Published
0 132 0
It's June 13, 2015 and I'm jet-lagged as hell Just walked in the door opened my mail and there's something from Yael The guy from Biffy Clyro says I'm one of the greatest songwriters in world And here's a funny hate rant from some stalker hater girl And a letter of love and kindness and affection from a fan in Singapore Ah what can you do some people love some people hate some people of us walk tall and proud and some of us slither around in the dirt like little garden snakes Nature is cruel look at the way the vines curl and choke the life out of the trees Nature is beautiful go out on your front porch smell the pines and feel the afternoon breeze It's June 13 just like it was three years ago When I put words down to some music written by the musical genius Jimmy LaValle And my friend Tim had just died and everyone was going through hell But now's a brand new June 13 and I gotta say things are going pretty well Today's my sister's birthday and I'm gonna call her and I know she'll be pleased But I tried to call her and she's not answering I keep trying and she's not answering Ah there she is my beautiful sister and one of my best friends She wants a copy of my new CD and I'm gonna send it to her on Monday and I'm gonna surprise her with a rather large check Now I'm off to Telegraph Hill I need to walk to get acclimated and get back into the right time schedule I walked through the North Beach fair still dizzy I felt like I was in some strange music video I went to Molinari's on Columbus and got the Joe Special That was Katy's favorite I always get that one in memory of her Oh it's coming up on my 48th summer A few nights ago I rocked the room like Elvis Presley and had them laughing like Richard Pryor And me and Steve went and saw the film 'Youth' on our day off in Milan And Pitchfork gave me a 6 that day I said “man, what took them so long?” And me and Steve laughed and we had some salad and some red mullet carpaccio And I hugged him goodnight and the next morning I flew home to beautiful San Francisco Oh it's coming up on my 48th summer And I'm feeling good and my girlfriend will be here at 7 for dinner and oh my god I love her And her cat Leona she's like a huge ball of fluff and I could squish her to d**h Her face is so f**ing cute I swear to god I can't even stand it And it's Friday night I'll be singing the 100th anniversary of the Civic Center in San Francisco With Chuck Prophet and Penelope Houston and Stephanie Finch and The Kingston Trio and Jello Biafra And for the f** of it I'm gonna read this nice letter from this Singapore fan He's now the co-writer of this song his name is Victor and he's gonna get the songwriter's share of 25% “Dear Mark, Thank you for the amazing gig you played in Melbourne in March of this year. I flew in from Singapore to see you and I don't know if you remember, but we met outside. I was wearing a Pearl Jam T-Shirt and you said it was cool. For me, you and Eddie are the best two vocalists and songwriters of our age. Thank you for allowing us all to move to the front of the hall when you came onstage. Somehow the Internet gave us a back row seat but after you let us move I was right down the front. I love the new record and the way that you are getting more personal each and every album. I think it's one for the fans and for the people that have listened to you for twenty years, not the hipsters who like you only because of Benji. I bought my family members in London four tickets for the Barbican gig this week, wanting to get as many people I know to hear and share your music. The main reason I'm writing is because of the negative press from the gig. English press are ridiculous, just trying to get any controversial story they can. Anyone who knows you will know you're respectful and they don't get your sense of humor. Don't let it get you down. Your real fans will always be here for you. Please keep making the music and touring the tours. Take it easy and yes, please do come back to Singapore:) All the best Victor.”