Musical Business Lessons

From time to time, I will bring you thoughts and interpretations of some of the music I listen to that has had resonance in my life and my work as a Leadership Development Specialist.

The first song I want to submit is by the The Hold Steady, a band out of Minneapolis. On the literal level, the heart of the song deals with the life and the suicidal death of John Barryman, a pioneer in the field of “Confessional Poetry” (although he never considered himself one….). I, on the other hand, have another take on the song, first the words…….

THE HOLD STEADY- STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS

There are nights when I think Sal Paradise was right.
Boys and Girls in America have such a sad time together.
Sucking off each other at the demonstrations
Making sure their makeup’s straight
Crushing one another with colossal expectations.
Dependent, undisciplined, and sleeping late.

She was a really cool kisser and she wasn’t all that strict of a Christian.
She was a damn good dancer but she wasn’t all that great of a girlfriend.
She likes the warm feeling but she’s tired of all the dehydration.
Most nights are crystal clear
But tonight it’s like it’s stuck between stations
On the radio.

The devil and John Berryman
Took a walk together.
They ended up on WashingtonTalking to the river.
He said “I’ve surrounded myself with doctors
And deep thinkers.
But big heads with soft bodiesMake for lousy lovers.”
There was that night that we thought John Berryman could fly.
But he didn’t
So he died.
She said “You’re pretty good with words
But words won’t save your life.”
And they didn’t.So he died.
He was drunk and exhausted but he was critically acclaimed and respected.
He loved the Golden Gophers but he hated all the drawn out winters.
He likes the warm feeling but he’s tired of all the dehydration
Most nights were kind of fuzzy
But that last night he had total retention.
These Twin Cities kisses
Sound like clicks and hisses.
We all tumbled down and Drowned in the Mississippi River.
We drink We dry up Then we crumble to dust


How I See the Song……

In my early twenties, I played softball with a group of my brothers friends while on summer break from college. Most of the guys were from Englishtown, NJ, a working class suburb that could have been the setting of 99% of Bruce Springsteen songs conceived between 1973 and 1978. One of these characters even had the perfect nickname of “Paradise” (as referenced in the first verse). The Hold Steady has continued the lyrically dense, wonderfully quirky storytelling style Mr. Springsteen used to employ with great success at the beginning of his career.

As we settled into our post game pizza and beer ritual, meeting our respective partners at the local Italian bar/pizza parlor, Paradise and I noticed that one of the members of the team sitting with his new girlfriend. Now, this would not have been news had the guy not been married to someone else at the time. To confuse things even more, the new girlfriend was nearly a dead ringer for the wife, both in physical appearance and presentation. In fact, from what I could see, there was literally no difference in the two, besides the drama caused by the disruption of the marriage (yes, there were kids involved). This fact was relayed to our friend in both kind and unkind approaches. All the time, we got a nod and sheepish smile, giving us the impression that our message was being received. This brave affirmation of their forbidden romance told us differently.

As Paradise and I figured out how we were going to sit down and keep the conversation on our pathetic softball play, he turned to me and said “don’t they know where this is going??- It is such a weird thing to know within 5 minutes that they are heading for such a sad time together.” It was this reference to this direct conversation in my past that drew me into the song, and leads me to this particular interpretation.

This song got me thinking about the interferences we deal with while trying to communicate with each other. In the song, The Hold Steady use references that hit close their Minnesota roots, but the truth is we all know people that for all the time and careful preparation we put ourselves through, it is never enough to insure the proper delivery of our proposed messages.

It occurred to me that the messages we were sending them weren’t reaching, or maybe just some of the signals were being received but not completely understood. Anyone who has travelled long distances in the Rocky Mountain region as I have, or have taken any long distance trips before the advent of the iPod or satellite radio knows of the phenomenon of getting and losing signals along your journey. Invariably, it would end in one of two scenarios, either a desperate evangelist trying to save me, or a faded hip hop station, which usually consisted of nothing but some kick drum mixed with static. In some ways, how we communicate in the business world mirrors the fragility of the signals that are broadcast across a great distance. Unfortunately, most people either change the channel or aren’t tuned to the proper frequency.

Even in the case of well intentioned communicators that broadcast great respect and appreciation of our employees, the message that gets through isn’t the one that was intended. I had a circumstance in which our Director was giving out the Employee of the Year awards, and after each one, he said a little bit about each recipient. During one of his mini-speeches, he mentioned that this employee added a tremendous amount to the project because of his extensive experience with the most essential and basic aspects of the technology. The employee took that has a slap to the face- that since he didn’t spend the time “collecting meaningless degrees” (his words) that somehow his contributions would be considered “basic” and simple. He came to me directly after the ceremony visibly upset at this tremendous slight. To this day, he is the only one that thought of what the Director said as an insult. What happened is that somehow, the employee was “stuck between stations” when the message was broadcasted.

So, as we broadcast our message from our towers to the world’s receivers, let’s keep in mind that our transmissions are constantly in competition with all the other frequencies angling for our attention. It may be a person, and emotion, or even a mind set- too many times like John Barryman we get surrounded by “doctors and deep thinkers” but always keep in mind that “big heads with soft bodies make for lousy lovers”!!!

Keep Your Radio Locked to This Frequency….

Ange


PS Google John Berryman now- fascinating stuff!!