My Job

Everybody's job is important. I guess the secret to happiness, if there is a secret, is to do what a kid would do. Didn't you love to dream and play the role of a hero? Remember running and pushing in line? I just loved to sing and show off and dress up in ridiculous outfits. That's what I do. Oh, it doesn't pay much. I made more doing this when I was seventeen years old than I do today. Of course it was more fashionable then. I'm not complaining.

It made me nervous for years. I remember reading an interview with John Lennon, in Playboy I think, where he said that he threw up before he went onstage every night. That made me feel better. Made me think that it was an important part of my occupation, proof that I was working hard.

Once, on tour in Europe, Germany I think, it all went away. It dawned on me that I'm just Ronny Elliott. That's my job. It's hard to get it wrong. I can get as nervous as I want but it's just not gonna get any better. Or worse.

Oh, every now and then I'll get a little anxious waiting to go on but that's really just pent up energy. I get to sing my heart out and give my love to anybody who'll take it. I write songs as gifts for folks. I suppose the fact that they don't make me any money shows what they're worth in dollars and cents. That's okay. It's all I've got. I get to share it all with you. I guess I'm about the luckiest guy there is. There are folks all around who need your love and your help. Do yourself a favor. Give it to them.