The beginning of Jason Wozniak’s “Missing Piece” is like entering a storied jazz club, under new management.
You hear a smooth synth. The musicians, friends of the owner, have agreed to help set the stage for a revitalization of the establishment. You come in for a bit of conversation with a long-lost friend.
There are those friends who go out to “find themselves,” but it looks like they’re just getting more and more lost. You worry about them, you feel a sense of grief and loss on their behalf, but you know there’s not a lot that you can do, and you’ve got to let them go.
“Missing Piece” carries that sadness, bewilderment, and concern for a person from his past.
I’ve been catching up with you
But there isn’t much to see
We used to be close
I know it’s hard to believe
Then…
I hope
the changing doesn’t end in a disaster
‘cuz when we spoke
You told me growin’ up’s been hard to master
“Missing Piece” rings true, as a song that reveals a heart of concern and care for others. If you look up Jason on the ‘net, you’ll find that he doesn’t do a lot of self-promotion. Instead, Jason’s name more often shows up credited as a producer, or for the songs that he has written for other artists, or as a co-writer and friend, or as a part of his old band. Jason’s name even shows up in other artists’ interviews.
The musical maven of Nashville, Tennessee, has just quietly gone about getting a great reputation for doing what he does, and contributing to the whole community.
I can imagine Jason entering the jazz club at the time that he and his friend agreed on. He sees his friend’s same old car, from many years ago, in the parking lot, but with some added dents and scratches.
Jason scans the pub, but doesn’t recognize his old friend at first. When he does see his friend, Jason tries to hide a double take. A somewhat bedraggled and scruffy individual, clothing stained, button missing on a shirt, looks familiar. His friend is in a booth, a nearly empty bottle already in front of him, speaking a bit too loudly to the server, and seemingly the only one in the restaurant amused by the conversation. Jason slides into the booth across the table from his friend, who now realizes that Jason has arrived and enthusiastically grasps his shoulder with an unconvincingly bright-eyed and cheery “Hey, bruh! It’s been a minute!”
After spending some time with the menu and catching up on “What brings you back here?” and “What have you been up to?” and “How long are you around?”, Jason checks in.
… has it been everything you dreamed?
Did it answer all your questions?
Did you find the missing piece?
Sometimes, catching up with old friends is all great, and you start up right where you left off. At other times, it’s a bit of a shock. Maybe you want to reach out, maybe you want to support them in some way. Sometimes that can happen, too. But there are times when you just have to let a story play out. People can find it difficult to be vulnerable, or to admit that things aren’t all okay.
