Ainslie Henderson
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9/12/2009 12:39:31 PM
Gratitude/sticker glue department of Columbia Records
"Hello, is this Columbia Records?, Yes, I'd like to talk to the
person who chooses the glue for the stickers that are stuck
on the front of the CD's please."
It's been three years since Growing Flowers by Candlelight was
released. I don't remember exactly what I was thinking while making
it; I remember some pretty magical feelings around it. I'm still
figuring out how songs are written. Do you ever try to look straight
at a star and it disappears? Sometimes I get scared and I put it all,
what I do and how to do it and what I've done and why, under scrutiny
and it turns to shit. You have to look just to the side of it to see
it. Following is as close as I can get. Sometimes I wonder if art is a
therapy in forgiving yourself for not quite managing what you'd like.
Maybe it's just like that for me. I like to walk around with half
formed ramblings on headphones and sing like a crazy man in the night
(oh don't we all love to think we're a bit crazy), now that's got to
be a chorus, right? Everyone talks about how they wanted to fit in in
high school. Oh how I wanted to be a misfit (that's got to be the
second line in the chorus, right?).
Anyway, this isn't what I wanted to say, I suppose I wanted to say
thank you. Tearing the plastic from a Leonard Cohen CD (one of those
incredibly cheap compilations with a mind bogglingly huge number of
great songs on), I got to the sticky foil seal that runs along the top
edge of the case. Peeling it off leaves that terrible claggy glue,
that no matter how much you rub, or clean, it never quite comes off;
bit's of hair and fluff will collect there. I'm sure I could use
alcohol, or meths or fire or blood or something, but the point is: the
stuff is too sticky. I got to thinking about how futile and absurd,
(and maybe for these reasons worthwhile and funny?) it would be to try
and find out who sources the glue for these stickers, and have a word
with them, explain that the glue needn't be so fucking sticky and
permanent, use the stuff that they use on the sticky yellow notes!
These people obviously aren't buying CD's, and they don't care. it
bothers me that you never get to talk to the people who make your
things, or disappoint you, or cause the tube to be delayed, or break
your pottery in the post. Nothing is personal, and no one is
responsible. How much better would you feel if next time you're
sitting in an airport lounge and your plane is delayed for hours,
someone arrived and said, 'hello everyone, I'm Chris, I'm really
sorry, this is my fault, this part of the plane is buggered and I
don't know how to fix it, and I've lost the manual, so I've called
John, he knows how to fix it, he's on his way, the traffic's bad, but
he should be here in an hour.'
Anyway, this isn't what I wanted to say, I wanted to say thank you,
because all this got me thinking about my own little record making
industry. And all you who've bought things from my site, have made
what's happening possible and how wonderful it is not to have a record
deal, that individuals write to me, and I send things to them. How
small and personal it can be, and when people complain, they complain
to me, and usually I can say 'well yes, I chose that glue, and yes, the
stickers fall off a bit, but I figure it would be better than having
bits of dust and flies work their way into the art work.' It's me and
a lovely lady who helps me, selling music that I make with friends
directly to you. I'm very, very lucky. Thank you all for your support.
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