Last week, my CD, Stay Relevant, nearly three years in the making, was released on CD baby, iTunes, as well as in hard disc album form. DanDoyleMusic.com provides details on why, at 64, (now approaching 67), I decided to embark on a belated music undertaking, knowing at the outset that the odds of last week’s release were improbable at best.
Most of my professional life has been devoted to using sports as a medium to bring people together. In 1986, I founded the Institute for International Sport. Over the last 27 years, the Institute has developed programs such as the World Scholar-Athlete Games and National Sportsmanship Day. One of my favorite Institute programs was Belfast United. For nine years, we had offices in Belfast, where we administered a Belfast United sports program that brought together equal numbers of Catholic and Protestant youth. When peace was achieved in Northern Ireland in 1998, we were happy to shut Belfast United down.
Factors involved in my venturing into music included my desire to create new assets for the Institute, and to honor a long ago wish of my late mother. Marie O’Regan Doyle always wanted me to sing. In autumn 2012, I finally acted on Mum’s entreaty, making an appointment at Tapeworks in Hartford, where I recorded several Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra songs.
Encouraging feedback from friends in the music community, including Rob “The Drummer” Gottfried, resulted in my taking the next step, and the many that followed. After listening to the Sinatra/Cash songs, Rob suggested that I take voice lessons. He had also read my novel, An African Rebound, and he made one other suggestion.
“If you want to make any noise for you and your Institute, write your own songs.” And I did.
Stay Relevant contains eleven original songs I have written, composed and recorded. The CD also includes three songs from the Shoeless Joe play I have written, another new Institute for International Sport asset. The play is about baseball legend Shoeless Joe Jackson, and addresses illiteracy, race, labor, justice and redemption. The three songs are Take Me Out To The Ball Game, Dixie and You Are My Sunshine. The latter song features a stanza I wrote about a true episode in Shoeless Joe’s boyhood. Stay Relevant also contains an eight minute stage reading of the play, which will premiere in 2016.
Reception
Acclaimed musician, platinum engineer and producer Gordon Bahary, who has his “right touch” on over 35 million albums sold, including those of Stevie Wonder, states:
Dan Doyle’s album is a work of a visionary and true artist. A beautiful collection of songs. Dan bares his soul for all of us. His strong messages are badly needed today. A blessed piece of work — brilliant.
Acclaimed actor Marc Carver, who recently played the role of Dick Lehr in the movie Black Mass, states:
After listening to a pre-cut of the CD, I wanted to give my girlfriend an idea of what Dan’s amazing songs were like. I played one of the songs, A Parent’s Message for her. The original song is about selflessness and steadfast love. When the song ended, we sat smiling silently with tears on our cheeks. Dan’s voice is a one-of-a-kind narrative-style in theater and music.
Acclaimed recording artist Dianne Mower states:
The powerful messages in each song remind us of our purpose in life, and that all of us, regardless of age, still have lots of work to do. Anyone seeking ideas to enhance their lives, and the lives of others, can start with this CD.
A Fascinating Process
In January, I will begin a series of posts on Medium addressing the various facets of the music project. Topics will include:
- A comparison between the sports and music cultures.
- Writing the lyrics.
- Creating the melody for each song in my mind.
- Working with a group of remarkable musicians to turn the lyrics and melodies into songs.
- The entrepreneurial aspects of the project.
- Creating new songs, including the theme song for the African Scholar-Athlete Games we will hold in Namibia in 2016.
Messages
An important objective of the Stay Relevant CD is to impart a series of messages. Ten of the eleven songs contain such messages. (The 11th song, Boomer Rap, is just for fun.) What follows are the lyrics for three songs. DanDoyleMusic.com offers lyrics of the other eight songs, as well as song snippets.
Single Moms
Up on Monday mornin’
Live at five am
Skippin’ that phase of sleep
Called R E M
Sippin’ on
Mornin’ coffee
Her favorite voice calls out
“Mommy please say hi to me”
Fixin’ a pancake breakfast
For her little boy
Stack of bills
Lies next to his favorite toy
Atop the pile in red
The word unpaid
No sign of the miracle
For which she’s prayed
Seen movies starrin’ John Wayne
Homeruns hit by Teddy Ballgame
But the group that merits acclaim,
Single moms
Deserve their own hall of fame.
Hurryin’ out the door
Eyein’ those unpaid bills
Resolved to stay away
From prescription pills
She can’t afford no shrink
Of renown
And it sure ain’t the time
For a nervous breakdown
She’s so much in debt
Afraid she’ll drown
Her ex — awful busy
Bettin’ the Triple Crown
Late for work
A traffic jam downtown
Greeted by her boss
With his usual frown
Seen movies starrin’ John Wayne,
Homeruns hit by Teddy Ballgame
But the group that merits acclaim,
Single moms
Deserve their own hall of fame.
(Music)
She says a prayer
Then calls the Youth Center
Please, my little boy
He needs a mentor
Ma’am what you’re sayin’
So sad to hear
There’s a waitin’ list,
Please call back next year
The absentee father
Jumpin’ off the family tree
Responsibility
Ain’t his cup of tea
The absentee father
An emotional escapee
Livin’ life footloose
And fancy free
Seen movies starrin’ John Wayne,
Homeruns hit by Teddy Ballgame
But the group that merits acclaim,
Single moms
Deserve their own hall of fame.
(Music)
Even at a young age
It’s startin’ to sink in
His mom
She’s a real life heroine
A Parent’s Message
From the time you were born
I’ve taught you right from wrong
Did my best to raise you
To be strong
Like Huck Finn,
you’ll soon take flight
To the territory
You will light
Before you go,
Hear the message,
From my song
Should your troubles accrue
What Whitman wrote
It still is true
I cannot travel this long road for you
If you need a hand
To pull you through
You won’t be one
We will be two
And I’ll stay outside your room
Throughout the night
When others are unfair
You will be in my every prayer
And when needed, let me know
And I’ll be there
Should they stoop to treachery,
I’ll make ’em come through me
By stayin’ outside your room
Throughout the night
If peril inflates your fright
Can’t see the end in sight
I will help you rise up and find your light
For you evoke
Profound emotion
A sacred type of devotion
And I’ll stay outside your room
Throughout the night
(Music)
If grief invades your life
Cannot respond to drum and fife
I will help you see beyond this time of strife
And as you seek your Golden Mean
That safe harbor in between
I will stay outside your room
Throughout the night
Now as you frame your life’s Monet
One more point
I must convey
A closing thought for you to lock away
When I pass my final day
I’ll be here in a spiritual way
And I’ll stay outside your room
Throughout the night
(Music)
Standin’ guard outside your room
Throughout the night
Thank You Mr. Auden
So now you know well
Life can be cruel
Dogged Resolve
Our Golden Age rule
Perhaps you’ve pondered
A harsh reality
Some find joy
In their treachery
(Music)
Yet when asking the question
What’s my legacy?
Consider advice
From a visionary
For among the great stanzas
Of poetry
Auden’s wise words
To humanity
“If equal affection
Cannot be
Let the more loving one
Be me”
Not merely
Twelve words
A
Philosophy
“If equal affection
Cannot be
Let the more loving one
Be me”
(Music)
So there is a principle
A prayer to share
With all of those people
For whom you so care
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