Birthday Gifts

Today, on my birthday, I’ve been given the gift of happiness. I’d like to pass it on.

“That was an auditorium of pure joy.”

—Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra Founder Art Bouton

(After a Doctor Noize & Lone Tree Symphony Show)

I’m starting a tradition of releasing a new single and video each birthday showing gratitude to the many people, places and things* who’ve gifted me my life. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 A Song is the joyous new Doctor Noize music video by my favorite director. Sidney’s music video is a love letter to the audiences and performers in my symphony shows and recordings from Europe to California over the years. It would give us a smile if you spent three minutes of your time on my birthday soaking in its big warm fuzzy feels and letting us give you a smile back:

Happiness Has Heft

When I told Sidney I was going to release this warm and cozy song about songs — one of my most popular singalongs in concerts — as a single, and I had footage from 15+ years of shows and recordings of it with orchestras all over, she instantly said: “I know what that video should be about.”

She said it should be about the reason I’ve always told her I still go on the road to perform: Because everywhere I go, I find a community that opens its arms to me for the moment and lets me be a part of it instead of an alien visitor to it. This gives me hope in humankind and culture, despite anything else going on. As much as I do onstage, the biggest beneficiary of these shows — intellectually, emotionally — is me. The audience gives even more than I do.

So while the song is about songs — a catchy little peek behind the scenes of the songwriting process — the video is about much more. Sidney’s simple story concept (which we returned to an empty concert hall to film additional scenes for at her insistence) gives it a totally new level of meaning and emotional heft. Also, I just wrote the word heft.**

The hunger for happiness and community is resonating. We’ve already learned about a diverse slate of reviews and interviews coming in for this release, from a prominent magazine known for interviewing authorities like Venus Williams, Mark Cuban and Chris Evans to deliciously eccentric ones like a chef influencer creating a recipe for a dish based on the comforting color and sound of 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 A Song. Together we can creatively brighten this world.

For those of you scared and sad about your kids growing up: It’s true, it’s melancholy missing those cute little ones who thought you were the expert in all things. But it’s also amazing to see them become the expert and create worlds of their own. A better world that we need. There’s beauty in the growing up process.

Credit Where Credit’s Due

While the original version of 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 A Song is on my Doctor Noize album Phineas McBoof Crashes The Symphony, this truncated version is the first vintage single from my upcoming Positive Energy! (The Music Of Doctor Noize) retrospective album. Its first brand new song single will be released in January, and the album itself will be released in February. That’s a little later than I initially said. Musicians…***

The full credits for 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 A Song are at the YouTube link above! Particular thanks to Kyle Pickett, who conducted performances in the video from Juneau, Alaska to Springfield, Missouri and truly helped create these shows; and George Mitsuoka, my incredibly kind and brilliant friend who filmed everywhere from Prague to Parker, CO.

We hope this video is a little gift to your heart today.****

Thanks for your time. Share positive energy. Go make the world you live in.

— Cory Cullinan / Doctor Noize

*Look, in other words, I really like nouns.

**See if you can define the word “heft” out loud in five seconds or less. I couldn’t, yet I know exactly when to use the word for maximum… heft. As my Doctor Noize “Grammaropolis” and “Punctuate This!” albums attest to, words are so awesome.

***Can’t keep a schedule with ‘em. Can’t hear meaningful music without ‘em.

****I am accepting virtual hugs on my birthday but no Bitcoin Ferraris please.*****

*****That is not a thing but maybe one of you should look into making it a thing.