(public post)

dear loves 

i am behind and i am fragile and what i usually do in these moments is things like this. 

i can’t help it - the urge called. 

read this fuckin article. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/13/nyregion/nyc-power-outage.html

it HAS to be a song. hasssstoooo

i mean. 

“Stores emptied out, and Broadway shows did not go on: Most theaters canceled their performances. In restaurants and bars, people drank by the glow of their smartphones.”

“Two young women posed for a selfie in the middle of 46th Street before an officer rushed over and chastised them, saying, “Ladies, this is not the time.”

the article is like a work of art in itself. it calls us. the songwriter in me is like roger rabbit in that “shave and a haircut” scene. jittering. 

so here’s what i wanna do. 

i want to hold a song-writing competition. 

open to everybody...patrons and public alike. 

the winner gets ... let me see .... a case of beer. and $1,000 cash. and a $200 voucher to my merch store and, fuck it, i’ll cover the song. if it’s good enough (and it better be) i’ll release it as an Official Thing. 

how’s that? so bear in mind: im not just judging the song on its own merits, i’m judging it on how much amanda palmer will wanna play it. be clever. 

now. 

i mean. let’s talk. 

read the article. it screams, it cries, and it has to be a song. but i’m supposed to be with my son all day. tomorrow i have to fly to the UK for TED. so i am outsourcing. 

you do it. 

yes it has come to this. 

i am crowdsourcing my soul. i am EMBIGGENING. 

that’s how much i love and trust you. or maybe i’m just really lazy? DOES IT MATTER

if nobody wins or enters i’ll just have to do it myself. dammit. and i will. 

OK 

rules 

-submissions should come in as a single comment to this post, in the form of a link. 

-record the song and upload it to soundcloud, youtube or wherever. wuality isn’t important as long as i can hear the song. cheap phone recordings a-ok. 

-keep the song under 5 minutes. 

-the song must have lyrics 

-the song can be delivered on any instrument 

-the song doesn’t have to contain direct quotes or images from the article, but the further away you get from the source images and words, the less awesome. ride the tightrope of art!!

-THE SONG MUST BE AN ORIGINAL, written for this contest. don’t send me a song you wrote 14 years ago about a blackout. that’s CHEATING. 

-on that note: if you wanna cheat and just kinda write a poem and set it to music, i won’t disqualify you if it’s really fucking spectacular. 

-leave me the link in the comments below, and 

-include the full lyrics (important!!) in your submission-comment. if no lyrics, no amanda clicky kinky linky. DONT FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR GODDAMN LYRICS IN THE COMMENT. k? k. 

this contest is open to all people in all countries. you may collaborate with a friend, please just credit your co-writer/s in the comment. 

deadline for submissions is ONE WEEK FROM NOW. 

JUST SIT DOWN AND WRITE!!

deadline is 11:59 PM july 21st. 

that’s right fuckers. you got one week. 

it’ll probably take me a week or so to pick a winner. gimme a second. ill keep you posted. i may even have you crowd-vote if it comes down to a tie. 

now get on it!!!! 

ask me questions if i haven’t covered it all. ill answer later tonight. 

now i am gonna go be with my kid. 

power failure. 

failure of power. 

power resumed. 

power withheld. 

power up. 

power down. 

power out across america. war is over. dark dark hooray, the unbearable darkness of being human. abuses of power outages. i mean. 

over and out my beat poets 

x

a