(If you’re wondering what this is about, read this.)

My five random words for today’s exercise are olympics, laser, coin, doughnut, friar.

Chosen word for free association: friar
monk, fish friar, chip monk, deep friar, band name

Exercise:

“Ladies and Gentlemen … from Schenectady, NY … put your hands together for … DEEP FRIAR!”

On cue, Francis walked through the stage fog and took up his position behind mic #3. The cheers grew louder as he and his band members emerged from the shadows onto the stage. His Les Paul hung heavy from his shoulder, the headstock angled toward the floor, stage lights reflecting from the chrome hardware.

It didn’t used to be like this. At one time, the words were the message, and Deep Friar, despite the punny name, wrote music that made people think. But these days, the message was lost. The music was still technical and challenging, at least, but after their fourth album (Friary Crash) debuted to lackluster sales, the record company had told them to lighten up on the lyrics. It had worked; every album since then had gone gold, and controversy over lyrical meaning disappeared.

And for Francis, so did the point.