A soldier kneels at an airport gate. His little boy is crying into his shoulder. He tries to stay stay strong so nobody sees what he's holding back.

That's the moment "I Don't Wanna Leave" is built on. It's a song about the goodbye nobody wants to say, and about doing your duty anyway.

The story, from the gate to Baghdad
The song moves in the same order a deployment does.

The goodbye. The chorus says it plain: I don't want to go, but I have to. There's nothing I can do about it, and you know it. The post-chorus names why. It's duty.

The question nobody asks out loud. Right before the first verse, he wonders if this is the last hug. He says no. Then he admits he's not sure. Anybody who's been in that spot knows that second line is the honest one.

The flight. Verse 1 is the airport. He wipes the tears off her face while holding back his own, kisses her, turns around, and boards the plane. He smiles real big so she can't see the pain.

The landing. Verse 2 is the long night in the air. Worried, angry, confused, sad, all at once. Then the plane comes down and it hits him. This isn't training anymore.

The mission. Verse 3 lands in Baghdad. He has to switch his mind over to the job. He thinks about telling his little man that Daddy's going to work, and that's when the tears fall. He's on a mission, not sure he's coming back, and not sure why he's fighting. Back home the gas prices are still high and the debate over weapons of mass destruction is still going.

That last verse is where the song stops being only a love song. It's a soldier doing his job while asking the same questions the folks back home were asking.

The prayer in the middle
The bridge drops everything down to a whisper: "If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."

Most of us learned that line as kids, from the old bedtime prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep." I put it there on purpose. When a grown man far from home goes back to the first prayer he ever learned, he's handing the outcome to God because he can't control it himself.

Psalm 4:8 says it this way: "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety" (KJV). That's the peace the soldier is reaching for. Not a promise he'll make it home. Peace either way.

The sound
The track opens with nothing but vocal percussion. Boom boom bimp bimp. No instruments, just a mouth and a rhythm, like a soldier keeping time in a quiet barracks.

From there it's a soulful R&B and hip hop blend. The chorus is smooth and sung so it sticks with you. The verses ride the beat like storytelling rap. The bridge goes soft and spoken. Then the chorus comes back twice at the end, because that's how a goodbye works. You keep saying it and you still don't want to go.

Who did you have to leave?
Maybe you were the one boarding the plane. Maybe you were the one at the gate, or the kid who heard "Daddy's going to work" and didn't know what it meant yet.

Tell me your story in the comments. I personally respond to every one. And tag a veteran or a military family who needs to hear this song.

https://app.blocktunes.net/masters/pairmike_single_i-don-t-wanna-leave?ref=pairmike

Hey I'm DJ Yo!

I'm glad to be here. This my intro post to this community. Thanks for having me. If I can be of any help, let me know and I lend a hand.
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I started as a DJ many years ago, first on analog equipment and then on digital controllers. Then I learned to make beats and write songs. Next, I started learning how to produce and became an audio engineer. This progression taught me a great deal, but it took a long time.

However, from the very beginning, I was always fascinated by the music business and wanted to learn how it all worked. I figured it out, and now I’m a songwriter and publisher with ASCAP, a performance rights organization. I’m a self-publisher and have an administration deal to collect my worldwide royalties.

If anyone is interested, you can find my music here https://app.blocktunes.net/@pairmike/listen.

My linktree is: https://beacons.ai/djyo

I started as a DJ many years ago, first on analog equipment and then on digital controllers. Then I learned to make beats and write songs. Next, I started learning how to produce and became an audio engineer. This progression taught me a great deal, but it took a long time.

However, from the very beginning, I was always fascinated by the music business and wanted to learn how it all worked. I figured it out, and now I’m a songwriter and publisher with ASCAP, a performance rights organization. I’m a self-publisher and have an administration deal to collect my worldwide royalties.

If anyone is interested, you can find my music here https://app.blocktunes.net/@pairmike/listen.

My linktree is: https://beacons.ai/djyo

Does Nostr care about its musicians on the platform? If so, zapp some stats and following, listen, and share the following artists' music.

@Man_Like_Kweks @Joe_Martin @MAKE_SONGS_LONGER @Mike_Neumann_pci_pc2red @NoGood_️ @wavlake @DJ_Yo @Ainsley_Costello

A DJ Walks Into a Jazz Club

It started with a practice session

I'm DJ Yo!, and I'm a turntablist. Today I was practicing, scratching over a beat with some hip hop samples. Partway through, I hit record. When I played it back, I liked what I heard. So I decided to make some visuals to go with it.

There's a lot of controversy around AI these days. I wanted to put my own skills and creativity together with AI and make something people would actually appreciate. This is what came out of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqZVgqQmsrM

The vision

I pictured a DJ walking into a jazz club and getting invited to sit in with the band. A few of the band members didn't want a DJ messing with their craft. But the older bandleader wanted to give him a shot.

So the DJ came up on stage, set up his gear, and joined in as the band played. The crowd liked what they heard from the new member. Even the skeptical players started to vibe with the sound. By the end of the set, the DJ had won everybody over.

The point is simple. All kinds of musicians can work together, with whatever instruments and equipment they use, and make good music. Sounds a lot like the conversation we're having about AI right now.

How I built it without spending a dime (Well... I do have a Claude Subscription)

That was the vision. Making it real was another story.

I started with Claude. I gave it some direction, and we put together an outline and a process for building the storyboard. Its first suggestion was to generate still images with Nano Banana. I did, but I burned through my credits fast. I didn't want to spend any money on this video, so I had to find another way.

Next, I had Claude build a project I could hand off to Claude Code. I moved it to another workstation running Claude Code in VS Code, set up the project, and told it to find alternatives to paid AI tools. It suggested one, and that got me every still image I needed.

Then I added my original audio file to the project. Claude Code suggested rendering the video in a comic style, so I wouldn't have to pay for AI video generation tokens.

While I was figuring out my next move, I remembered I already had a project set up for making videos with Hyperframes, an AI video generator. So I imported the output and picked it up from there.

In Hyperframes, I produced the video and tried adding narration. I generated one, but I didn't like how it came out. I made a change or two and rendered the video as an MP4. Then I brought it into Reaper and added some text. Next, I plan to record my own voiceovers to tell more of the story.

Where I stand on AI

I believe AI will let creators make things that wasn't possible before. Real talk: I probably wouldn't have made this video without it. And if I had, it would have cost me a lot of time and money.

So I'm a proponent of AI. But I know it has unintended consequences. I don't want it to wipe out human workers by taking away their ability to earn a living. I know this is a contested and sensitive subject.

If you're worried about your job getting eliminated, start learning AI and get good at it. Start by building something or solving a problem. Any small project will do. If you're thinking you're too old, don't talk yourself out of it. You can do this.

If you're 40 or younger, AI has to be part of your skill set. Period. No excuses.

Your turn

Let me know what you think. Is AI a tool for creators, or a threat to the craft? Drop a comment and tell me where you stand.

And if you've built something with AI, big or small, share it in the comments. I want to see it.

This is awesome. I look forward to seeing how it progresses.