THE BEST SONG EVER

"Second Hand News," Fleetwood Mac. The Best Ever. This is the song that makes me tick. This song makes me want to live another day. All it takes is the scratched electric guitar in the intro. All it takes is Lindsey Buckingham singing, "I know there's nothing to say/Someone has taken my place," and I melt into place, waiting for the rest my life. It's perfect - it's who I am.

"When times go bad/When times go rough/Won't you lay me down in the tall grass and let me do my stuff?" That's a fucking question, and what a question it is. Oh my, what else can you ask? Why breathe if you can't ask this? Where else would you lay me? WHERE ARE YOU GONNA LAY ME? I've been in hard places, places where I am by myself, where there's nothing but love and the cool side of a pillow to answer your stupid questions, so here, here I am, the song that is me, Danny Grgas.

I've felt a lot of songs - "Happiness is a Warm Gun," "Summer Babe," "Oh! Sweet Nuthin" - and this song is it, it makes me wanna live another day. It radiates within me. It is everything I've ever felt. I love, and this song is love to me. I can be because of "Second Hand News".

Thank you, Lindsey Buckingham. Thank you for Rumours. Thank you - thank you - for Tusk. Thank you for creating the greatest songs - "Second Hand News," "Not That Funny," "Ledge"- songs of hope and despair; songs of love and madness; songs of blind insanity, and the manic insecurity that comes when all of your screws fall out of your head. You are my friend and hero, because your songs are me.

Thank you, I'm just second hand news,

-Danny Grgas

Heroes, Part One: Heart and Craft

These are some of my heroes. I love and hate them for being better than me. They have shown me what to do, what not to do, and I think that everyone can learn something from them! Not necessarily from their work but how they went about doing it.

This is heart and craft. Between these people you see the full range, as well as the synthesis.

1) Jackson Pollock - there's something I love about self-destructive alcoholic geniuses. The man's also one of the two greatest abstract expressionists of all-time, along with another hero of mine...

2) Willem DeKooning, whose story isn't as dramatic as Pollock but DeKooning was the true master of the two, whereas Pollock was more of the tortured soul, his artwork bubbling up from the infinite mass of his emotions. DeKooning is more like...

3) Paul McCartney, a craftsman, very, very skilled, able to produce a lot of quality material that is respected for its style and craft, but criticized, sometimes, for lack of heart, but not that often, really, from people who understand what the modus operandi is. And Pollock is more like...

4) John Lennon, extremely personal. A life of pain. Substance abuse to alter their feelings so they didn't have to feel this pain. Too bad he wasn't a true worker like my current main man,

5) Nick Cave, who goes to an office every day to write songs, books, and screenplays like a 9 to 5 job, because that's the way he works, that's the way he is able to be so prolific. And the product is fucking amazing, always quality cuz he knows what's what, what is good.

I'll call this part one of the series, because there are more heroes to talk about and more connections to be made between important people that have shaped my life and others.

I Wish I Had This Album

Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse by Eugene McDaniels. It's supposed to be a crazy, funky album, man. Really groovy with some sexy lyrics is what they say. It's been sampled over and over on rap records. ?uestlove talks about this album in this video. I'm pretty sure it's not available on CD, at least not new and not imported. One day...

Then Again

The Bends is one of the greatest albums ever.