Try Try Again Project
These songs were recorded on first takes while the artist could still sing and play enough to do it. He wishes that he had been able to do a better job, and that he had not waited until he was so old and even more disabled (he's now 72 and suffering from terminal diseases).
But, the songs deliver an important and crucial message, nevertheless. And, in fact, they are even more relevant now than when they were written more than 30 years ago because they promote true and universal spiritual values -- (as opposed to certain kinds of conflicting and divisive ideas that are aggressively pushed and sold as "religious").
The songs were relevant 30 years ago since many Americans were being misled by theocratic "religious patriots." But in 1984 singer-songwriter decided to shelve his songs because he could see the ominous signs of the terrible things to come, and he thought it more important to instead begin writing a written message to share his views and issue warning.
Even back then he could see how and why a misleading ideology was successfully being sold to America even though it amounted to "It's every man for himself" and inevitably justified the forces of self-interest and greed -- (as became painfully evident and still is).
He could see that Americans were buying a political ideology that was successfully sold as patriotic and religious, despite the fact that it betrays the intent of the Founding Fathers and ignores the Golden Rule and Universal Divine Imperative common to all religions.
He understands that it's not going to get better until our government promotes the general welfare and ensures equal rights and equal opportunities, freedom, liberty, fairness and justice for all the people, as the Founders intended -- instead of favoring the wealthiest few with great entitlement and privilege.
In 2009 he finally recorded his songs by himself at home (while he still could), because they are really the essence of his message -- which is very Jeffersonian and much like that of the Founding Fathers.
As Thomas Jefferson and most other Founders indicated in their own words, government must ensure real religious freedom, with freedom from theocratic political imposition by Theocrats. And the Founders were adamant about that.
In fact, if you examine actual quotes from the Founding Fathers regarding religion, you will realize why Thomas Jefferson wrote that the 1st Amendment was intended "to build a wall of separation between church and state," because he and the other Founders knew that we cannot have religious freedom without freedom from those who think their religion entitles them to rule.
In America that is in VIOLATION not only of the intent of the Founding Fathers, but of Article 6 of the Constitution, which prohibits any religious requirement or test for office, and of the 1st Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits any law regarding the establishment of religion, to prohibit any particular religion or religious organization from controlling government.
Unfortunately, much of the conflict in the world has been caused by a LACK of religious freedom, which has been seriously jeopardized by Theocrats who fight for the power to rule in the name of their religion -- not only in the Mid-East but also in America, especially during the last 30 years.
Ironically, Theocrats in America claim that the Founders wanted America to be governed exclusively by Christians, but that is blatantly false historical revisionism. The fact is that the Founders even used generic terms for Divinity (like Creator, Nature's God and Divine Providence) in all official documents, because they wanted to ensure that government would not favor any particular religion over others.
The songwriter feels the same way about it. He recognizes and promotes what he calls the Universal Divine Imperative common to all religions — which is basically that we should treat all others as we would want to be treated if we were them.
He wants to remind everyone not only of the real intent of the Founding Fathers, but also of the intent of the greatest spiritual teachers, including not only Jesus of Nazareth and preceding Jewish prophets and wise men like the great Jewish sage Hillel the Elder, but also the Hindu Avatars and Siddha Gurus, Gautama the Buddha and the Taoist sage Lao Tzu, among many others. For the most essential rule is the Golden Rule, which is essentially the same as the Universal Divine Imperative. And we should be humble, gentle, loving, kind, generous, sharing, and peaceful.
We will not know lasting peace until Americans abide by the Universal Divine Imperative, progress and evolve forward, and fulfill The Real American Dream --- which has not yet come true.
The Real American Dream is about a nation with good government that will be of, by and for the people, that will ensure actual religious freedom, promote the general welfare, ensure domestic tranquility, and establish real fairness, equal opportunity, equity, liberty, and justice for ALL the people.
The U.S. Government has not yet lived up to Jeffersonian ideals and principles, which Abraham Lincoln said are "the axioms of a free society." Instead, the U.S. Government fails us in many respects because many Americans have been misled by a false partisan political ideology that was sold as if it were "religious and patriotic."
The fact is that most of the Founding Fathers were like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison who wanted to establish real religious freedom, real Liberty, real Justice, and a truly Democratic Republic with government that would ensure equal rights and equal opportunities for all, and would be truly of, by, and for the people.
That's why his written message reminds folks of such things, and it's why this album of original songs is titled The Dream Will Come True, written, performed and recorded solely by the songwriter.
The songs were his first works, and what you hear are "first take" 2009 performances that he finally recorded and had to settle for, because was and has been physically unable to sing and play well enough to improve them. He wishes he could have recorded them years ago, but his heart wasn't in it until 2009 when it looked like Americans were beginning to wake up. (He has been and is unable to improve the recording because of worsening arthritis, congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema, so his hands, heart and lungs are not working very well. Fortunately, since a recent diagnosis of COPD he has been given two medicinal inhalers which improve his lung function somewhat, so hopefully he may be able to sing enough to try to improve the recordings to his satisfaction.)
The lyrics for some of the songs were updated somewhat in 2009 before he recorded them, to reflect his current views. And, as for the last 2 songs, they were recorded back in 1982 on a teeny tape recorder. In case he is unable to re-record them, they show what he sounded like back then. Revised lyrics for those 2 songs are on the music page.)
PERMISSION is granted, without license, to share all songs however you may be able to, and for musicians to "cover" Why Fight Over a Name?, It Takes Two, The Dream Will Come True, Right Here Now, We Can Change Our World, Right Wing Preachers, and A Place to Dwell.
