Fairly articulate mammal

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Kind of a While

I said, “You’re looking so good, 
Mmm, you’ve got the prettiest smile.”
She said, “I’m feeling good too, 
and it’s been kind of a while,
kind of a while.”

She said, “The days were blasting by
like a westbound train, 
the song in my head was 
‘I Wish it would Rain,’
But now I feel like the me
that knows how to be
free and wild . . .
It’s been kind of a while, 
been kind  of a while.”


I said, “I know just what you mean, 
when darkness stretches on for miles.
I was so hopeless and so lost,
for kind of a while,
kind of a while.

I couldn’t even breathe right,
yeah, it’s hard to explain.  
The closest  I can come is
 I was living in chains, 
Then you baked me a cake
and I laughed ‘cause
it was hiding a  file . . . 
It’s been kind of a while, 
been kind of a while.”

And we might know 
enough to know
There’s no such thing 
as a perfectly smooth road,
no places where the 
summers are cool
and the winters are mild.

She said, “The days were blasting by
like a westbound train, 
the song in my head was 
‘I Wish it would Rain,’
But now I feel like the media 
that knows how to be
free and wild . . .
It’s been kind of a while, 
kind  of a while.”

Words and Music by Jeff Knight












Monday, April 27, 2020

Who is Jeff Knight? What is Jeff’s Next Page?


Because I recently entered an original song, “Kind of a While,” in NPR’s Tiny Desk concert, I expect some newcomers around here. That being the case, hello and welcome.

I’m a writer and songwriter in Austin. I write poems, songs, and stories, used to do a fair amount of slam poetry performances around the state of Texas, have published some fiction and poetry here and there, and sometimes perform as a storyteller. I make my living as a writer and editor, currently working on new hire training for big tech companies.

If you scroll the blog, you’ll see posts about everything from the late great Adam Schlesinger to my thoughts on how marketing copy for craft beer can boost a sense of tribal membership. You'll also find links to some of my writing here and there on the web.

Meanwhile, my entry to the NPR Tiny Desk Concert Contest  is embedded below, published on my YouTube channel, also titled Jeff’s Next Page.






Thursday, April 2, 2020

RIP Adam Schlesinger

I bought you
A light blue
T-shirt last night
From some band
I couldn’t stand
But their logo was alright...

That’s a lyric from Adam Schlesinger, who passed away at 52 yesterday from COVID-19.

You may not know his name, but you probably know his music. His band Fountains of Wayne had a huge hit with “Stacy’s Mom,” as well as a whole catalogue of smart, funny, cool pop songs.

He also wrote songs for That thing You Do (remember that Tom Hanks  movie about a one-hit wonder pop band?). And he won Emmy awards for his songwriting on the tv show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

And it would be hard to overpraise his contributions to the Hugh Grant/Drew Barrymore romcom Music and Lyric. The core song of that movie, “Way Back into Love” is fantastic, both on its own and as a way of reinforcing the theme and advancing the movie’s plot.

But this is my favorite of his. Adam’s the bass player and backing singer, and these guys were a really great songwriting team. Fuck.

RIP, Adam.