Brett Dennen tour diary: 5/15/08

I am writing from UC Berkeley, on the day of my mother’s birthday. My whole family is coming to the show tonight. Having family in the audience always makes it special. We are playing Zellerbach hall, an intimidating and stunning venue. Though I love San Francisco, it is nice to play in the East Bay for a change.

I was supposed to play live on KFOG this morning but our trailer blew a tire in the middle of the night and it set us back a few hours. It got me thinking about chain reactions and how one small change affects everything else.

I had a conversation with my friend Tom last night on the phone and we were talking about karma. I am a believer in karma. I believe it on a moral level, and a metaphysical one. We were talking about how we felt like we had been taken advantage of on a project we had both worked on. We settled on the fact that everything comes back around, and we agreed that we have some good karma coming our way.

“What goes around comes around”

It’s crazy how clichés pop up and explain so much with so few words.

A couple of days ago, we were late getting into Los Angeles, where I had made a bunch of plans. I was getting frustrated and then Chad said, “A watched pot never boils”

Wow. Brilliant.

If I had invented one cliché, I would have liked to be the first person to say, “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.” I love that one. I am constantly remembering to not get attached to expected outcomes.

I never understood, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” That just doesn’t make sense.

“There are two sides to every coin” Does that count as a cliché?

Gavin, Missy’s tour manager, gave me an Australian coin. It felt large and heavy. On the front was Queen Elizabeth, and on the back, a kangaroo, and an emu. One side seemed to represent the colonization of Australia, and the other side represented the continent’s native history. A gentle statement I guess, because they were wild animals, not native people.

A coin, one simple piece of monetary value, has traveled further and experienced more than most people ever will.

Every coin has been in the hands of

The greedy, and the generous,

The guilty, the innocent

It has been coveted by those who have more than they need,

And by those who have far too little.

It has been exploited

Used as bribery

Used to fund great change

Sold for blood

Stolen

Traded fairly

Forgotten

Lied about

Saved

Been made into promises

It has been dirtied

Been a honest gift

Obsessed over

Been in the hands of the powerful

And in the hands of the weak

Has been blessed and cursed

Every coin has more than two sides.