wandering hillbilly

whar music come from n whut we kin larn from it

when everthang commenced thay was no music n no nature or ye might could say thay was no thang tall. after that, thays sum that says music come next n thay called it the word n thays otherns that says God come next or maybe twas nature or maybe twas a huge downbeet like a big bang. aint nobody that knows fer sartin cepn by faith n that leads to argumints often as not n dont matter nohow cuz thangs got agoin jes fine sum kinda way.

soon birds come into the world n thay commenced asangin bout as soons thay got offn the boat. n that was the first music. creechurs everwhar took to it from the beginnin. wurms lacked to dig dirt by it n skwirrls lacked to crack nuts by it n bars lacked to shit in the woods by it n deers loved to run out n stare into the headlights by it n even peeple lacked to hunt berries n kill thangs by it.

now yer birds jes give away thar music n never give the first thought to how much mony thay coulda been amakin from it. folks has studied it. yer signtists fer egzample. thay thinks them birds was made to sing by instink n thay done come up with sum longwinded splainashuns why they do it most of em bout sex n none of em bout sangin fer joy. n yer biznessmen thinks birds music aint worth lisnen to inyway tho course thay aint in the bizness of lisnen to music since thay only wanna get mony from it. them biznessmen was upset with them birds fer givin bad egzamples. ifn them biznessmen had a been able thayd a been chargin creechurs at the door to the woods n woulda took a cut from the mony n sides that thay thinks that ifn them birds is jes agivin it away fer free thays gotta be sumpin wrong with it cawz everbidy knows ye get whut ye pay fer. n ifn ye dont know that them biznessmenll tell ye (lank cud be bustid).

course mos inybidy knows whut birds kin tell ye their own self. thay sangs cuz thay got music a bustin out of em lack a rosebush got flowrs abustin out all over n cawz birds jes plane lacks to sing bettern inythang thay could magin doin elsewise cepn maybe fline. n that's cawz God done touchd em in the haid with art.

thays still the gratest sangers n thays still agivin it away.

i aint trine to say thay was all good. yer owl could barly give a hoot, yer crow got only one note n no real dine amick range. other birds was gifted like yer roosters that kin rouse the sun n yer nightingales that calls the moon n yer hummingbirds that kin hum sugar outta flowrs n yer pigeons that coos n then thays yer whip-poor-wills n robins n bluebirds n oreyoles n such birds that jes sangs fer the dee light of bein alive. course greatest of em alls yer mockinbird cawz it kin sang iny song iny bird kin sang n has its own songs too. but yer vulchurs n birds of prayer caint hardly sang tall though thay could cluck over dead meat. thar the biznessmen of the birds.

purty soon reglar folks was alarnin to croak out meldies thar own self n twas ok but twerent inythang to rival the birds. so to make up the shortfall folks took to puttin words in thar songs. soon tother folks had to lisn up n pay tenshun. first grate sangin stars probly done been fergot but we know bout one of em early sooperstars the one called homer. now ole homer had im a couple big hit songs that hed go round sangin fer any folks that would lisn. one was called the oddest sea n tother was called the ill-lad. thay tole the storys of the thangs that happend when o'dizzyus went to sail the oddest sea n whut happend when ulysses (like in us grant) went off catch a arrow with his ankle. folks was truly eat up with them two songs so thay started memberizin em n ritin em down n all. thang is aint nobidy lef that knows jes how them songs went cepn the words. the meldies is lost i mean. homer was bout as smart as a bird n he give it away n we still got it tho course he was agettin fed by them folks that wanted him to sang fer em. aint nobidy knows how much he was sposed to be paid or how he co-lected on it ifn he did n thays sum thinks he was fed outta pity cawz he was blind.

n thats how twas fer more years n ye could shake a stick at. oh sure folks got to makin instermints like lutes n flutes n drums n trumpets n such but ifn ye had writ a song ye had to larn sumbidy how to play it or itd die with ye. them was sum tuff times fer song-ritin.

then after a nuther long while folks come up with a code thay calls musicl notashun so thay could commence to writin down how the meldies n changes goes. thats how we kin member ole timey toons like them from bach n beethoven n mozart. course the sad tale thats hardly tole is how them folks that could make up bran new music got famous off thar music but thay didnt get rich. fack is, thay was mostly welfar cases if thay was lucky n ifn thay wasnt then like as not thay died dirt poor in the fergot shadows of histry. even the famus ones had to be lucky. fer egzample everbidy knows how mozart died too poor to pay fer his own grave n he never got much mony outta his music ritin n playin. folks pays lots to hear his music abein played now. i aint never sussed out who gets the mony folks pays to hear his music now but its too late fer him inywho.

far as we kin tell up till then thay wasnt much mony in music lesn ye was friends with a paytron which is whut thay calls the rich dood that pays the welfar the artist with musicl talent needed to stay alive n maybe a bit more now n then. lots a folks badmouths that old way of keepin sangers n song-riters n other musicl artists alive. but it kep em asangin n playin or at least it kep yer high artists a eatin. low art was called poplar n folks adoin it made mony (sum says good mony) now n agin but mostly aint nobidy knows the names of the most poplar artists from the times of yer mozarts n such.

