.

In my  Fresh Coffee YouTube page, I’ve created 10 videos with subliminal affirmations.  This is music you can put on and just go about your business, but the messages are heard through the subconscious.  There will be more in the next year with real voiceovers.  It’s fun to create, and well… I do it because I need it.  Feel free to check them out sometime, or there are many others online.  Consistency is key.

https://www.youtube.com/@freshcoffee6879

I’d open up about the pineal gland and what TV, film, music and graphene oxide, aluminum, fluoride and wi-fi are doing to us, but it would make this post conspiratorial and too long, so will have to save it for another time.  Cheers!
Jude