Untroubled I am by the burden of genius
I struggle with words to find something to say.
Life potters on - a distraction from boredom,
An attempt to stay solvent and living each day.
I'd like to be original; I know I'm derivative.
I wear my influences on open display
I grew up in colours I liked it that way.
Now I look in the mirror
And only see grey.

Look out of the window
Watching the river flow by
Look up to the skyscape
Clouds making shapes in the sky.
Make rhythms and colours from sounds that surround me
Watch how the wind shapes the river.
It changes each day.
Turn back to the blank page
Ink out a doodle.
I’m thinking in colour, but everything’s grey.

I hear my friends talking like proper songwriters
Of choruses, verses, key changes and all;
Of intros and outros and middle-eight solos,
Of descending bass lines and dominant chords.
I just tell stories or capture a moment
And fool myself it’s my inimitable way.
I imagine the colour in all that I say.
Then I look at the writing and only see grey.

Look out of the window
Watching the river flow by
Look up to the skyscape
Clouds making shapes in the sky.
Head full of music. It’s all just the same tune.
The rhythms are boring and everything’s in the same key.
Turn back to the blank page
Ink out a doodle.
Another creation that nobody needs!



If I get close to finishing something important
I'll go and make supper though cooking’s a chore.
I could be at practice, or even rehearsing,
Or finishing something I started before.
I've books upon books of half-started writing
Or half-finished music that sits in a drawer.
The songs I’ve completed don’t leap off the score
I've started to practise them ten times or more.

Switch on the computer
Download the e-mails and weed out the spam.
Log into a forum,
Post in a thread, show how clever I am.
Share things on Facebook (too much information)
Leaving a trail through a garden of weeds.
One game of Tetris, one hand of Spider
Leaving a legacy nobody needs.

Sitting here pondering all my shortcomings
The list's getting longer and so is this song
I'll never be finished so maybe it's better if I simply stop …

(Music and lyrics by Marshlander - all rights reserved)