ODE to the singer/songwriter "WHOA!" (listening: Epitonic Downtempo Radio) When writing a great song, every songwriter or composer builds tension to *that* magical moment when every listener is on edge... in anticipation to hear "the prolific message" that will forever change their life! At *that* moment in the song, the listener needs something to grasp, and remember. Unfortunately, too many times, *that* magic moment is followed by the vocalist singing the empty and dreaded word: "whoa". Anticlimactic, and disappointing. Here's what happened last night... Take them there, and aurally smack their collective forehead with a hook... Just chillin' and truly listening some of my favorite CDs, a friend of mine and I, were groovin' and picking up on the groove, heart, and soul of each song. Feeling the force of gravity in each creciendo and decreciendo, one particularly well composed song built, and built, and built the tension more and more... and the time for the chorus and release were right *there*... then... the singer sang, "whoa". CRASH! Ouch. As listeners, that song had us bound, gagged, and tied, and on a delightful ride, just to let us crash to the floor with schardes of "what could have been". At the peak of anticipation, the artist has a unique moment to define a moment, a thought, an exclamation of notoriety. This particular local, indie-band personally failed me at that moment, and I felt a bit abused and empty. Successful use "whoa"... Don't get me wrong, there are some artist/vocalists in mainstream music that have been quite successful with "whoa". Let's call them "whoa-miesters". In this group... LennyKravitz, King'sX' Doug Pinnick, Prince, and Eddie Vedder come to mind immediately. Lesson to self... only use whoa as part of another word. If I insist on using "whoa" myself... have it be part of another word.. such as "whoa-man". Otherwise, leave the use of "whoa" to the professionals... and Keanu Reeves, of course. peace- seanrox