The stage is bare

The house lights on

All is quiet

The crowd is gone

A little hung over

Sweeping up confetti 

Don’t wanna talk about it

Until we’re ready

Tired faces 

In the mirror

Heads are aching

But we see clearer

So we step outside 

To a blinding sun

And we ask ourselves as the day’s begun

Will you still be here when the fever’s broken?

With all that we’ve been through must it be spoken?

How you found you and I found me 

Is this where we’re meant to be?

Or will we be awoken

When the fever’s broken?

Get into the car

Nothing left to say

In this empty lot 

As you pull away

Our memories used to mean so much

Will they see us through 

Are they just a crutch?

September girl 

Do you dream of May?

Will tomorrow satisfy your need for yesterday?

And will you reach for me

When the fever’s broken?

All that we can’t leave behind 

Will it be spoken?

How you lost you and I lost me 

Is this where we need to be?

Or will we be awoken

When the fever’s broken?

Back into the crowd

At someone else’s show

We bought the ticket 

So we gotta go

And we know the song

This is our home town

May there be no doubt 

As the lights go down

‘Cause this is where we stand

When the fever’s broken

Let the future slay the past 

Let it be spoken

Where you found you and I found me 

This is where we’re meant to be 

And we’ll stay awoken

Where you found you and I found me 

This is where we’re meant to be 

And we’ll stay awoken

When the fever’s broken

——

This song, “When the Fever’s Broken,” is the last track on my album “Bittersweet.” Inspired by the present condition of our country and its similarities to a deeply flawed but hopefully salvageable relationship. It’s also an account of the longing for equanimity, which the O.E.D. describes as “mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.”

By the time you’ve lived a half century, you will have learned that achieving equanimity requires forgiveness. You need to be forgiven. And you need to forgive. 

Not just in words, but in your heart. 

Not conditionally. Not while demanding, expecting or even hoping to be appreciated. 

If you find this expression of my belief in the power of forgiveness insufferably preachy . . .  I forgive you.

Depending on what you’ve been through, forgiving can be difficult. But the moment you feel it in your heart, the next chapter of your journey will become more of an adventure and less of an ordeal.

I’m speaking primarily for myself here but I hope you will listen, just as I make music primarily for myself and hope you will listen to it as well.

Thank you for listening to my songs and listening to what I’ve had to say about them. As an independent musician I’m not successful by any conventional measure, but thanks to a supportive family, friends, followers, and an amazing producer, I plan to keep writing and recording until the well dries up or I’m dead – whichever occurs first.

Memento mori!

Love, Eric