No, I’m not giving up the writing business. It’s simply the title of this tune. My wife once said, “This is a good summer song!” and I knew exactly what she meant–the kind of tune you crank on your car stereo while zipping along the road with the windows rolled down and the warm air blowing in your hair. Or something like that.

The tune is a bit funkadelic for my usual fare, but I love it for it. Wa-wa effects, funky solos, a disco guitar rhythm, back-up vocals cooing “oohs” and “ahs”–hell, there’s even a tambourine in there! All those years of listening to Beck paid off, I guess.

The lyrics provide an ironic contrast to the happy sound of the music. After all, it is a song, as the title suggests, about struggling with addiction. I had my own bit of fun dealing with the experience years ago. Nothing glamorous, but I certainly got a taste of it (several tastes, actually, over several attempts) when I quit smoking. There is a certain kind of hopeless apathy that comes with giving up a bad habit, a feeling that’s probably the biggest hurdle to overcome. I’m certainly glad I did.

LYRICS

Quitting

Every time I try to leave, walk out,
There the itch goes calling out to me,
Offering promises of more.

Opening the top to crawl inside and hide
Is the most natural thing to do;
Everyone is aching for womb.

Deep in your bones, you feel it’s gone; move on.
Fascination never comes for free,
Limited purpose isn’t wrong.

Even though I seem to try so hard,
It really doesn’t matter at all.
It really doesn’t matter to me.

The greatest curse you’ll ever face
Is falling into thinking it’s gone,
It really doesn’t matter at all.

To listen to this tune, click HERE. To download, right-click on the link and select “Save Link As.” For best results, apply headphones. Thanks for listening!

(Written, performed, and recorded by David Stahler Jr. All rights reserved.)