[Music]
if I asked you do you love life you’d
say yes right if I asked you love work
you’d say yes only if you love your work
and the people you work with you spend a
hundred thousand of your living hours at
work so the people you work with are
crucial to your overall love of life
some of you choose to work with legal
clients some with musicians some with
retail customers some with students I
choose to work with I’m a loser plain
and straight can’t hold a job can’t find
a mate him me you kidding I’m a dud
when I was born they named me mud you
can’t help me no one can five shrinks
have tried to failed me man I mean LCSW
that stands for light go on home you
social worker
I’m berserk but you’re a berserker
standing there so damned is sure that a
man like me can ever be cured
what cure is the destination let’s talk
about the journey a journey sure you
mean ten years of sessions where I vent
my fears and tell you all the sad and
gory details of my hard life story well
since I see you like to rhyme how’s this
I don’t ask ten years time just 60
minutes then we’ll see if I’m for you
and you’re for me fine one hour and then
with rue so long oh wow merci beaucoup
great and here’s what I propose you do
the rhymes all stick to prose prose and
poetry and a clinical assessment
interview why not
therapy is an art whose medium is
language just as language as the medium
of the plays and poems my dad writes
back when I started in social work it
struck me that the dramatic structures
my dad uses in his writing could inform
my approach to providing therapy that’s
the perfect word dramatic for my
behavior so erratic just when I’m
enjoying life I want to find a paring
knife and draw it hard across my wrist
or clenched my hand into a fist and
punch the mirror where I see a monster
staring back
‘my dad said all good drama is driven by
conflict a hero against an outside
antagonist like a fellow against Iago or
or against an inner antagonist like
Hamlet against himself Wow
you know your Shakespeare to be or not
to be
Hamlet keeps asking himself that
question and foremost the play can’t
answer it and when he answers it he dies
tragic hero you have like Moby Dick’s
Captain Ahab and like me but there are
other heroes you could be tragic ones
sure well there’s the comic hero like
Huckleberry Finn who raps through
confusion to get what he wants or the
epic hero like Ulysses who sails against
epic challenges to get what he wants
what do those heroes want what do you
want for starters a good night’s sleep
what’s preventing that damn clock
ticking but my dreams still wake me up
bad dreams
terrible hi bolt up in a sweat so many
of my clients war vets abuse survivors
refugees remain haunted by fear shame
and guilt they’re stuck in the residue
of the past like a dramatic hero stuck
on what my dad calls the old country you
know my biggest dream night of dreamless
sleep beautiful dreamer out on the sea
mermaids are chanting the wild lorilee
over the streamlet vapors are born
waiting to fade at the bright coming
more dramatic heroes exist in both plays
and real-life they just don’t know the
heroic at first they need to be drawn
out of their funk the lore can be a
startling revelation a sudden reversal
of fortune or a simple reminder of what
happiness feels like something that
engages the client on a personal level
might actually make him smile beautiful
dreamer beam on my heart being as the
moon on the streamlet and sea then we’ll
all clouds of sorrow depart
[Music]
beautiful dreamer awake unto me
rapport with the client is essential so
if he’s rhyming or quoting Shakespeare
or hanging with a social worker that’s a
first for me I’d go with the flow you
have a good voice so do you
the ships horn means it’s time to cast
off from the old country and sail for
the new if you’re willing what’s our
heading well today it’s towards knowing
you well enough to determine appropriate
ongoing therapy that’s an angry wild sea
out there it’s navigable I’ve sailed it
before you mean you’ve been in therapy
yes and that’s why I do what I do now
surprised
yes but relieved
– so hoist the mizzen sure why not
Anchors Aweigh where were you born my
mama had her little costs while riding
on a Greyhound bus any complication I
was blue because oh my lord my neck was
wrapped in my ability Lord family
history I was orphaned age of three
sawed right off the family tree
religious faith priests abused me there
enough said proof to me that God is dead
I ask about my clients education
employments medical issues my momma
whiskey did consume while I was nesting
in her womb my motor skills were thus
impaired clumsy child I was declared and
then one day when I was nine I fell down
stairs and cracked my spine ever since
my back’s been stinging right legs
Naumann ears are ringing I asked about
substance abuse current mental health
symptoms previous treatment social life
love life sometimes the client even
tells me his dream life I’m Captain Ahab
in my sleep who hunts the whale out on
the deep do you find him I’m still
hunting you’re a bold Seafarer you mean
a mad Seafarer mad with revenge against
Moby Dick for what for calling me stupid
you stupid when I was young – a so
decreed because I couldn’t write a read
but that was raw
it was more complex ik turned out that I
was dyslexic that assessment gave me
hope that I’d stop being called a dope
then however I was teased for being
mentally diseased finally I gave in the
greed that I was born a mutant breed the
view I could not controvert but I was
stupider than dirt you felt stupid but
today you’ve sung beautiful dreamer and
quoted Shakespeare in Melville that’s