then edison larnt plastic how to sing n play zactly like a artist (thay call it recordin) n all a sudden everthang was changed. now ye didnt have to decode musicl notashun or larn ye how to play n instermint ner inythang else. sum folks who knew how to play musicl instermints was mad cawz they knowed thay was agoin be cut out. i mean why go out n pay to hear music when ye kin drop a needle on a piece of plastic n hear it playd perfeck ever time? but thay was wrong since folks likes to see otherns playin n sides least thay was folks payin fer the recordins n sumbidy was a makin mony even if twernt yer player egzakly. lots of em got nuthin n died jes as hungry as mozart.

well, ifn folks was mad bout sangin plastic, thay was even more up n arms when thay started sendin music through the air someway to the radio. that ment twas free to hear music n folks that wanted to get paid fer it was a mite curyas bout who was agoin to buy recordins ifn thay had radio fer free? course histry come up with an answer purty kwick which was more folks than ever was abuyin recordins since thay could hear the songs fer free first long nuff to get em caught in thar haids. agin twas only the luckiest sanger or player that got much mony from it since thay was biznessmen n lawyers n middlemen n such to be paid first so ye still had musicians dyin as poor as mozart.

now folks in the hills plays music lots n done been adoin it fer hunerds of years from when thay was over in europe. thays sum good pickers in amongst em n thay always was. thay do it kindly like the birds cepn thays sittin on the porch n passin the jug n ifn thays paid tall its in respeck n attenshun from folks that loves hearin em play n sang. mos these players didnt even know how to read words much so course musicl notashuns outta the question. ifn ye wanted to hear music in the hills ye had to get sumbidy to play it fer ye or larn to play it yer own self.

yall probly member when mother maybelle n sara n ap carter went down to bristol tennessee to make them recordins same weekend jimmy rogers done it which turnt out to be the birthin of country music. thang was didnt none of em carters think thay was inyway a makin mony from recordins. as we seen from histry thay was wrong n thay was aloud to work hard all thar lives n make a livin but not get too rich off the playin. lucky fer ap carter a guy name of peer come along n tole ap carter he needed to write out forms fer all the music he could find n ap carter done it n claimed hed been riter of songs hed only found n i mean more songs than ye could sang in a month of sundys. thay ackshly was sum mony in that a course. his heirs is happy. hes dead.

now thays more mony in music then thay ever was tho the sistim still pertecks most all musicians n riters of songs n such from bein burdened down with much mony themself. ye might wunder, how come it to be like at? n whut kin we larn from it?

first it come to be like that cawz of them birds. thay sangs cawz thay was made by God hisself to sang. twas a gift like a fanger or a eye n God give em this gift in such a bundunce that thay caint hardly hold it in. thay lack to sang so much that thayd do it ifn ye put em in a cage. fack is sum em biznessmen got sum em signtists to test it n sure nuff, it come out that yer average bird could be cawt n caged but it wood still sang.

purty soon them biznessmen figurd whut workd with birds wood work with musicl artists thay could lock up sangers n players n song riters into contrack cages so that thayd end up payin to sang or play or rite if need be. most of em does inywho. ye kin watch how it goes on vh1 behind the music (which is whar ye find the asshole). ye might say thays like them birds. thay done been touched in the haid by art. sames true of preachers n teachers n potes n painters n stage actors n dancers n riters n jes about all yer artists of iny stripe. thays artists.

problem is all arts pays bad on averidge cawz arts like flowrs. thay gone bloom. the rosebush caint stop it iny moren yer artist kin stop creatin. potes never get pay lesn thay gets famous n gets to read thar pomes out loud fer pay (still thay gettin chump change). blake died poor, dickinsen did, most of em did. same with yer painters. take van go fer egzample who only sold bout 35¢ worth of art for he died. sure, ye got yer picassos that got mony but thar the egcepshuns thats spred wide n thin. why? cawz the problem fer them thats been touched in the haid by art is the rule of sellin. ye kin only sell sumpin ye kin stop agivin away. ifn ye kin stop agivin it away, ye kin set a price. but when ye done been touched in the haid by art ye caint hold back. ye gone do inythang to play yer art even ifn it means givin it away. period.

so whut kin we larn from this? seems to me like the lessns simple. ye kin be an artist n give it away on faith or ye kin try to be a biznessman n make mony from real artists or ye kin try to be both but if ye done been touched in the haid by art, ye caint do nothin but hope to get lucky n find a paytron or a bunch a folks that lacks thar art. thay might could pay or help out. cawz bein a artist is hard work n ye caint stop bein whut yer born to be n the pay aint measured in mony but in joy.

the birds done been aknowin that from the beginnin.

thems my pinions

n i am
buddy don