Story Behind The Song

In a way, "Flexibility Blues" can be seen as a peculiar fruit of the marriage of Waters' professional lives as college-level philosophy instructor and feel-good folk folk-pop troubadour. Waters wrote "Flexibility Blues" in 2007, while he was studying the Buddhist philosophy of not-self, doing psychedelics, the same year his regional jam-rock band Wasabi was voted 'Best Jamband' in Denver's Westword. It would take another 12 years, 100 songs, and 1000 shows around his home-town of Fort Collins -- a rural-leaning University-town close to the Wyoming border -- to make the connections needed to bring "Flexibility Blues" into existence. In 2018, his demos intrigued L.A.-based producer Justin Andres (Eric Burdon & the Animals, Little Monarch) and he was invited to come track in Los Angeles. With a dream-team of L.A. Session players, they produced three singles, working with references to the Father John Misty, the Beatles, and Hiss Golden Messenger. The recordings, and the joy of discovery they represented, inspired Waters to more fully devote his life to muse of creative rebirth, which he named the Sunrise Genius.

Song Description

"Flexibility Blues" playfully stretches into the realms of California folk-pop, zen singer-songwriter, and chill Colorado Americana. Masterfully produced by Justin Andres (Eric Burdon and the Animals) "Flexibility" was sonically inspired by both Surprise-era Paul Simon and Hiss Golden Messenger psychedelia. Acoustic guitar and ambient synths; a major-key, feel-good, Rocky Mountain high. The song takes the blues motif of losing the one you love into a quirky anthem for misfits refusing to fit into existing social ideals. and into a plea for mental health in an age where "We're all just animals / Living in the internet." The vocals, like the lyrics, are fun, feel good, and stress free.

Lyrics

I ain't no exorcist
I ain't no acrobat
I ain't gonna jump through hoops
My body wasn't made to bend like that
She's gone
Yeah she's gone away from me
If I made my mind more flexible
Would I be in this misery

I ain't no therapist
It ain't no accident
We're all just animals
Living in the internet
She's gone
Can't believe it that she's gone
Yeah she's gone away from me
Gone away from me
If I made my mind more flexible
Would I be in this misery

And I ain't no scientist
But I experiment
How much can I resist
Everybody place your bets
She's gone
I can't believe it that she's gone
Yeah she's gone away from me
Gone away from me
If I made my mind more flexible
Would I be in this misery
If I made my mind more flexible
Would I be in this misery
If I made my mind more flexible
Would I be in this misery