10 Days To Dudes: "Chutes And Ladders" (Outtake from Indiana)

There is a wonderful time in a romantic relationship that is commonly referred to as The Honeymoon Period. When human beings fall in love with each other, very specific chemicals and hormones are released into the brain and body, jacking up our serotonin levels and generally making us goofy and slightly unpredictable. This period can last from three months to a year.

This may or may not explain the motivation behind a song that attempts to proclaim a deep and undying love by explaining away questionable past actions and employing a very loose metaphor involving a children’s game. To the creators of “Chutes and Ladders,” I offer my humble apologies.

I met my first wife, Natalie, in September of 2002. We were married just over one year later. At the time, I relied heavily on the songs I wrote for the expression of sentiments that I was too cowardly to convey in actual conversations. To me, this was a charming manner in which to behave. It seemed especially appropriate to The Honeymoon Period.

Almost a decade later, “Chutes and Ladders” sounds fun, if a little foolish. I realize now that I enjoyed playing the fuck-up back then, that it was an integral part of how I presented myself to Natalie: An incorrigible man-child who was up for being redeemed by her sweet powers of persuasion. At the time, it did not occur to me that I was also handing her a tremendous burden to carry and signing her up for a job that no one besides me was really capable of doing.

That said, “Chutes and Ladders” is a funny little song, and new love is a funny little thing that generally makes fools out of all of us. For some reason, the Honeymoon Period seems to get the most ear time in popular music, narrowly beating out the Break-Up for the ‘All-Time Most Written-About Period In A Relationship Award.’ All of the in-between stuff… Reality… never seems to be as catchy.