Steemit Open Mic Week 79 - Nobody's Slave Nobody's Master - Collab w Ben Lee - Nathan Kaye
What will be written for your epitaph?
Have you thought about your death, your funeral, who'll be there, how they'll remember you and what they'll read on your tombstone?
My mother is a Tibetan Buddhist nun and one of the main practices is to visualise one's own death in order to come to terms with our mortality to eliminate fear around it to come to a deeper understanding of the impermanence of a lifetime. In this visualisation you see your friends and relatives mourn for you at your funeral, you read your epitaph and practice being unattached to your ego.
I was intrigued by this concept and wondered, not only what others would remember about me, but how I would affect my community, the people I met and the world overall with what I did in this lifetime.
What will you do in this life to make this world a better place after you leave?
Through this contemplation, I realised that one of my goals was to never enslave anyone with my beliefs, my behaviours and my actions and live my life being only the master of myself and not anyone else, by not being a slave to my thoughts and conditionings, nor be a slave to anyone else's indoctrinations, actions or behaviours.
What a better, safer, more loving and compassionate place this planet would be if everyone lived by that edict.
These philosophical musings were the fertile ground of where this song was birthed...
In this performance I am honoured to be collaborating with the brilliant Ben Lee @benleemusic
Instruments played -
Ben Lee - Acoustic Guitar played with an e-bow (a monophonic handheld electromagnetic bow); backing vocals
Nathan Kaye - Lead vocals; Lapsteel slide guitar (acoustic & electric pickups); Homemade electronic foot drums
LYRICS
Nobody’s Slave Nobody’s Master
By Nathan Kaye
Drifting along with the tide,
My actions as an innocent child,
I would hold the hands of a friend,
Too scared to swim in the deep end,
I wished I would be king of just me,
‘Cause I feared no one and no one feared me,
No one feared me…
I am nobody’s slave,
I am nobody’s master,
I am nobody’s slave,
I am nobody’s master,
We fingered rules in the sand,
And scratched them out with the other hand,
My laughter would scream wild and free,
‘Cause I feared no man and no man feared me,
No one feared me…
I am nobody’s slave,
I am nobody’s master,
I am nobody’s slave,
I am nobody’s master,
When I die and my body’s in the earth,
My soul returned to the place of it’s birth,
The inscription on my tomb you will see,
That I feared no one and no one feared me,
No one feared me…
I am nobody’s slave,
I am nobody’s master,
I am nobody’s slave,
I am nobody’s master,
©Nathan Kaye 2005
Original version released on the Burning the Candle EP, 2006
Thanks so much for commenting below
(because we're hoping you're about to ).If you felt the vibe of this song, or it's helped you shift perspective,
please do click upvote, click resteem, click follow and comment.
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There's a lot of introspection here.
I can see it really resonating with our large, anarchist community here.
No masters, no slaves. Amen brother.
Thanks heaps @mattclarke!
I hope the contemplation and message resonates with many, especially our recalcitrant community.
Bless ups!
(From before!)
Curse words all over the place in my head. Nathan, you're such a good writer and your energy is off the charts. I thought a couple of times you would levitate completely out of your chair and float away.
And I see the copyright date..my daughter was born in 2005, so it's hitting me in 2 kinds of ways right now, birth and death, the cycle through which we all travel. What do we leave behind for our children? What kind of world? It's up to us to guide them. Your message hit me hard and I thank you.
I know you and Ben certainly do your parts to better the world (OMG the falsettos as I'm listening for the 2nd time now, I can barely concentrate. Harmonies so heavenly.)
Musically, I WISH I could hit those high notes. Well, also the low notes and everything-in-between notes. You guys are amazing. Wish I could play like that. Wish I could even just say STEEMIT WEEK 78 .. like that with so much energy. Maybe the next time I do open mic I will mimic you. ("shoutout to nathan kaye for my abnormal burst of energy there.. wow.. that was out of control") ha ha. Seriously, though. I love your song so much, and love Ben's incredible harmonies, too. Thanks for sharing it!
Much love and Light to you both
♥serena
Thanks so much, lovely @paintingangels!
Your writing is great! I had a li'l giggle for the parenthesized joke. haha..
It's so heart-warming that you love my songs. Such an honour that touches me deeply.
How amazing are @benleemusic's harmonies and guitar parts... Just perfectly synchronised on his part. He has a brilliant ear for songwriting and arrangement so he knew exactly what to do with his additions to lift the song outta the ballpark...
Anyway, your compliments warm me inside and I want you to know that I really appreciate it.
<3
I’ve always loved this song & was completely wowed by both you & @benleemusic singing falsetto with those harmonies.. wow! What an awesome collaboration. X
I recognize this quote of yours from talks, nice to see the song it belongs to. 🌸 Good luck you both.
Yes, indeed @yidneth. I tend to repeat many of my philosophies through my art and various expressions...
I hope you enjoyed the tune...
Outstanding collaboration, gentlemen! I love the genuine contemplative philosophy explored here - and I find it most elevated. Let's hope that many will be enlightened by the underlying message resident in this rather powerful song. Nice one, Nathan!
Thanks so much, bro!
I find it a fascinating contemplation to ponder.
It certainly helps gain perspective, doesn’t it @passion-ground?
It’s such a big topic that can only be skimmed upon in a song, yet the power of music is that the rest of the philosophy can be felt in the cells and hopefully penetrate deeper than a small collection of words can in such a short time.
Anyway, I’m stoked you enjoyed it!
I just love what Ben added to it!
I've just done a cover of one of your songs on Pechi's cover-a-steemian!
Just exporting now, but I've gotta get to bed, so I'll upload it in the morning. It'll be up in about 5 hours.
I hope you dig it, buds!
I'll tag you @passion-ground!
Can't wait, man - Thank you! I'm so stoked, mate!!
That there's a good song.
Thanks so mcuh!
Absolutely Brilliant guys.... it needs nothing, not a thing... no more production of any sort...
Perfect
Thanks so much bruthaman @meno!
I glad it hit the right musical button for you mate... Blessings!
Awesome tune! Love the energy and the message!!
Thanks so much @otage! I appreciate that heaps!
Great lyrics, great performance, great accompaniment !!
I Love this.
Thank you so much @shelbi!
I’m honoured & touched that you love this!
Blessings and good vibes
Nice lyrics you have got there
Thanks so much @dorcasosas!
I'm honoured that you listened and connected to them.