It’s been a long time coming! I felt strongly like there was some unfinished business — that these songs, recorded over the course of 25+ years, needed to be on an album. When you buy this album on Bandcamp, you get to download the tracks or stream them in the Bandcamp mobile app. You also make a statement that independently-created music has value, especially when you socially share the album here!
You can listen to the tracks below and decide about purchasing this Jersey-riffic collection. All purchases (compact disc or download/streaming) comes with a downloadable PDF booklet containing lyrics and stories behind the songs. The CD purchase also comes with the download and streaming access.
“It’s a Jersey Thing” is also on all streaming services, like Apple Music and Spotify.
Back in 1995 I was 3 years into my post-college life, which meant working in cubicles – as a temp and then as a full-timer. I had graduated into a recession and considered myself lucky to be employed. I also heard the whispers of the downsizing rumors, which fueled my sense of “gallows humor.” All this experience (and a dash of imagination) made its way into my song “Cubicle.”
This is the original recording from 1996, set to a new lyric video created in July 2022.
Hey friends! Let’s share a laugh over my latest recording and video – a new version of my most popular song over the years – “You Can’t Get There from Here in Jersey!”
The official video premieres today, Tuesday 6/28 at 11:30 AM Eastern.
Today at noon Eastern-US is the world premier of my official video for “Super Clean Escape Machine” – my first musical collaboration with my father Bob. He had the idea for a song about cycling – his chosen mode of exercise during this pandemic. He’s a real aficionado of cinematography. My dad became fascinated with the availability of stable-motion camera tech that was only available to big-budget studios until recently. This mirrors my own fascination with the widespread availability of professional recording software that has turned basements into studios and unleashed a torrent of creativity during what would otherwise be downtime.
The song extolls the many benefits of cycling, like how “It cleans my arteries and mind.” When my dad wrote this poem, he did not know I had written “Run With My Troubles,” a song that promotes running for mental health – an amazing coincidence, which further supports the case I make for exercising on my forthcoming album “Salt and Sand: Rock Songs to Heal the Mind.”
Credits:
“Super Clean Escape Machine” (c) 2021, Lyrics by Bob Didner & Jason Didner, Music by Jason Didner Video directed and edited by Bob Didner, cycling footage by Bob Didner Vocals, guitar, keyboard, bass and drums by Jason Didner Music recorded and mixed by Jason Didner
Lyrics:
Verse 1:
I love riding on my bike
It brings me feelings that I like
My excellent escape machine
That helps me keep our planet clean
I love the energy it brings
And clarity, it gives me wings.
My bike's a pal I animate
We roll, I chill and concentrate.
We glide down city streets and country trails
Motion casts its spell and never fails
Chorus:
My super clean escape machine
My super clean escape machine
I’m off the grid and on the scene
On my super clean escape machine
Verse 2:
We can go from near to far
Rolling cleaner than a car
It cleans my arteries and mind
And lets me leave my cares behind.
We squeeze through narrow passage ways.
And windy paths, on sunny days.
We can ride by stunning sights
Or savor balmy moonlit nights
We glide down city streets and country trails
Motion casts its spell and never fails
Chorus:
My super clean escape machine
My super clean escape machine
I’m off the grid and on the scene
On my super clean escape machine
Bridge:
Pedaling fast or coasting slow
We’re flying low - flying low
Solo
Chorus:
My super clean escape machine
My super clean escape machine
I’m off the grid and on the scene
On my super clean, super clean
My super clean escape machine
My super clean escape machine
I’m off the grid and on the scene
On my super clean escape machine
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I’m pleased to announce my new anthem “A Complicated Miracle,” which is both personal and universal – both intimate and grandiose. It tells the story of my wife’s miraculous transplants, but ones that revealed the aftermath of 46 years of diabetes once the fog of that chronic illness lifted.
The stunning landscape photos by my niece Diana Richards help the story along in brilliant fashion for this lyric video.
(c) 2021, Lyrics and music by Jason Didner
All vocals and instruments by Jason Didner: guitar, bass, keyboards, drums.
Music recorded and mixed by Jason Didner. Mastered with CloudBounce.
Video produced by Jason Didner with photos by Diana Richards.
