It's All Good

I find it annoying when somebody says “it’s all good”. What I hear them saying is “whatever just happened or whatever you just did is not really ok, but I’m such a generous and understanding person I’m going to let it slide”. Well, thanks a lot. I’m pretty good at passive aggression, so maybe I’m overly sensitive when it’s inflicted on me. Whatever.

For the record, I’m completely down for things actually to be all good.

This new song wasn’t inspired by anything in particular; it just kind of plopped out from a strumming guitar riff. For the lyrics I latched onto what is for me a kind of hopeful, affirming idea that I think is worth reminding ourselves of: that goodness is actually a good thing. Seems kind of a tautology, right? On the other hand, too often I feel bombarded with cynicism, snark, put-downs, negativity, lies masquerading as the truth – you know, daily life these days. So maybe it’s a goody-goody way to think, but I do really think that good is preferable to bad. In fact, I think we can all agree that good is better than bad.

And If it’s good versus bad
Believe I want to be good
Although original sin is inviting
This kind of choice can make you mad
It’s commonly misunderstood
But know that good can be both good and exciting

And being good can be fun, too, right? Am I right? (Click the image to listen.)

You’re not likely to confuse this song with a related (?) song that otherwise has virtually nothing in common with it, Huey Lewis and the News’ “Bad is Bad”:

I say cool is a rule, but
Sometimes, bad is bad

Huh?

Musically, this new Storytown song inexplicably turned a bit Brazilian – so much so that some of the lyrics are in Portuguese. Huh?

Idle observation: For some reason, known to no one, the grooves of the occasional otherwise rock Storytown song have exhibited vaguely Latin-ish rhythms. Check these songs out and see if you hear what I hear: “I am More Than This”, “Comes a Running Child”, “Too Late”, and “Back To Loving”. Let me know if you think I’m crazy.

A part of “Good Is Good” reminds me of a particular song that I love, “Quanta” by the great Brazilian singer-songwriter Gilberto Gil, from the album of the same name. (In 1998 a live version of this album won the Grammy Award for Best World Album, FWIW.)

The song “Quanta” features another fantastic Brazilian singer-songwriter, Milton Nascimento, on vocals. He is a primary collaborator on one of my absolute favorite albums of all time, Native Dancer, by the genius composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who sadly passed away in March of 2023. Wow do I love that album. (Here’s a maybe interesting side note: Wayne Shorter was born in Newark, New Jersey. He played sax in a band in the US Army and got the nickname “the Newark Flash”. When Audible.com moved its offices to Newark, I took it upon myself to name all the conference rooms for Newark notables. So of course I named an Audible conference room for Wayne Shorter. It’s still in use. True story ;-).)

I recognize that this post has been a bit of a meandering journey, from passive aggression and fundamental questions regarding good versus evil all the way to Newark, New Jersey, with stops along the way in San Francisco and Brazil. I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride. 

It’s said that nothing’s neither good nor bad
But thinking’s the thing that makes it so
And nonetheless sometimes bad is really bad

Not surprisingly, Shakespeare nailed it again.

Thanks as always for reading and listening and for all the good that you do. Don’t let up.