Every Saturday, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 35-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith.
I listened to this song today and admired its humor and narrative trajectory. Exchanges with co-workers during my online-dating years. Honing those stories, turning them into novels and songs, elevating the mundane nature of plodding through experiences that would otherwise have dampened my enthusiasm. My passion for editing, writing and adding tasty bits to our songs became infrastructure I hung onto in the early aughts, soon after I’d quit drinking (in 2000) and returned to the work force after 15 years self-employed in music. And then, lo and behold, after 15 years of part-time-joe jobs, I popped out the other side to become self-employed again. This time as a painter.
“The Dark Side Of Maria” from The Observer (Kill Rock Stars, 2006) (download):
