Month: February 2026

Music…

Here Without You

Away from the Sun

3 Doors Down

and Words

A hundred days have made me older
Since the last time that I saw your pretty face
A thousand lies have made me colder
And I don′t think I can look at this the same

But all the miles that separate
Disappear now when I’m dreaming of your face

I′m here without you, baby
But you’re still on my lonely mind
I think about you, baby
And I dream about you all the time

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

A few days ago, I observed news stories as they rotated through the carousel on my home page.  As I watched the images, I saw a picture that I recognized.  That was the picture of the vocalist for ‘3 Doors Down’, and the story was that he passed away.  I clicked on that link.  Brad Arnold died from cancer at age 47.  I honestly don’t know much about the band, nor did I know the vocalist’s name.

I’m not sure precisely when I started to listen to 3 Doors Down, though a band name with a number amuses me (as did Matchbox 20).  I imagine that I first heard their music on the radio, but much like anything, listening to music is strongly mood-driven.  Eventually, several songs caught my attention, and I picked up this album, ‘Away from the Sun’.

Continue reading “Here without him” →

Music…

Far Behind

Candlebox

Candlebox

and Words

Now maybe
I didn′t mean to treat you bad
But I did it anyway
And then maybe
Some would say your life was sad
But you lived it anyway
And so maybe
Your friends, they stand around, they watch you crumble
As you falter to the ground

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

Shortly after I had arrived at Microsoft in 1991, I sat in my mentor’s office while we debugged an issue with audio playback.  It was one of the older Microsoft X-shaped buildings (numbered 1-6); they have since been torn down.  Curtis’s office was a window office in the middle of the wing; it overlooked plants that gave fair cover from the outside.  He also had several lush plants in his office.  These were the days before music streaming.  His L-shaped desk had two drawers filled with CDs, and that’s how we played music.  He introduced me to this tune, ‘Far Behind’ by Candlebox.

In complete honesty, I was lukewarm to grunge music.  I suppose that I was skeptical that any band from the Seattle area that managed to put out an album should implicitly get recognition.  It might’ve been an exciting time, living in the Seattle area, right around the birth of this music movement.  However, I never really engaged with the music scene.  To this day, I don’t own any Mudhoney, Soundgarden, or Pearl Jam.

Continue reading “The mind of my tormentor” →