Chords for The F#%cked Up Musician

[A] Today I want to talk [Am] about the weird mentalities that some musicians get [B] into.
Disclaimer, not everyone is like this.
These [Bb] are merely traits that I've seen in myself at times and [Am] noticed in others too.
The purpose of this video [Ab] is not to finger point [Am] or shame anyone.
I want people to realize that these thoughts [B] and feelings are normal and okay to have.
What's not [Bb] okay is to lie to yourself and pretend they don't exist,
[Am] and it's not okay to start acting on these things.
[Ab] So let's look at [Am] the unhealthy mindset that some musicians get into,
[B] why this happens, and what we can do to prevent it.
I think [Bb] the root of a lot of the emotional problems that we have is [Am]
insecurity.
All musicians, all [Ab] people deal with this,
[Am] and the more we address it, the more we can come to terms with it.
Take [B] for example, the reason why many of us picked up guitar [D] in the first place.
We think that that piece of wood and those metal [Am] strings is the coolest thing in the [D] entire world.
[Am] At least I did, and I still do.
One of the motivating [B] factors in learning guitar for me was that I thought it would increase my [Dm] coolness.
The girls would come flocking and legions of fans would [Am] worship the sounds I made.
[Ab] Something in me desired that [Am] because at age 13, I wasn't totally confident [B] in myself as a person.
As I've gotten [Dm] older, I've realized that self-worth comes from so much more than just an instrument.
Of [Am] course, there's others out there who picked up [Fm] music for a [A] variety of different reasons,
but [Am] come on, the idea of learning guitar to impress [B] the ladies is not a foreign concept.
That's just one [Bb] example, but we can see the idea of insecurity rearing its [Am] head in so many different ways.
Take for [E] example, Schuydenfreude, the [Am] pleasure in seeing others fail.
And whatever [B] the opposite is, the displeasure in seeing others [A] succeed.
And man, this is one that I can totally relate to.
I've been [Am] on the receiving and giving end of this.
[Ab] I've known a number of people [Am] who've gone on to great successes in the music industry,
[B] which has always been something that I've deeply desired for [Dm] myself.
I'm not proud of it, and maybe you can relate to this,
but my [Am] natural reaction when seeing others succeed [Ab] was negative, [Am] pure jealousy.
I would find a way to convince [B] myself that their success was undeserved
or just not all [Dm] that impressive to begin with.
And that made it possible for my [Am] ego to deal with other people's triumphs [Ab] while I wasn't [Am] having any.
And now that I've had my own small successes on [B] YouTube,
I've noticed people who are normally in my court throwing shade [A] on what I do.
So what can we do to deal with this?
For me, [Am] first and foremost, I would keep it to [E] myself,
not going around [Am] social media posting something that I would later regret.
[B] And a big realization for me was that just because [Dm] someone else is doing well in life,
by no means diminishes [Am] my chances of success.
Quite the opposite.
[Bb] Having a network of [E] people who are doing really well only [A] increases my chances.
And [A] if you flip this around, you [Bm] wouldn't be really happy that someone you knew [A] got cancer
because that [Em] meant there was less chance that [G] you would get it.
It's ridiculous.
[B] So there's really no reason to [Am] be unhappy when you see others succeed.
[F] Speaking of [D] success, there [Ab] are ugly [G] traits that you see
[B] in people who are really doing well in [D] the music industry.
That's when [Em] musicians [E] think that they're above their [A] fans.
If my record [Bm] label has me [G] recording some fluffy bullshit that I [B] hate in order to make money,
_ [C] I can see why some might feel [Cm] above the people who buy those records.
[Em] Even if those people are the ones [Db] responsible for their fame and fortune.
On the [G] flip side, now and then I think you get [A] some musicians
[Em] who let the praise and accolades get to their head a bit.
[Cm] I run a small YouTube channel,
and [G] I'm fortunate that [Am] you guys leave me some [Bm] really flattering [Bb] comments,
_ [Am] as well as the [A] occasional really awful [Cm] one.
[Eb] So if I was a legitimate [B] celebrity,
and I [Am] was getting that attention and [B] special treatment in every [Em] aspect of my life,
[G] I can [B] understand how some might think they [Am] can get away with things that the ordinary [F] person [D] can't.
Their [A] vision of the [E] world is so twisted because no one ever [A] told them no,
that they [G] start thinking it's okay to do [E] things that [G] we would find appalling.
To combat this, I think you need to keep yourself [B] grounded with real relationships.
[Am] I'm pretty sure if my ego got out of control,
[Cm] my hockey team would bring me down to [G] earth [F] real quick.
And [B] that's the kind of locker room talk you should be having.
