“Secret Splendor” is the song on the Man Overboard album about an angel named Aurora, whose job it is to outfit new arrivals in heaven with halos.
Have you ever heard a story about a songwriter who said they wrote a certain song in a matter of minutes and that it was as if they didn’t actually write themselves but rather it was gifted to them by some unseen power? Or that it was in the air and they just reached up and grabbed it? It’s a rare occurrence but I get the feeling that it happens to every songwriter a few times if they stick with it long enough. That only ever happened to me twice. Once was with “Untitled” (“I wander the fields and listen for the sound of drums…”). The other time was with “Secret Splendor”. It’s a pretty weird story.
I think I mentioned this before - I used to work at a newsstand in Halifax. It was called Blowers Street Paper Chase. It’s not there anymore. We sold snacks, cigarettes, newspapers, magazines and greeting cards. On the wall directly opposite the cash register - where I stood for most of the day - was greeting cards. A lot of them featured images of famous works of art on the front. One fateful and very quiet Sunday morning, I was sitting on a stool behind the cash and staring at the cards. My focus fell on a card that featured a painting by Gustav Klimt. I’m pretty sure it was his most famous painting - The Kiss - but I’m not positive.
As I stared at the image, my imagination wandered and “Secret Splendor” came to me in a flash, fully formed. It was the craziest thing. I scrambled to write it all down as fast as I could because I was worried it would fade the way dreams do.
It’s so weird. Where the heck did that come from? Obviously, the song has quasi-religious overtones but I’m not really a religious person. It’s not like I have other songs about that stuff. I can’t explain it. It’s freaky.
Anyway. Many years later, I got a message from my dad. I can’t remember if it was a phone message or an email or what. But I guess he was watching re-runs of that Degrassi show and there was a scene where Drake’s character was on a beach or something and he was listening to “Secret Splendor”. I vaguely remember licensing the song for use on the show. I’ve still never seen the episode or the clip, so I don’t know the exact details (I don’t really care to see or hear myself in the media; it really embarrasses me for some reason). A few years after learning about the Drake thing, I was invited to the Juno Awards (the Canadian music awards) to present one of the categories. Drake was hosting the show that year and so he had to introduce me. I forget what he said but it was something indicating that he knew who I was. I probably could have met him that night (maybe should have) but I didn’t.
That’s about all I can tell you. It’s a strange case. Kinda spooky.
Updates on a few things:
On the topic of the Juno Awards, I hosted the show in 2005 (I think). My co-host was Pamela Anderson! Did I mention this before? She’s been in the zeitgeist a lot lately and it seems like people’s perception of her is changing. A week ago or so, I read a thinkpiece online about how it’s time to start taking her seriously as a model citizen and/or a good person or whatever. I just want to take a moment to say that I learned about her back in ’05 what a lot of people are just learning now. She was awesome. She and I really hit it off. We hung out for two or three days at rehearsals and whatnot and we had great conversations. She’s legit passionate about the causes she supports. She’s extremely eloquent and she has that kind of intelligence that locks you in when you’re near it. Before meeting her, I braced myself for the possibility that she might not be nice because - you know - she’s extremely famous. I’ve met more than a few famous people who were awful people. But she was totally down-to-earth, very nice and super-easy to talk to. She gave me her phone number after the Junos. I carried that piece of paper around in my wallet for years but never managed to gather the gumption to call her. I’d love to cross paths with her again. I think she’s awesome.
Next: I’m guessing that with the last post, you might have seen a message about pledging to Vertices. That message came from Substack, not me. You may recall that early on, I considered setting up a paid subscription-thing here. I haven’t been able to bring myself to do it even though I could really use a few extra bucks. I kinda hate how everything is a friggin’ subscription nowadays and I’m guessing you do too. The last thing anyone wants is to have to pay another ten bucks a month for something so forget it. A few people have pledged and that’s awesome. If a bunch more do, then maybe I’ll put some thought into how I can offer you something that might be worth your money. But as of now, it’s not on the table.
A few weeks ago, I was hanging out with my old homie Skratch Bastid (we made the Situation album together). He was talking to me about how a lot of DJs are using Twitch these days and how some of them are getting creative with it. It kinda got the wheels turning in my head a little bit. I suppose it could be a way that we could sorta hang out in lieu of me not touring anymore. So that’s something I’m thinking about. I’ll let you know if the thinking goes anywhere.
Oh shit! Check this out. Remember how I told you about winning nationals for baseball here in Canada last summer? And how I’d be getting a ring?! It finally arrived in the mail a few days ago!
And finally, another update on the next album… Things are really starting to cook now. I think I have a title but I’m not 100% sure yet. I might want to make sure no one else has used it before I commit fully. Hopefully I’ll be able to pass on word soon. And the first two songs have been written and are close to done! I had to record a demo of one right after I recorded it so I wouldn’t forget how the flow was supposed to go. I gotta say - shit’s sounding bananas, man. I’m pushing myself hard. I gotta up the ante. I’m still getting warmed up, so I’ve been averaging about half a verse per day. But it’s now getting to the point where I’m very locked in. My head is swimming with words and rhymes. It’s all I can think about. I’m guessing that soon I’ll start flowing to the point where I’m writing full songs in a day like I did for most of King Of Drums. I’m psyched. I’m feeling very confident. It’s fun as hell. It’s coming.
That’s it for now. Not sure which song I’ll get into for the next post. I’m looking at “Heather Nights”, “Exes”, “Blood Of A Young Wolf”, a few others. I’ll figure it out.
Until then.