Copyright © 2002 - 2013 Try Try Again Project (TTAP)
But, the songs deliver an important and crucial message, nevertheless. And, in fact, they are even more relevant now than when they were written more than 30 years ago because they promote true and universal spiritual values -- (as opposed to certain kinds of conflicting and divisive ideas that are aggressively pushed and sold as "religious").
The songs were relevant 30 years ago since many Americans were being misled by theocratic "religious patriots." But in 1984 singer-songwriter decided to shelve his songs because he could see the ominous signs of the terrible things to come, and he thought it more important to instead begin writing a written message to share his views and issue warning.
Even back then he could see how and why a misleading ideology was successfully being sold to America even though it amounted to "It's every man for himself" and inevitably justified the forces of self-interest and greed -- (as became painfully evident and still is).
He could see that Americans were buying a political ideology that was successfully sold as patriotic and religious, despite the fact that it betrays the intent of the Founding Fathers and ignores the Golden Rule and Universal Divine Imperative common to all religions.
He understands that it's not going to get better until our government promotes the general welfare and ensures equal rights and equal opportunities, freedom, liberty, fairness and justice for all the people, as the Founders intended -- instead of favoring the wealthiest few with great entitlement and privilege.
In 2009 he finally recorded his songs by himself at home (while he still could), because they are really the essence of his message -- which is very Jeffersonian and much like that of the Founding Fathers.
As Thomas Jefferson and most other Founders indicated in their own words, government must ensure real religious freedom, with freedom from theocratic political imposition by Theocrats. And the Founders were adamant about that.
In fact, if you examine actual quotes from the Founding Fathers regarding religion, you will realize why Thomas Jefferson wrote that the 1st Amendment was intended "to build a wall of separation between church and state," because he and the other Founders knew that we cannot have religious freedom without freedom from those who think their religion entitles them to rule.
In America that is in VIOLATION not only of the intent of the Founding Fathers, but of Article 6 of the Constitution, which prohibits any religious requirement or test for office, and of the 1st Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits any law regarding the establishment of religion, to prohibit any particular religion or religious organization from controlling government.
Unfortunately, much of the conflict in the world has been caused by a LACK of religious freedom, which has been seriously jeopardized by Theocrats who fight for the power to rule in the name of their religion -- not only in the Mid-East but also in America, especially during the last 30 years.
Ironically, Theocrats in America claim that the Founders wanted America to be governed exclusively by Christians, but that is blatantly false historical revisionism. The fact is that the Founders even used generic terms for Divinity (like Creator, Nature's God and Divine Providence) in all official documents, because they wanted to ensure that government would not favor any particular religion over others.
The songwriter feels the same way about it. He recognizes and promotes what he calls the Universal Divine Imperative common to all religions — which is basically that we should treat all others as we would want to be treated if we were them.
He wants to remind everyone not only of the real intent of the Founding Fathers, but also of the intent of the greatest spiritual teachers, including not only Jesus of Nazareth and preceding Jewish prophets and wise men like the great Jewish sage Hillel the Elder, but also the Hindu Avatars and Siddha Gurus, Gautama the Buddha and the Taoist sage Lao Tzu, among many others. For the most essential rule is the Golden Rule, which is essentially the same as the Universal Divine Imperative. And we should be humble, gentle, loving, kind, generous, sharing, and peaceful.
We will not know lasting peace until Americans abide by the Universal Divine Imperative, progress and evolve forward, and fulfill The Real American Dream --- which has not yet come true.
The Real American Dream is about a nation with good government that will be of, by and for the people, that will ensure actual religious freedom, promote the general welfare, ensure domestic tranquility, and establish real fairness, equal opportunity, equity, liberty, and justice for ALL the people.
The U.S. Government has not yet lived up to Jeffersonian ideals and principles, which Abraham Lincoln said are "the axioms of a free society." Instead, the U.S. Government fails us in many respects because many Americans have been misled by a false partisan political ideology that was sold as if it were "religious and patriotic."
The fact is that most of the Founding Fathers were like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison who wanted to establish real religious freedom, real Liberty, real Justice, and a truly Democratic Republic with government that would ensure equal rights and equal opportunities for all, and would be truly of, by, and for the people.
That's why his written message reminds folks of such things, and it's why this album of original songs is titled The Dream Will Come True, written, performed and recorded solely by the songwriter.
The songs were his first works, and what you hear are "first take" 2009 performances that he finally recorded and had to settle for, because was and has been physically unable to sing and play well enough to improve them. He wishes he could have recorded them years ago, but his heart wasn't in it until 2009 when it looked like Americans were beginning to wake up. (He has been and is unable to improve the recording because of worsening arthritis, congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema, so his hands, heart and lungs are not working very well. Fortunately, since a recent diagnosis of COPD he has been given two medicinal inhalers which improve his lung function somewhat, so hopefully he may be able to sing enough to try to improve the recordings to his satisfaction.)
The lyrics for some of the songs were updated somewhat in 2009 before he recorded them, to reflect his current views. And, as for the last 2 songs, they were recorded back in 1982 on a teeny tape recorder. In case he is unable to re-record them, they show what he sounded like back then. Revised lyrics for those 2 songs are on the music page.)
PERMISSION is granted, without license, to share all songs however you may be able to, and for musicians to "cover" Why Fight Over a Name?, It Takes Two, The Dream Will Come True, Right Here Now, We Can Change Our World, Right Wing Preachers, and A Place to Dwell.
Copyright © 2002 - 2013 Try Try Again Project (TTAP)
Why this name?
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Sometime success is built upon a mountain of failures.
Photos
The Family of World Religions
One World, One People