really smart but I I still have dyslexia
and you’re still a shame wouldn’t you be
you fell down stairs when you were a boy
crack three vertebrae were you ashamed
no was an accident never get the flu we
all get the flu how do you feel the sore
throat aching joints fever 102 are you
ashamed
huhai flus not me it’s just the flu
right it changes how you feel but it
doesn’t change you nothing could change
me not even you well you’ve survived
your broken back your dyslexia and the
session with me I’d say your Purple
Heart is due well I wouldn’t refuse it
and you always get through the flu it
takes more to kill me than the flu oh my
god what if she blows who there she
breaches breach it lasts to the Sun Moby
dead weights I found him I gotta kill
him he’s not real he’s real I see him
he’s a metaphor you can’t kill a
metaphor
Captain Ahab couldn’t metaphors are
immortal as long as you keep hunting
them they never die about I kind of like
hunting it’s my obsession why it pumps
me up gives me a purpose makes me feel
alive for how long until I stop hunting
and then I start hunting again
for however if I have to it sounds
exhausting the hero’s got to do what a
hero’s got to do but why do you do this
who avenge what that whale did to me
where is the whale do you actually see
him out there yes get ahead wait
look at him I’m looking at him who is he
he’s a man with my hair eyes complexion
raise your hand what did he do
raised his hand to give him your hand
he’s giving me his own hand shake his
hand friends now no no he’s my enemy
look closer oh my god who is he he’s me
do you want to keep hunting him
No do you still want to kill him no not
even metaphorically
I don’t like metaphors anymore
not any of them well I still like
sailing but now just sailing not hunting
any prey the winds died down so it has
and the rain has stopped ku look the Sun
is a fireball the sky is turned red red
sky at morning sailors take warning yeah
but it’s not morning it’s the end of the
day red sky at night sailor’s delight
you’ve sailed to the banks of the new
land drop anchor go ashore till the soil
plant a row or two and when you want to
go sailing again your ship will be
waiting no more stormy seas the breezes
will be fair but the skies won’t always
be blue so still summer rough sailing
but you’ll be a more confident sailor
will I sail alone you won’t have to your
care providers your family friends
lovers they’ll be your crew and you’ll
be with me too if you want me to be
beautiful
dreamer out on the sea
mermaids are chanting the wild lauralee
[Music]
over the streamlet vapors are born
waiting to fade the bright coming more
[Music]
beautiful dreamer beam on my heart then
we’ll all clouds of sorrow depart
[Music]
beautiful dreamer awake unto me
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
if I asked you do you love life you’d
say yes right if I asked you love work
you’d say yes only if you love your work
and the people you work with you spend a
hundred thousand of your living hours at
work so the people you work with are
crucial to your overall love of life
some of you choose to work with legal
clients some with musicians some with
retail customers some with students I
choose to work with I’m a loser plain
and straight can’t hold a job can’t find
a mate him me you kidding I’m a dud
when I was born they named me mud you
can’t help me no one can five shrinks
have tried to failed me man I mean LCSW
that stands for light go on home you
social worker
I’m berserk but you’re a berserker
standing there so damned is sure that a
man like me can ever be cured
what cure is the destination let’s talk
about the journey a journey sure you
mean ten years of sessions where I vent
my fears and tell you all the sad and
gory details of my hard life story well
since I see you like to rhyme how’s this
I don’t ask ten years time just 60
minutes then we’ll see if I’m for you
and you’re for me fine one hour and then
with rue so long oh wow merci beaucoup
great and here’s what I propose you do
the rhymes all stick to prose prose and
poetry and a clinical assessment
interview why not
therapy is an art whose medium is
language just as language as the medium
of the plays and poems my dad writes
back when I started in social work it
struck me that the dramatic structures
my dad uses in his writing could inform
my approach to providing therapy that’s
the perfect word dramatic for my
behavior so erratic just when I’m
enjoying life I want to find a paring
knife and draw it hard across my wrist
or clenched my hand into a fist and
punch the mirror where I see a monster
staring back
‘my dad said all good drama is driven by
conflict a hero against an outside
antagonist like a fellow against Iago or
or against an inner antagonist like
Hamlet against himself Wow
you know your Shakespeare to be or not
to be
Hamlet keeps asking himself that
question and foremost the play can’t
answer it and when he answers it he dies
tragic hero you have like Moby Dick’s
Captain Ahab and like me but there are
other heroes you could be tragic ones
sure well there’s the comic hero like
Huckleberry Finn who raps through
confusion to get what he wants or the
epic hero like Ulysses who sails against
epic challenges to get what he wants
what do those heroes want what do you
want for starters a good night’s sleep
what’s preventing that damn clock
ticking but my dreams still wake me up
bad dreams
terrible hi bolt up in a sweat so many
of my clients war vets abuse survivors
refugees remain haunted by fear shame
and guilt they’re stuck in the residue
of the past like a dramatic hero stuck
on what my dad calls the old country you
