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For most writers, turning that tongue-twister into
a nimble lyric would lead to exhaustion, if not defeat.
But Mraz, a supremely gi ed wordsmith, used them
as the song’s anchor; they determined the song’s
rhythm and inspired its rhyme schemes. “ at’s real-
ly what Buddhists have been trying to do this whole
time: Roll up their sleeves and help end human suf-
fering,” he says of the blessing. “It gave me something
to write in my journal, which is how I end my own
personal su ering. I sit down, I write, I make things up.
You go from zero to creating; you go from emptiness to
feeling like you have some worth.
“So I’m writing that phrase, ‘May you have aus-
piciousness and causes of success,’ which has a nice
groove to it already. I think, ‘Well, let’s try to clone
this phrase,’ and I wrote it over and over again.”
Soon enough, a song was born—although it
never made it onto his previous release,
Yes!
,
in
. A er lying fallow, it blossomed into
its full potential this year. e
tashi delek
translation kicks o “Have It All”; the zip-
py ditty that follows is really a succession
of blessings, some quirky (“May you be
as fascinating as a slap bracelet”), many
profound (“May the best of your to-
days be the worst of your tomorrows /
And may the road less paved be the
road that you follow”).
It’s classically sunny Mraz in senti-
ment. Sonically, it’s a mashup of patter
song and pop tune. It’s even got echoes
of his rst big hit,
’s “ e Remedy,”
which also ies by with a driving beat and
above-the-speed-limit lyrics, the kind that
demand repeat listens in order to appreciate
their depth.
Like the other nine tracks on
Know
, the philosophy
behind “Have It All” is very “on brand” for Mraz. As he
happily acknowledges, he’s well known for “wedding
songs and friendship songs, songs that bring you into your
heart and remind you to live in the moment and experience
peace on earth.” So the new album has plenty of love, in
all its forms, from irtatious to romantic to bene cent. Of
course, it’s got classic Mraz wordplay too. (His facility with
a phrase echoes the storied likes of Cole Porter, Andre
,
and Lin-Manuel Miranda.) e new songs are easily acces-
sible to rst-time listeners while o ering a few surprises for
longtime fans.
Take “Might as Well Dance,” which adds an über-catchy
country-funk groove to his sonic oeuvre. “ at song was
a love song I originally wrote for my wife,” Mraz says. (He
married Christina Carano in
.) “Once I started to pick up
the tempo, it became something else.” But a visual reminder
of its roots comes with the fun-loving “Might as Well Dance”
video, which incorporates photos and video from their
beautiful outdoor wedding.
RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 20 – SE3TEM%ER 2, 2018
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