"I'm Searching For The Common Thread"

And not because I've taken up sewing.

Though that would be a useful skill. But links and connections make me tick. I think that comes from having felt alienated from the world for a long time. A lot of people, I won't say everybody, feel like there is something a little bit Alien about them. Even if the only time that feeling is experienced is during adolescence.

Anyhow, I've had that feeling with a vengeance for as long as I can remember. When I do get the feeling of connection it is always a joyful experience. Quite rare, but perhaps that's the lot of someone who spends too much time writing songs. I remember the first time I played The Kintyre Songwriters Festival at the ripe old age of "over 40". And people listened to my songs, to me singing my songs, and enthusiastically applauded. And that felt like a connection to me. I felt just that little bit less of an alien.

And I'm pretty sure that works the other way. People listening to a song that sound something like the way they experience the world causes a connection. A little nerve system explosion. At least I hope so.

I love the analogy of cells in the human body. The way in which there are millions of them, and lots of different types of them, and none can really manage without the others. Some cells travel around in a whirlwind connecting with all sorts of other cells. Some stay in the same place and do a job, while connecting with only a few others. But all of them are connected.

That's why I think the Internet is such a positive thing, for all its detractors and detractions. It helps to keep us connected, and to be aware of all the possible connections.

And BTW. The common thread is you.


The line "I'm searching for the common thread" is from my song The Common Thread off the album A Human Being.