know my biggest dream night of dreamless
sleep beautiful dreamer out on the sea
mermaids are chanting the wild lorilee
over the streamlet vapors are born
waiting to fade at the bright coming
more dramatic heroes exist in both plays
and real-life they just don’t know the
heroic at first they need to be drawn
out of their funk the lore can be a
startling revelation a sudden reversal
of fortune or a simple reminder of what
happiness feels like something that
engages the client on a personal level
might actually make him smile beautiful
dreamer beam on my heart being as the
moon on the streamlet and sea then we’ll
all clouds of sorrow depart
[Music]
beautiful dreamer awake unto me
rapport with the client is essential so
if he’s rhyming or quoting Shakespeare
or hanging with a social worker that’s a
first for me I’d go with the flow you
have a good voice so do you
the ships horn means it’s time to cast
off from the old country and sail for
the new if you’re willing what’s our
heading well today it’s towards knowing
you well enough to determine appropriate
ongoing therapy that’s an angry wild sea
out there it’s navigable I’ve sailed it
before you mean you’ve been in therapy
yes and that’s why I do what I do now
surprised
yes but relieved
– so hoist the mizzen sure why not
Anchors Aweigh where were you born my
mama had her little costs while riding
on a Greyhound bus any complication I
was blue because oh my lord my neck was
wrapped in my ability Lord family
history I was orphaned age of three
sawed right off the family tree
religious faith priests abused me there
enough said proof to me that God is dead
I ask about my clients education
employments medical issues my momma
whiskey did consume while I was nesting
in her womb my motor skills were thus
impaired clumsy child I was declared and
then one day when I was nine I fell down
stairs and cracked my spine ever since
my back’s been stinging right legs
Naumann ears are ringing I asked about
substance abuse current mental health
symptoms previous treatment social life
love life sometimes the client even
tells me his dream life I’m Captain Ahab
in my sleep who hunts the whale out on
the deep do you find him I’m still
hunting you’re a bold Seafarer you mean
a mad Seafarer mad with revenge against
Moby Dick for what for calling me stupid
you stupid when I was young – a so
decreed because I couldn’t write a read
but that was raw
it was more complex ik turned out that I
was dyslexic that assessment gave me
hope that I’d stop being called a dope
then however I was teased for being
mentally diseased finally I gave in the
greed that I was born a mutant breed the
view I could not controvert but I was
stupider than dirt you felt stupid but
today you’ve sung beautiful dreamer and
quoted Shakespeare in Melville that’s
really smart but I I still have dyslexia
and you’re still a shame wouldn’t you be
you fell down stairs when you were a boy
crack three vertebrae were you ashamed
no was an accident never get the flu we
all get the flu how do you feel the sore
throat aching joints fever 102 are you
ashamed
huhai flus not me it’s just the flu
right it changes how you feel but it
doesn’t change you nothing could change
me not even you well you’ve survived
your broken back your dyslexia and the
session with me I’d say your Purple
Heart is due well I wouldn’t refuse it
and you always get through the flu it
takes more to kill me than the flu oh my
god what if she blows who there she
breaches breach it lasts to the Sun Moby
dead weights I found him I gotta kill
him he’s not real he’s real I see him
he’s a metaphor you can’t kill a
metaphor
Captain Ahab couldn’t metaphors are
immortal as long as you keep hunting
them they never die about I kind of like
hunting it’s my obsession why it pumps
me up gives me a purpose makes me feel
alive for how long until I stop hunting
and then I start hunting again
for however if I have to it sounds
exhausting the hero’s got to do what a
hero’s got to do but why do you do this
who avenge what that whale did to me
where is the whale do you actually see
him out there yes get ahead wait
look at him I’m looking at him who is he
he’s a man with my hair eyes complexion
raise your hand what did he do
raised his hand to give him your hand
he’s giving me his own hand shake his
hand friends now no no he’s my enemy
look closer oh my god who is he he’s me
do you want to keep hunting him
No do you still want to kill him no not
even metaphorically
I don’t like metaphors anymore
not any of them well I still like
sailing but now just sailing not hunting
any prey the winds died down so it has
and the rain has stopped ku look the Sun
is a fireball the sky is turned red red
sky at morning sailors take warning yeah
but it’s not morning it’s the end of the
day red sky at night sailor’s delight
you’ve sailed to the banks of the new
land drop anchor go ashore till the soil
plant a row or two and when you want to
go sailing again your ship will be
waiting no more stormy seas the breezes
will be fair but the skies won’t always
be blue so still summer rough sailing
but you’ll be a more confident sailor
will I sail alone you won’t have to your
care providers your family friends
lovers they’ll be your crew and you’ll
be with me too if you want me to be
beautiful
dreamer out on the sea
mermaids are chanting the wild lauralee
[Music]
over the streamlet vapors are born
waiting to fade the bright coming more
[Music]
beautiful dreamer beam on my heart then
we’ll all clouds of sorrow depart
[Music]
beautiful dreamer awake unto me
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
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