Notice the Nudist - ODH original

[ODH]

A week ago today, I was driving home from work and I mis-heard a lyric on the radio as saying notice the nudist.  From that short phrase a verse grew and then another. I had to keep repeating the words so as not to forget them as I had no means to capture them.

When I got home I wrote them down and others that came. I had a short chord sequence I'd recorded a few days earlier. I began matching the words with the music and before long I had the makings of a song.   It's a bit allegorical on one level.

I added some fairly meaty keyboards in places, I've kind of neglected them of late.

I have an album's worth of songs now and this is now the title track (kind of, the album is called The Nudist).

Notice the Nudist
Hey were you in the park?
Did you notice the nudist?
Did you pause and wonder
How could he do this?
What was your reaction?
Were you shocked and offended?
Did it make you worry about
The messages it sended?

Were you ever tempted to
Contact the authorities?
How you really would have if it didn't
Conflict with your priorities?
Did you tell yourself that
If you were more blunt,
you might have the balls to
Engage and confront?

Did you overall find the
whole thing upsetting?
The direct challenge
From a stranger distressing?
Were you feeling indignant
Were you fuming or fretting
Worst of all knowing
You did nothing; you let him?

——-

Or did you roll your eyes
And just try to ignore it?
Pretend he wasn't there
Act like you never saw it?
Did he make you consider
The extent you conform
How you Go under the radar
How you stick to the norm?

——-

And did you look closer
Did you try to see?
What kind of person does this
Who could he be?
Deranged and disgusting
Or liberated and free?
Would it cross your mind
That the nudist was me?

[StephenM]

ok... this totally reminds me of:  Supertramp.  Crime of the Century...
not because it sounds like it per se.  Because the idea is similar.  The lyrical idea.

ok Nick... I think your track is brilliant.
the guitars remind me of very early Rush sounds.   Also many others.  It is a good thing.
you done good here.

[OdilonGreen]

The title almost sounds like a joke, but I liked how the lyrics were genuinely contemplative and thoughtful, and the music has an easygoing introspective vibe that make me want to just close my eyes and really listen. And think. I wouldn't mind if it went on quite a bit longer--maybe an even more extended jam at the end, or maybe in the middle followed by another verse--so I could lose myself in its rhythms and thoughts and movements.

[BerryPatch]

I love this! The laid back guitar chords and soft proggy synths. Sounds very early 90s to me, especially the the lyrics. Really cool delivery with your vocals as well.

[thetworegs]

I was in Berlin back in the 90's walking through a park in the summertime a little drunk when I came upon hundreds if not thousands of people nude  sunbathing congregating protesting  I don't know what they were doing but everyone was naked it was quite strange and I felt overdressed and out of place a few more drinks and I would of joined them but instead I just walked through them with a smile. The song brought that memory up from the depths.thanks Good one

[Ted]

A critique of passive conformity. Butthole Surfers with a dash of Lou Reed? It's wonderful. I like the synth line, which is a little unexpected, and takes it to new territory.

Story Time:

When I lived in Cameroon many years ago, I would occasionally pass through the city Bafoussam. As I entered the city, there would always be a buck naked guy just walking along with a big smile on his face, waving his arms to the sky as if this were the most beautiful day he'd ever lived. Except he had shackles on his legs, tied to a large log, preventing him from running or walking too quickly.

I told this story to some American friends, and someone responded with sadness. I asked why. The shackles, I said, are the price he pays for being able walk around naked every day experiencing joy. For us conformists, being forced to wear clothes and being deprived of that joy is the price we pay for not being shackled.

I've often thought that story could be developed into a song. Now you've set a high bar for this particular theme.