#jayjohnson

(From October 8, 2016)

I’d recently been working with him on a month long show that he was doing to support raising awareness for breast cancer on his Thursday night residency at Love and War in Grapevine. He wanted my help to promote it and did not want to come off in a disrespectful way towards women. He wanted it to be honest and heartfelt- not melancholy- but certainly not a booby fest thing either …he wanted to do it right. I told him we all joke about stuff, but it gets off color when you let it go too far. He kept saying, “Hey, I’m a guy, I’m gonna go there in my mind.” I said, “I get it man, I’ll make boob jokes with the best of ‘em…” But I do know there are times and places to shut my mouth- and promoting awareness for such a serious illness in public forum or anywhere needs to be respected as such. We agreed, I made him a poster graphic that he was so proud of.

The last show I’d played with Jay was his Thursday show in Grapevine. He was just staring at me like a proud Daddy. Hanging on every word of mine. As a writer, knowing his own prowess, this meant the world to me. We talked a while afterward that night about “Sad Little Girl.” He kept on and on about how much he loved that song and how well written it was. I thanked him a ton, of course, but he said, “Can I say one thing? I rarely ever indulge into someone else’s thoughts and the way they’ve experienced things that create a song… But I can’t help but think that you aren’t just singing that song to your daughters. I feel like it’s you. You’re the sad little girl.”

I smiled at him, I said, “Jay you got me. you cracked the code.” He said, “You hid it in plain sight… Which is brilliant, but a lot of people will miss that beautiful truth. If you just change your last line…. two little words, from “she” & “her” to “I’ve” & “my” …it would let the listener who doesn’t know you, get to know you a tiny bit in a twist that exposes the reality. I know thats a vulnerable move…. and dont let me step on your toes. I just know this- everybody is sad about something, everybody carries pain ….just like you and me. Break it to them. They will understand.“

I’ve sung it that way ever since.

I will always cherish this moment in time, and many others I shared with Jay Johnson.

I called this one Bliss

http://jayjohnson.co.uk