[G] Another stereotypical trait among [B] those we deem rock [Em] stars
is the alcohol and drugs that come with [Cm] it.
Now I'm not for [Eb] one second going [G] to pretend that I can [Am] capture
the complexity [Bm] of addiction [Bb] in a vlog like [C] this,
but I'm going to try to weigh in with my [G] experiences.
When you're on stage playing to a [Am] huge amount of people who came out [A] to see you,
[C] _ [G] you feel pretty amazing.
It's [D] special, and I've only [B] really [Eb] experienced this a handful of [Em] times,
but you feel like [Cm] a god.
But then the second encore [Em] ends, [Dm] you walk off [E] stage, [A] and you steadily [G] deflate.
However, you know what's an [B] easy substitute for that [G] feeling?
[Em] Booze and drugs.
They can [G] either make you forget about that emptiness,
[B] or [Ebm] replace it with something else.
[C] Now before you start worrying about me, [Cm] don't.
I've just found myself [Bm] drinking beer alone on a couch a [A] couple times.
[G]
However, I could see [B] how if this was happening on a [A] regular basis,
it could [E] lead to some darker [G] things for some.
[A] Going from the boredom that [Em] often accompanies [D] touring,
to [G] being front and [E] center in the spotlight,
[A] all in a couple hours, [E] can mess with you a bit.
I get why people might try [A] to just maintain [D] the rush.
Now I [G] mentioned this [E] idea of emptiness, [A] and it's a [D] strange thing.
It used to make absolutely [E] no sense to me,
why [A] so many [G] successful musicians and YouTubers _ [E] seem so [G] miserable.
They had everything that I wanted, the one [Am] thing that would truly make me [Em] happy.
But then it dawned on me that that [G] mindset that I had was in [D] itself the problem.
[G] Fame and success in music is like a significant other.
[C] You can't place [Gm] all your emotional well-being on it.
You have to be a [Am] happy, well-adjusted person to have a good [D] relationship,
_ [G] be it with [F] fame or a partner.
[Am] I used to think if I could just [G] hit 10,000 subscribers, I'd be [Gb] happy.
[D] And then it happened, and I felt no different.
_ [Bm] 25,000 came [Ab] along, and [Am] I felt [G] no different.
I realized you need to find [E] happiness in the broader [Am] aspects of life.
[D] Success will complement [G] it, but it [E] won't create [A] it.
And by the way, [C] the large influx of you who've [G] come by lately, I'm [A] incredibly grateful.
But if [G] that never happened, and [Eb] no one ever [C] subscribes again, _ I'll still be [G] okay.
Please don't [E] let that be the case.
The last [A] thing that I want to look at is the [G] dichotomy of our egos.
How we can [B] somehow [C] simultaneously go back and forth [Bb] between thinking
[D] we're gods of [E] guitar and thinking we're [B] terrible.
It's a [Am] bipolarity that I've seen [D] in many musicians, including [G] myself.
There was a while when I really didn't enjoy watching great [Abm] guitar players.
It [Bm] would crush my [C] ego, but I've since learned to deal with it [Gm] in two ways.
[Bm] First, you can use that [A] feeling as [D] motivation to learn something from a [G] better musician.
Say [Em] Derek Trucks [Am] crushes any [Bm] semblance you have [G] of self-confidence with one solo.
I wouldn't blame you.
The guy is goddamn incredible.
But no one wins if you say, [Bm] forget it, I'm done with [E] guitar and go boot up [C] the PS4.
It [D] is beneficial [G] to say, wow, this guy's incredible.
[C] I'm going to learn that solo [Gb] note for note so [Gm] I can get one step closer [E] to that.
The other thing [A] is that you need to [D] realize no one can [Dm] do you better than you can do you.
[G] Which sounds like _ [E]
stereotypical motivational [Am] drivel, but [D] it's true.
You are the most [G] qualified person in the entire [A] world to create the sounds
[D] and ideas that you have in your [G] head.
In conclusion, [Ab] I think we need to be honest [Am] and real with [Bm] ourselves.
[D] Everyone has [G] ugly elements in their character, and I don't think we can see [Db] that as a bad thing.
What [E] is bad is ignoring those [G] things until they manifest in your [E] subconscious
and you start [Am] acting on them.
Trust me, negativity [G] rarely brings [F] anyone down but [C] yourself.
I'm SamuraiGuitarist, [D] and I hope you enjoyed me channeling my inner Dr.
Phil.
If you're new here, please hit that subscribe button.
[Bm] And if you'd like to become involved in [Am] supporting this [C] channel, please check out my Patreon page.
Thank you [E] all for watching.
I've got a new video [A] next week, so I will see you all again soon.
_ _ [G] _