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It's The Breath

from Diesel Town by Rick Todd

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about

Mick McLaughlin was my music partner, compañero of the long nights, and inspiration as a wildly creative, deeply talented and all-in dedicated musician. He died in 1998, leaving a silent rupture in the creative universe. He also left a box of tapes filled with hours of music, some finished, others works in progress. Opening that box and listening and cataloguing Mick's music knocked loose so many emotions - sadness, elation, nostalgia, gratitude, intense missing. I came to understand that music only dies when it no longer pushes air, that like any living thing, a song needs to breathe. Otherwise, it's as good as dead. So, I perform a couple of Mick's songs at every gig, to keep them alive. I wrote this song as an expression of that aspiration, imagining Mick still opening my eyes to what a song is about. Nate Todd helped me out on piano and organ and especially nailed it on lap steel guitar, which was Mick's favorite instrument.

lyrics

IT’S THE BREATH

The long nights are long past us
And the songs we sang to the gods
Reeling out of this dusty old box
A voice comes haunting me now

You say "Ritchie, there's only one song
No singer, no player, no time
There's only one hook that matters
It's the breath that gives the song life
It's the breath that gives the song life"

When I went down a dark dark road
You did not hesitate to follow
You met me there at the blue crossroads
In a cloud of magpies and swallows

You say "Ritchie, there's only one song
No singer, no player, no time
There's only one hook that matters
It's the breath that gives the song life
It's the breath that gives the song life"

Your guitar could ring like a bell
Choke back a cry, wail a wild cat scream
Feedback comes howling at me
With a pirate's glint on a dead calm sea

You say "Ritchie, there's only one song
No singer mon, no player mon, no time
There's only one hook that matters
It's the breath that gives the song life
It's the breath that gives the song life
It's the breath that gives the song life
It's the breath”

credits

from Diesel Town, released July 1, 2023
Rick Todd: Vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, keyboards
Nate Todd: Piano, organ, lap steel guitar

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Rick Todd Amarillo, Texas

Rick Todd is a songwriter, performer and multi-instrumentalist based in Amarillo, Texas. His music resonates from a space between Americana, folk, and country. After a few lifetimes as a Telecaster-slinging rocker, farm manager, studio producer and engineer, and award-winning research scientist, Todd turned his creative talents to making music once again. The result is Diesel Town. ... more

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