Oklahoma and Adele

Music has been on my mind these past couple of days. Yesterday, my wife and I went to see Portland Center Stages's production of Oklahoma!, which has been making waves with its all-black cast. (For a review and pictures, see her blog!)
The show starts with Curly coming onstage, pouring out a bootful of dust, and singing "O what a beautiful morning, o what a beautiful day."

Kinda Pollyanna, I know. But that's sometimes what happens when everything's zinging with writing--words are pouring out, pages are being requested, and all seems right with the world.

Then there are the dark times, the times of doubt. I was listening this afternoon to Adele, whose 21 has been a resounding international success. (However, so behind the times am I, it was her debut 19 I was actually listening to.)

One song stood out, a song called Chasing Pavements. The chorus goes:

Should I give up,
Or should I just keep chasin' pavements?
Even if it leads nowhere
Or would it be a waste
Even if I knew my place
Should I leave it there
Should I give up,
Or should I just keep chasin' pavements
Even if it leads nowhere

I'm sure most artists have had that feeling of "chasing pavements" at some point in their careers. This song, with its minor key and Adele's smokey vocals, really brought home to me how tough the artistic life can be.

But there can be only one answer to "Should I give up?" And that is NO!!

Are you in a "Beautiful morning" phase of your artistic life, or are you "chasing pavements?"

Here's Adele to sing you through it: