I was only a few days into my trip around Australia when I bumped into to middle aged women at a freecamp spot near the NSW-VIC border. These two invited me to have coffee with them that morning. One of the women, Diane was an expat kiwi but had lived much of her life in Melbourne. She talked my head off for about an hour and then told me that I was a great listener, and that I'd make a good pastor. The conversation came to an end and Diane's friend left me with her parting words, that were a long the lines of how she hoped that one day I would find Jesus. 

I was inspired to write a song about this, because I'm quite averse to religious preaching. There are endless faiths and beliefs in our world, and I don't think I will ever have full belief in a single one. I also think that impressing ones beliefs onto another person is a form of aggression, and slightly arrogant to believe that one's beliefs are superior to another person's.

I once read about a simple form of compassion, in which the writer expressed an idea that all we need to do to connect and show basic compassion is to have 'kind eyes' when we make eye contact with others. The eyes are always honest and you can share kindness and compassion simply by holding these thoughts while making eye contact with someone. By practicing this we can share compassion and positive energy sincerely and without aggression. 

The song basically states my belief that the world needs less preaching of individual faiths/ideas, and more compassion for all people's ideas/beliefs through simple acts like practicing kind eyes.

Silence in the Solitude EP

These Kind Eyes

This song is about an experience I had while traveling in Canada. The short of this story is that a few friends and myself attempted to build an igloo out on the middle of a frozen lake. Under the weight of it, the ice cracked and we returned a month later to attempt to build it again. Each time we returned, we would go out there on a full moon to use the moonlight to light the way. Every time we returned the ice would crack again under the weight of the igloo. 

Eventually we finished building the igloo, and celebrated by setting a fire inside it upon which we lit a joint as a toast. That was a bit ridiculous but also a good laugh. Afterward, standing outside the igloo, it was lit from the inside and the yellow glow pierced through the icy snow walls. In the middle of the lake it looked beautiful, with Pyramid Mountain towering above, and the dark shadows of the forest surrounding us. Quite a surreal experience.

I have written a short story which describes the adventure in more detail. It can be found at my Steemit blog if you follow the below instructions. I can't get the direct URL to work, so go to Steemit and find my page
https://steemit.com > @mattblackwell > 'Short Story - 'Two Moons Ago' authored by Matt Blackwell'

Two Moons Ago

The 'average Joe' in this song was first inspired by a drunk dude that was sitting next to me at a bar in Queensland. He was loud and obnoxious toward the woman working the bar. Every time he went to the loo, she would curse him, and then serve him another beer when he returned. I myself have been wasted an obnoxious and likely offensive before as well, and I know a lot of people that have been an average Joe on occasion. However, the song lyrics evolved to have Joe represent all of us, when we are comfortable riding the status quo and choose not to question if this is the right or wrong way for us and or society.

There are some anti-capitalism sentiments in these lyrics. I know that when I am working full time, in order to satisfy my job I need to play the game of capitalism for the 40 hours a week that I am committed to this. By the end of each day and week, almost all of my mental energy has been used towards my job. When I set out on this trip, I was freeing up my mind to attempt to be creative and write this music. By removing myself from a job I was able to free up all of my mental energy and curiosity to be creative. When I wasn't jaded by the game of capitalism, I felt like I could see clearer. Its like a vision through our 'childhood eyes', before they're blinded by the desire to chase money and status through a career lifestyle.

A balanced perspective of this would be that, capitalism is likely the best system we have at the moment, so to completely fault it is a bit short-sighted. Maybe one day there will be an improved system that allows more leisure time so that more people can put energy into personal goals. Until then, I guess I'll have to try and find a balance.

Let Go

This song is inspired by the occasions that I have received generosity from friends, and strangers, that became friends during my travels. The lyrics describe feelings of being grateful for this generosity, and wanting to repay that generosity.

These instances of generosity are the memories from my wanderings that are the brightest, and through the generosity and kindness of a few people, I have been left with the strongest impressions of the goodness that is inherent in all people, but is rarely shared between strangers :D.

There is a book on the fundamentals of human psychology that I read recently called Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. The book describes all the basic human biases or errors of thought and judgement. One of these biases is generosity. It talks of the principle that all of us have a bias to believe that we give more than we actually do. To counter this principle, my guess is that we should always try and give more than we get, and give more than what we feel is fair. In an ideal world, if everyone did this, then I think our relationships would be a lot more balanced and there would be a lot more peace in the world. The lyric, 'I hope that in the end, I can pay these dues I owe ya, pay them all and more' is my attempt to include this idea. 

I'd like to add a simple drum layer to this song in the future, from the bridge onward perhaps. I think it'd add a lot to the song. Hope you enjoy the tune.

Generosity

This page is dedicated to a musical project created during my solo van trip around Australia through 2017 and early 2018. The EP, called 'Silence in the Solitude' is comprised of six acoustic songs written during this trip and recorded in my van using a basic laptop - interface - condenser mic setup.

The songs are inspired by my experiences during this trip, as well as from my past overseas adventures. The lyrics are written with the intention to tell some of these stories in a musical context.

Artwork was made by my good friend, Hadley Perkins. Chek out his instagram for more sweet drawings https://www.instagram.com/hadleyperkins/

Silence in the Solitude EP

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