Transcriber: Milenka Okuka Reviewer: Mile Živković
Hi TEDx.
(Laughter)
I wrote this first song,
I was trying to write it from the perspective
of someone who makes a living on stage,
trying to get a feeling, or a story across to bunch of people.
It could be a teacher, or a performer, or a preacher.
There is a great deal of energy created
in this kind of exchange,
and everyone has to deal with it, positive or negative
at the end of the night.
Especially the person who is on the stage when they go back to their hotel,
or their house,
and they're still probably living on the stage.
Also I didn't realize that
when I wrote this song, it could be about TED Talks.
(Laughter)
It's called "Riding for the Feeling"
(Music)
(Singing) It's never easy to say goodbye
to the faces
So rarely do we see another one,
so close and so long
I asked the room if I'd said enough,
no one really answered
They just said, "Don't go, don't go, don't go, don't go."
Well all this leaving is never-ending
I kept hoping for one more question,
or for someone to say,
"Who do you think you are?"
so I could tell them
With intensity, a drop evaporates by law
In conclusion, leaving is easy
when you've got some place you need to be
I'm giving up this gig for another season
With the TV on mute, I'm listening back to the tapes
on my hotel bed,
my my my apocalypse,
my my my apocalypse
I realized I had said very little about waves or wheels
Or riding for the feeling, I'm riding for the feeling
The fastest way to reach the shore on water or land
Riding for the feeling,
What if I had stood there at the end,
and said again and again and again?
In answer to every question,
riding for the feeling, I'm riding for the feeling
I'm riding for the feeling
And as I'm riding, I am riding for the feeling
I'm riding for the riding
I'm riding for the feeling
Would that have been a suitable goodbye?
(Applause)
Thanks!
This next song is a husband's instructions to his wife
in the event of his death.
(Laughter)
It's called "Dress Sexy at my Funeral"
(Laughter)
(Singing) Dress sexy at my funeral, my good wife
Dress sexy at my funeral, my good wife
Wear your blouse undone to here
And your skirt split up to there
Dress sexy at my funeral, my good wife
Wink at the minister
Blow kisses to my grieving brothers
Dress sexy at my funeral, my good wife
And when it comes your turn to speak
before the crowd,
tell them about the time we did it
on the beach with fireworks above us,
on the railroad tracks,
with the gravel in your back,
In the back room of a crowded bar,
and in the very graveyard
where my body we will rest
Dress sexy at my funeral, my good wife
Also tell them about how I gave to charity,
and tried to love my fellow man, as best I could.
But most of all don't forget about the time
on the beach,
with fireworks above us
Dress sexy at my funeral, my good wife
(Applause)
Thank you.
This next song,
I wrote it, I think, in about 2006.
I noticed America was becoming more and more downtrodden
on itself.
I was used to hearing anti-American sentiment around the world
while I was traveling around, playing music for 25 years.
I've been to England.
But when I got back to America and heard it from within the country,
that was time when I felt I needed to write a love letter
to America.
It's called "America!"
With an exclamation point.
(Laughter)
(Singing) America!
America!
You are so grand and golden,
I wish I was deep in America tonight
America!
I watch David Letterman in Australia
Oh, America!
You are so grand and golden
I wish I was on the next flight to America!
Captain Kristofferson,
Buck Sergeant Newbury,
Leatherneck Jones,
Sweet George Jones,
Sergeant Cash
What an army! What an air force! What a marines!
America!
I never served for my country
America!
Afghanistan, and Vietnam, Native American, and Iran
America!
Well everyone's allowed a past they don't care to mention
in America!
Well it's hard to raise a hog in Delta,
and it can get tense around the Bible belt
in America!
America!
The lucky suckle teat, others chaw pig knuckle meat
Ain't enough teat, ain't enough teat, ain't enough teat.
Ain't enough teat, ain't enough teat, ain't enough to eat!
In America!
America!
Thank you.
(Applause)