Health Care. Marcel Duchamp and toilets. Postmodern. Andy Warhol and Campbell Soup Cans. Making a statement and William Carlos Williams. Strategery. Son House. Brazil. Trump. It’s complicated. Who knew?

Roger CortonSo last time we talked about how hard it is writing great lyrics. And in fact you said “there is almost nothing I seem to hate worse in life than lyrics”.

JCHCorrect.

RCWhat with all the recent chaos we haven’t spent much time talking up your new album Progress. I think this is a chance to kill two birds with one stone; talk up a song and dive more into lyrics.

JCHYou’re so manly when you’re take charge.

RCI noticed something odd when I listened to my Progress CD of ‘Health Care’. The ‘raps’ aren’t the same as on this video.

JCHCorrect.

RCI assume that’s intentional?

JCHCorrect.

RCYou’re going to stop doing that soon, right?

JCHRight […]

Writing good lyrics is really hard. Yesterday and Scrambled Eggs. Talking Heads and cleaning. Bad lyrics are what killed Progressive Rock. Phonemes, Siberian Khatru and abstraction. Love Beach is a terrible lyric. But What A Wonderful World is a great lyric. Obituaries.

Roger CortonYou mentioned in last week’s marathon that you were working what you called ‘the connective tissue’ of The Boats.

JCHYes and that means words. Lyrics. And there is almost nothing I seem to hate worse in life than lyrics.

RCReally?

JCHYes. OK, I’m going to swing the camera around for a second. Notice anything?

RCWhat am I supposed to notice?

JCHI’m a bachelor pushing sixty. That should be your first clue. How does the place look?

RCClean?

JCHTOO clean. The place is fucking immaculate. That should tell you something.

RCTell me what?

JCHThat I’m engaging in almost constant task avoidance. When I’m cleaning? That means I’m doing ‘busy work’ […]

Tour cancellation and writing 372 refund notes. Trump and China. Igor and Young Frankenstein. Healthcare. Allan Holdsworth and death. Health Care. Whither Protest Music? Beethoven and re-invention. The Heiligenstadt Testament and career counseling.

Roger CortonLucy. You’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do!

JCHDo I? I mean that implies there are even a few people left out there (sniff).

RCYou may have a point. (laughs) No sniveling, son. OK, let’s recap. You cancelled the tour. And then we took some time off to recover from shock.

JCHAnd now weeeee’re back baby.

RCRight. So let’s get right to it. Now why did you feel the need to do something so extreme?

JCHI want to be clear. There wasn’t anything ‘tragic’ going on. I’m not ‘dying’. But about sixty days to go, I re-scheduled the first weekend–your weekend, because, as I was rehearsing, I was having quite a lot of neck and shoulder pain and couldn’t get through an entire mock show comfortably. And […]

Another snippet from the new opera, The Boats called Starting Over. Even more masturbation. Trogdor. Metal as Pro Wrestling. Spinal Tap. Going to Eleven. The arc of opera.

Roger CortonA new snippet. Dare I say it seems a bit ‘power-poppish’?

Starting Over (Snippet)

JCHDare. Dare.

RCSo where are we in the story now?

JCHSo… in an opera every character has to have their own song. Typically, it tells you how they are or what they’re trying to do. This is Tomás’ story–the middle brother. The three brothers realize that they’re gonna have to leave. The eldest brother is the least reluctant and the younger is the most jazzed. So Tomás’ feelings are the pivot for the story. Every time he goes out to work he feels like he’s in his element. But his wife is not entirely thrilled–he’d make her a lot happier if they left the life. So he’s having this inner struggle.

RCI […]