What's Brewing

I'm going to break with tradition and not release a song by the end of the month. While this might seem like I'm backsliding already, it's actually quite the opposite. I have three songs on the go at the moment, each one with lyrics and musical arrangements at various stages of completion. Rather than focusing on one and letting the other two sit on the back-burner, I want to try keeping all three moving forward to make sure I don't miss any moments of inspiration, or the chance that one might lend ideas to another. This is certain to make a full recording of any of them impossible by month's end, but I might manage a brief demo or clip. At the very least, I refuse to reach the end of May without releasing a full track.

I won't talk about them all now (gotta save something for later) but I'll give you the scoop on one. The song is a love song written from the perspective of a schizophrenic, making his case to the object of his affection that in spite of - or even because of - his delusions, they'd be great together.

The idea for this tune comes from a couple places. Very often on crime dramas and such, they feature paranoid schizophrenics going on killing sprees, commanded to do so by their delusions. Occasionally the show will remember to point out that not all paranoid schizophrenics are violent, but it's usually followed up shortly with a scene of the individual in that particular show being very, VERY violent. Rarely do you ever see the illness depicted in a less harsh light (A Beautiful Mind is the only example I can think of), and it just doesn't seem fair.

The second source is a man named Ian Chovill. Ian was a guest speaker at a lecture in a sociology elective I took in university. He talked about his experiences with schizophrenia that first appeared at the age of 17, as well as the difficulties and stigma he encountered. He has written several papers and articles on the topic, appeared on CBC Radio discussing mental illness, and developed educational and awareness projects to help those in need. I remember being struck by how vividly and clearly Ian recounted his delusions, how easily they blended for him with reality. They weren't dreams or nightmares, becoming foggy and faded with time and the use of medication; they were memories, as real, permanent and powerful as any moment of our lives. I suppose I knew that the past wouldn't simply disappear, but hearing him describe it drilled home that for all intents and purposes, those experiences were - and still are - as real for him as anything else was.

So, this song is attempt to bring a little fun, joy and levity to an illness that gets an excessively bad rap.  I'm not arguing against medication, and I'm not suggesting that schizophrenia isn't a serious condition.  I just feel like maybe it would be nice to celebrate that having a few screws loose doesn't mean you can't be as warm and loving as anyone else.