If You Were in a Surf Video . . .

what songs or music would you want played to best exemplify your style, vibe, state of being, etc.?

1. So Fresh, So Clean - OutKast
2. Heroes - David Bowie
3. Yagga Yagga (You'll Suffer) - Dennis Brown
4. Ain't Wastin' Time No More - Allman Brothers
5. Resolution - John Coltrane
6. Can't You Hear Me Knocking - Rolling Stones
7. Sun is Shining - Bob Marley
8. Don't Let No One Get You Down - War
9. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - Gil Scott-Heron
10. Nothing Even Matters - Lauryn Hill

These aren't necessarily my favorite songs. They are, however, songs that fit my attitude about surfing. They're the songs I like to hear before a session. I've found that surfing—as well as middle age and becoming a parent—is calming me down to the point where I can't listen to certain types of music anymore. There's no way I could listen to anything fast or hard before a session. That's just not what I'm about anymore. That's why you won't see Bad Brains, Ice Cube, Public Image Ltd., and things like that on the list. Music like that still interests me, but only on land. My time in the water is all about calming down. This is why song #9 is not Public Enemy's "Fight the Power"; that song turns me into a Black Panther. I used to be much more militant when I was younger. Now, like so many of us in our 40's, I'm too tired to be militant. I see that militancy served a purpose, but failed to accomplish much. The music I listen to now reflects the fact that I've . . . (sigh) . . . mellowed. I think the fact that I surf a longboard shows that I've mellowed. The Surfsister who raced bikes would have loved shortboards. That's why I thought I'd be surfing shortboards eventually. I finally recognized that I'm not intense enough to race bikes or surf a shortboard. I used to be. And now I'm not. That's just life. Perhaps, as I creep towards old age, that intensity will return in some form or another. I doubt it though.