Notes:

This week marks 10 years of weekly songwriting! That means that I've written, recorded, and posted a song every week for a decade. I am thrilled to pass this milestone, and extremely grateful for the love and support so many have shown this project over the years. To say thanks, I've compiled my favorites from Year Ten as a free download — just head to linktr.ee/mounteverestmusic and help yourself. As an extra special thank you, I've made all of my songs free on Bandcamp for a limited time. Feel free to browse my back catalog and name any price on any song you like, all the way down to $0.00. That's up to 523 free tracks!

These songs chronicle an absolutely dizzying decade — both in my life, and in the world at large. When I started this in 2010, I could never have contemplated the frightful crescendo the world would experience as I approached this day. Neither could I have imagined the highs and lows both great and small that have punctuated my experience, and the songs they inspired along the way. I have been living fully, at times for better, and at other times for worse. Thinking of it now, I am in awe.

This is a 2020 song. As I reflected on the decade, I found the past had become hazy to me beyond this year. Who were we before this? What has the year asked of us, taken from us, required us to sacrifice? Writing an anniversary song, I thought I might shoot for something triumphant. This is a bit more of a somber entry than I had anticipated. The note of triumph in the end comes from merely making it through so far. In 2020, living with it is victory enough.

I have too many acknowledgements to list. I will forget someone and feel awful. If you have collaborated, listened, shared a link, or liked a post, I'm so grateful and I keep doing this because of you. I am most profoundly indebted to my parents, Nancy and Gene, and my wife, Rebecca. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your stalwart love and encouragement.

Finally, please head back to linktr.ee/mounteverestmusic for one last acknowledgement. In 2015, when this project turned 5, some of my closest friends presented me with a beautiful album of loving Mount Everest covers called "The Biggest Damn Thing in the World". Stupefied, I cried with joy and gratitude when I heard it. I hope you love it too.

Here's hoping your decade hasn't totally sucked. See you next week!

~M.E.