The point is Phil, this is not the only life

I'm working on a new song. It's only half done, less than half done I suppose. It's about my favourite scene in Star Trek, the above screen grab is taken from it. It's from the original, unsuccessful pilot, "The Cage". In this scene, which is near the beginning of the story, Captain Christopher Pike is relating to the ship's doctor his weariness of his command, which has been made worse by a recent violent incident that resulted in the death of a crew member. There is wonderful dialog in this scene. Pike is musing with the Doctor about all the alternatives in life he may have and the Doctor is trying to persuade him to carry on as captain and not give up. The doctor's point, which Pike begins to see over the story, is that people need to keep challenging themselves and not give up, even if their challenges seem too much for them at the worst of times.

This scene is beautifully played and written. There is some definite dodgy moments in "The Cage", some of the production values are pretty bad by today's standards, but there is also some wonderful stuff too. I found out later that this was the first scene that was ever recoded for Star Trek. I wonder if they used this scene for screen tests and / or rehearsals, the two actors play it so well, they seem to know it well. I loved Jeffrey Hunter's more internalised and cerebral captain. I think Jeffrey Hunter could act William Shatner off the stage, on a good day, it's such a shame that he only lived to the age of 42.

Whenever I've been going through the worst of times in my career, this scene tends to rattle round my head. The song I'm writing, has the quote "The point is Phil, this is not the only life", which, like a lot of quotes that make their way into songs, is a slight misquote. The world weary Captain Pike seems to articulate some universal themes in this scene, it's like great songwriting, the best drama helps you relate to stuff that is happening in your own life, like going for a beer with your best mate and being able to pour hour heart out and realising that you are not the only one that has these issues in your life. There are so many other beautiful potential quotes from "The Cage", I think I'll try to capture more for the lyric.

Having had one go at the music today, I think I'll sleep on it for a bit. I like my verse chords, but the chorus, which I usually write first, sounds too much like a song I wrote last year called "Ferdinand the Bull", bugger. I also dropped another plectrum in my acoustic guitar and it took ages to get it out, I'm always doing that. I wonder if John Lennon used to do that?