Lyrics:
Verse 1
We were in dire need of help
We couldn’t make it by ourselves
So we put our faith in the brightest
And we counted on the best
As we lay down on their tables
And trusted we’d be blessed
Then we awoke
Safe and sound and somehow changed
Chorus:
It's a complicated miracle
That has come true
A complicated miracle
We're living through
But miracles don't come easy
Miracles don't come free
This miracle’s been complicating you and me
Verse 2:
Some days we spin out of control
We lose connection with our souls
And we barely sense our bodies
And we're swimming in our heads
Let's remember why we're in this
What we hoped for when we wed
From then to now
Safe and sound and somehow changed
Chorus
Bridge
We can take the complications
Of this ever twisting plot
Let this be our meditation
To rejoice in what we’ve got
We'll rejoice in what we’ve got
Chorus
Our mental health takes constant hits when we’re in the habit of talking cruelly to ourselves. If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking “I can’t do anything right,” you know what I’m talking about. This song helps you challenge that notion. I hope it gets stuck in your head and reminds you to be kinder to yourself!
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Here’s your chance to get a secret link to the yet-to-be-released lyric video before the general public gets to see it. This is exclusive for my email subscribers.
The worst thing you can do for your depression and/or anxiety is to simply believe your distorted thinking or to argue with the distorted thoughts. Both escalate those thoughts and make you more depressed and anxious. You can’t just wish those thoughts out of existence. What you can do is learn to be mindful of those thoughts. In this song, I give examples of distorted thoughts and respond with “These thoughts are distorted.” That’s the life skill I want you to take away from this video.
If you’d like to download the song for offline listening or just support the work I’m doing, you can hop on over to the Bandcamp page for the new single:
Here’s your chance to see it before it’s released.
Distorted, negative thoughts tend to inflame stress and mental health issues, especially if you’re just going along with them or trying to fight them. Simply recognizing the distorted thoughts for what they are is a key form of mindfulness that can restore some balance.
It is my hope that by hearing this song today, you’ll get some peace of mind.
If you sign up below to receive my emails about my videos and streaming concerts, you’ll automatically receive a link to this new video “Distorted” before it’s released.
Video clip from Great Falls National Park by Jason Didner
Song inspired by the practice of loving kindness meditation as taught on the Ten Percent Happier app (https://tenpercent.com).
Chords and Lyrics:
Intro
F C Bb
F C Bb
Verse 1
F C Bb
If the best way to learn a thing
F C Bb
is to teach it
F C Bb
Then I'll try to guide you,
F C Bb
and I may reach it
Gm C
I may not get to enlightenment
Gm C
But I can learn to lighten up yeah
F C Bb
And if it gets me practicing,
F C Bb
I will preach it
Am Bb C
So let's place a hand on our own hearts and sing...
Chorus:
F
May I live with ease
C
May I be free from suffering
Gm Bb C
May I be a blessing for someone today
F
May I be safe
C
May I be peaceful deep within
Gm Bb C
May I walk with comfort along the middle way
Bb C
May this be a moment of loving kindness I give to myself
F C Bb
F C Bb
Verse 2:
If the best way to know a thing is to live it
Then I'll try to take it in and to give it
I may not get to the mountain top
But I'll start again every time I stop
And when I stumble, may I forgive it
So let's place a hand on our own hearts And sing...
Chorus:
May you live with ease
May you be free from suffering
May you be a blessing for someone today
May you be safe
May you be peaceful deep within
May you walk with comfort along the middle way
May this be a moment of loving kindness you can give yourself
Solo
So let's place a hand on our own hearts And sing...
Chorus:
May we live with ease
May we be free from suffering
May we be a blessing for someone today
May we be safe
May we be peaceful deep within
May we walk with comfort along the middle way
May this be a moment of loving kindness we can give ourselves
Here’s my 2-minute ad for my shows on Live Streamer Cafe. This new live music online platform brings the feel of the neighborhood coffeehouse to the whole world!
The ad features “Salt and Sand,” the video that shows me recording all the tracks for that recently released single. You’ll see me introduce myself as a person and as a musician. I’ll also share my thoughts on what makes this online live music venue so great.
If you enjoy this video, please share!
To get started as a fan on Live Streamer Cafe, click the Sign Up button below:
