{"id":709,"date":"2020-12-10T23:20:10","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T23:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=709"},"modified":"2020-12-11T13:28:59","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T13:28:59","slug":"better-off-without-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=709","title":{"rendered":"Better Off Without Me"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Better Off Without Me\" width=\"819\" height=\"461\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/56TW__mU0SQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>1990?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had sent an acoustic recording of four songs I\u2019d laid down in my basement on a Tascam 4-track to a radio show called Pittsburgh Rocks (I think) on Magic 97 (if that\u2019s what it was called then). Steve Hanson and Joe Grushecky were the hosts and I remember, as I listened one night, Joe saying something favorable about the writing on the song they were about to play. Then it started and the chord progression was strangely familiar.  It was my song! I sprinted up the basement stairs and screamed for my family to come listen. Mass jubilation commenced. I felt like I was walking on air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few years later, in 1994, that same feeling of world-dominating euphoria overtook me when the intro to \u201cBetter Off Without Me\u201d first came through the airwaves of WYEP. The music director at the time had heard the record and we knew he liked it, so we were all on high alert. But still, nothing prepares you for that moment when the thing that has been so personal and, kind of, cathartic to write and record, is shot out into the world (or, okay, the small portion of Pittsburghers tuned into WYEP at that moment.) It is a total high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBetter Off Without Me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was the song they chose to play. The lead-off track on our first record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<i>We had our day in the sun, and it was a good day&#8230;<\/i>\n\n\n\n<p>Remembered euphoria aside, it\u2019s a little sad that 26 years later the song still rings true. I sometimes still make myself hard to love begging the question of those trying to \u2013 might I be better off without him? Luckily, the drama required to write songs about stuff like this is just another of the illusions I mentioned in my previous essay and, these days, the seeing through is coming a bit more easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So are you better off without me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For today, at least, I say, no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/music.apple.com\/us\/album\/better-off-without-me\/62164297?i=62164210\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"216\" height=\"78\" src=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/applemusic-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-190\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/3pQo9SaA9TuvyHzD7AgWdG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"216\" height=\"87\" src=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/spotify-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-191\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:30px\"> Archives<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=703\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"703\">The Gift of Seeing Through &#8211; 12\/04\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=696\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"696\">Alcatraz &#8211; 11\/27\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=685\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"685\">Then December &#8211; 11\/20\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=679\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"679\">Anchor &#8211; 11\/13\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=675\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"675\">When I Put the Record On &#8211; 11\/06\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=669\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"669\">Bound to Be &#8211; 10\/30\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=664\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"664\">Lost in America &#8211; 10\/23\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=656\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"656\">In My Head &#8211; 10\/16\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=652\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"652\">Start Again &#8211; 10\/9\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=642\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"642\">Morning Sounds &#8211; 10\/2\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=632\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"632\">Saint Jude &#8211; 9\/25\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=622\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"622\">1970s &#8211; 9\/18\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=610\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"610\">Blue Sky Song &#8211; 9\/11\/2020<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/?page_id=24\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"24\">Midnight Ghost &#8211; 9\/4\/2020<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1990? I had sent an acoustic recording of four songs I\u2019d laid down in my basement on a Tascam 4-track to a radio show called [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-709","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=709"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":713,"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/709\/revisions\/713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/billdeasy.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}