the Idiot
and the Odyssey
This song, The Idiot and the Odyssey, illustrates the supreme importance of Title in songwriting. If I have a great Title, I will eventually find the song. I may get lost along the way. I may wonder down any number of blind alleys and rabbit holes. But if I have a great Title I can always find my way. I just need to keep banging my head against the wall. Eventually it all shakes loose and settles down.
So, sometime in the early 1990s I came up with the Title “The Idiot and the Odyssey”. That’s all I had. Believe it or not, I poked around with a quasi "country" song for a bit. I’ll share it if I can find it. It didn’t not work. But it didn’t work either.
So I started over again, and eventually the signature Eb minor piano riff came along with the words “Once an Idiot dreamed a wise man’s dream”.
This was clearly IT – a premise worthy of an Odyssey. But man, I was in WAY over my head.
I've changed the words to the last verse. However, it is still true that "many Idiots haunt a wise man's youth"
This section must sparkle with Athena's presence above the storm.
Some kind of archaic choir here - redolent of Ancient Greece.
THE IDIOT AND THE ODYSSEY
ONCE AN IDIOT DREAMED A WISE MAN’S DREAM
MET A GODDESS THERE
SHE SAID “FOLLOW ME”
AND HE DREAMED THAT THE ROAD WOULD BE LONG
FOR AN IDIOT
SAID THE IDIOT – “SHOW ME WHERE TO START
AND I WILL FOLLOW YOU
TO FILL MY MORTAL HEART
AND I SWEAR BY THE GODS
I WILL SAIL TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
TO HEAR YOUR VOICE AGAIN
RISE ATHENA
DANCE WITH ME
RISE INTO THE SUN
AND YOU WILL SEE SOME NOBLE THING
BEFORE THIS DAY IS DONE
RISE ATHENA
DANCE WITH ME
WE’LL DANCE INTO THE FIRE OF THE DAWN”
SO THE IDIOT
SAILED INTO THE SUN
STRUCK A GODLY POSE
SAID “LET ME BE THE ONE”
AND HE PRAYED TO THE GODS
AND THE STARS AND THE WIND AND THE WAVES
ROSE TO ANSWER HIM
“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
AND WHY SHOULD THE GODS NOT LAUGH?
SURELY YOU KNOW YOUR FATE
MORTAL MAN”
A PAIR OF STARRY EYES
AWAKE ABOVE THE STORM
WHEN THE WAVES CAME CRASHING ON THE QUARTERDECK
HE NEVER SAW ATHENA
NOW THE IDIOT WAS CAST UPON THE SAND
NOT SO VERY SMART
JUST A MORTAL MAN
AND THE GODS HAD THEIR LAUGH
BUT THE MAN TURNED AWAY
“GODS BE DAMNED – I KNOW YOU
WHO DO YOU THINK I AM?
AND WHY SHOULD A MAN NOT LAUGH?
SURELY THE CHOICE IS MINE...
RISE ATHENA
LAUGH WITH ME
LAUGH UNTIL YOU CRY
LAUGH TO SEE A MORTAL MAN
WHO’S NOT ASHAMED TO DIE
RISE ATHENA
LAUGH WITH ME
WE’LL LAUGH INTO THE FIRE OF THE DAWN”
AND SO THE IDIOT
DREAMED A WISE MAN’S DREAM
MET A GODDESS THERE
TOLD HER “COME WITH ME
AND WE’LL DREAM THAT THE ROAD WILL BE LONG
RISE WITH ME AND THE ROAD WILL BE LONG
YES I KNOW THAT THE ROAD WILL BE LONG
FOR THE IDIOT AND THE ODYSSEY
THERE IS NO END
THERE IS NO END
THERE IS NO END
YES I KNOW THAT THE ROAD WILL BE LONG
FOR THE IDIOT AND THE ODYSSEY
​
THERE IS NO END