Rich KruegeR

WHY LIFE AINT THAT LONG?

Not the fact…the album. And why now?

I have been wanting to make a real full-length properly recorded album forever and the stars finally aligned to permit the project going forward.  Initially there was little in the way of a plan.  But as things progressed it became clear what this record is about.

How does one move forward in the face of human frailties, foibles, frustrations, fears, and failings? 

How do you cope with the knowledge that we all lie to ourselves constantly just to survive, and with the clock always clicking?  

How does one maintain hope and work through depression and other miasma of life in this century, where stupidity and ignorance reigns supreme, and where each of us constantly failing to learn from our mistakes.

There is one fact that is universally held in common by all peoples on the earth and always has been and always will be. That fact is that some part of what any individual holds to be true, isn’t. And virtually all of the inhumanity men show their fellow men in some part stems from the great diversity of opinions on that first point. The goal must be equipoise.  Wittgenstein once said "Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen", which roughly translates to “If you really can’t say, try saying nothing”.

Each of us face the same paradox, like the characters in O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh”, that life without hope, even the false hope of "pipedreams", is unbearable.  It is the paradox of our times.  These themes echo through every song on this record.  They are all torn from my life.  “Just because you can’t step into the same river twice, don’t mean you're ever gonna quit trying.”

Cheers, RK