Walden

The required reading that no one read?

Hey, my song, Walden, came out on iTunes, Spotify, and Bandcamp today! It’s a stroll around Walden Pond. It’s the musical Cliff Notes to Henry David Thoreau’s writing. It’s a literary banger!! Ken Burns UNUM

It was inspired by my trip to Concord, MA last summer. When I read Thoreau’s writing in high school, it set my hair on fire. I’ve kept a copy of Walden nearby ever since. Last summer, when I found myself feeling unmoored by another life transition, it occurred to me that rather than just read Walden again, I could actually go visit.

Thoreau’s cabin is no longer standing, but I was surprised to find the hearthstone he placed is still there. I brought a cup of coffee to the homesite and sat by the 200 year old fireplace as the sun rose. I looked at the view he described, the view I’d read about a thousand times. And ok, I cried. And felt inspired again. Like I did when I was in high school.

My kids aren’t as taken with Thoreau as I was. I figured the people of Concord, MA would of course also be brought to tears at the mention of him. But as I wandered around town, talking with whoever happened to sit next to me in coffee shops and cafes, I was hearing a lot of “Oh, yeah I think we were assigned that in middle school…it was boring.” I was horrified. When even the local bookstore owner said, “I couldn’t get into it, he was too wordy…” I figured I needed to help Thoreau out. Apparently, he has a marketing problem. Because I’ve been field testing his ideas all my life and had terrific results.

This song is my attempt to get his message and insights across, painlessly. Turns out reading and enjoying 19th century literature is a talent. So I’m sharing this talent in hopes that his work can inspire others the way it has inspired me for thirty years.

The other fantastic thing about working on this song is that it enabled me to work with insanely gifted people. Benjamin Jay Thomas, on guitar and piano. I believe in synchronicity and the general goodness of the universe because he happened to be my neighbor as well as an inspiring musician. And the classically trained and brilliant Annalise Bowles sang with me. Yes, she’s my daughter, but objectively, she is the best singer who has ever lived, and her voice actually made the song. Her call of the wild at the end is the perfect capstone to Thoreau’s words.