Podcast: Download (Duration: 46:07 — 70.5MB)
Seven years ago, I embarked on the journey that has become Getting Work To Work. I have talked with people worldwide across many industries, but Neal Morse is the one name at the top of the list year after year. I never thought I’d get to talk with one of my heroes. But guess what? Today is that day.
Neal Morse is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and creative cross-pollinator who not only makes epic progressive rock concept albums about the lives of Martin Luther, the Apostle Paul, and Jesus but also brings his creativity to multiple projects including NMB, Transatlantic, Flying Colors, and D’Virgilio, Morse, and Jennings. In this conversation, Neal and I explore song lyrics he’s written over the years centered around creativity, spirituality, business, and the future. He also shares how he creates with a focus on limitless possibilities and abundant creativity, the challenges of writing for different projects, how faith plays a crucial role in his creative process, and his approach to business over the years. Most importantly, we talk about the spiritual power of music and how it can connect with us at a soul level.
Lyrics Referenced in the Conversation
Ready to Try from Testimony (2003): “I drove out to Nashville in the pouring rain with revolution in the air.”
That Crutch from Songs from the Highway (2007): “A crutch doesn’t have to be bad or odd, it’s whatever we lean on instead of God, Oh it’s been so long it’s been part of your mind, and you can’t imagine how you’ll survive.”
Crack the Big Sky from Day for Night (1999): “Let’s make stuff we can’t live without.”
Wear the Chains from Songs from November (2014): “The dreamers all got day jobs, their imaginations fill the corporation halls, the stoners have now hit the big time, special parking for their Porsches, has replaced the rebel torches, that used to burn inside their minds.”
A Change Is Gonna Come from Troika (2022): “Revolution will not fly, seems like the dream we had is gonna lay down and die, but I keep rememberin’ somethin’ I heard, how history is movin’ toward what’s righteous and good.”
Show Links
- Radiant Records
- Neal Morse discography on Wikipedia
- Ready to Try from Testimony (2003)
- Shine from Kaleidoscope by Transatlantic
- That Crutch Live in Culjk
- Welcome To The World by The Neal Morse Band
- Crack the Big Sky from Day For Night (1999)
- Wear the Chains from Songs from November (2014)
- A Change Is Gonna Come from Troika by D’Virgilio, Morse & Jennings (2022)
- Paul Simon – Seven Psalms trailer
- Rockfield – The Studio on the Farm
- The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin with Neil Strauss
