What are you waiting for?

"If I'm going to make a life out of this, I better do it soon!"

So says my favorite singer/songwriter, David Wilcox, in an interview on NPR's Bob Edwards Weekend show. A good mantra for a writer, too, don't you think?

Dave talks about writing one of the songs he performs after he heard the chorus in his dreams. Sound familiar to any of you writers out there? We can learn a lot from artists in other mediums. We're running in the same river, after all.

River Run Dry
David Wilcox
There's a canyon down from Ghost Ranch, New Mexico
Left by torrents that tore through here long ago
It carved out sculpture and left this show
When the canyon floor is dry

And there's a river close to home that never seems to flow
Some part of me that couldn't break the dam below
Just slow turnin' circles that won't let go
Waiting just to fly

I can't wait any longer
With these stones around my heart that keep me shy
So I pray the river's stronger
So I may before I die

Say goodbye,
and run like the river run dry

I wanna sweat through every pore,
running faster when it's hot
And catch up to who I can be,
and drop the things I'm not
And be sure by the end,
I gave it all I've got
Feel my heart beat strong

By the finish line, I wouldn't mind
falling like the rain
Instead of saving it for someday,
when someday never came
I wanna open up early
and push against the pain
Pray to just hold on

I can't wait any longer
With these dreams within my heart I have to try
So I pray the river's stronger
So I may before I die
Say goodbye,
and run like the river run dry

Let me fall

This will end, but while I'm living
There are dreams within my heart that have to fly
So I willl spend this life I'm living
so I may before I die

Say goodbye,
and run like the river run dry

You can listen to the interview at the streaming link above, or here as a free Itunes download. Thanks to Lian-Marie from DW list for posting the link to the show.

March 28, "Bob talks with Susan Jacoby about her book The Age of American Unreason and singer/songwriter David Wilcox."
~Interview with DW starts about halfway through, at the 20:40 marker, but the whole thing is fairly interesting. Some political talk if that scares ya.
~River Run Dry comments and song start at about 32:20 marker.