“The Bottom” - a song about lament
Story Pairing
January 2021. 5 years seems forever ago and yesterday at the same time. I was still working in good old corporate America and we were dealing with COVID still, and I hated and loved those days. I hated that I was stuck in a job that never felt like I made a proper difference. I loved that I was still able to work when so many weren’t. I hated that I lost people and my people lost people. I loved that we held the ones we did have closer than ever. I hated how afraid everyone was all the time. I loved that we stepped up and looked after each other in a way I hadn’t seen prior and certainly haven’t seen since. I hated not being able to play shows for people. I loved having time to sink into art without any distractions or guilt.
Every year since then, it has felt like there is a crack in the world that keeps getting bigger. Now looking at January 2026, I feel like I’m at the bottom of this chasm, watching the walls grow farther apart, and not sure how we can ever climb out of this and bring the sides back together. It maybe sounds like giving up, but I don’t really think a lot of this damage can be repaired. I think that door has closed. What I do think is that we can make the best of what we do have as soon as we can find a way to stop the crack from growing. Our leaders are making a poor show of things and have us channeling frustration and pain in the wrong directions.
As an artist, and I’ve talked about it before, it’s a hard time to find the passion to create. Every time I pick up an instrument or a pen, it feels 100 times heavier than normal. I feel guilty when things are going well and feel like I’m being torn to pieces when they aren’t. Like every nerve is exposed and all senses are heightened. I can’t seem to create from a place like that, everything is too loud and overpowers the possibility of harmony, so it becomes chaos and I haven’t learned how to funnel that into something just yet.
This song feels messy and vague and hurt. It felt like the right one to share today.
Song Structure
*Drop D tuning
I’ll be honest, I don’t really know what these chords are. I just play it by shape.
Voice Memos
No Notebook Page
written Jan 2021
picture I took of the badlands
Lyrics
Climb on down
Climb on down
Down to the bottom
Where I’ve been hanging around
Down to the bottom
Honey climb on down
Throw your stones
Throw your stones
Down to the bottom
Cause I hate being alone
Down to the bottom
Honey throw your stones
Drink your fill
Drink your fill
Down to the bottom
You’ve got thoughts you should kill
Down to the bottom
Honey drink your fill