My body parts are still up for grabs for profiteering by the mainstream US healthcare industry, where I’ve very often been treated as an open, bleeding wallet. I could swear that wellness has absolutely nothing to do with the whole deal. Thus, Songs in the Key of Big C‘s visual artistic statement: Body parts on display, no head. A centerfold. And no times listed.

The front cover was shot just after arriving home from a biopsy done on my left breast. I had lightly scratched it, it bled, and it looked partly inverted for the most part. Not good. The doc insisted on a boob-smashing mammogram. No, thanks. Enter my old standby during all those times I’ve not had “proper” healthcare coverage: the black salve treatment.

The back cover is my left breast with the bandage off, post-biopsy.

If that turns you on, I understand there are vacancies in the Trump White House.

As for the inner fold, well, I always wanted to be a centerfold! I’ve been told by a few kind souls that my “boobs were too small” to be a centerfold…but apparently big enough for the cancer to find one of them, so there you go…

As well, note that there are no times or years listed, except for a tiny little P-line on the disc itself to let people know this is a 2019 release. The absence of time references addresses the significant loss of time one experiences when dealing with and healing from maladies as soul-depleting as environmental illness and cancer, both of which I’ve lost years to. There was a time when I stopped watching clocks and constantly checking the time, which revolved around my fear of not having enough time to do everything I wanted to do, to know everyone I wanted to know.

Interestingly enough, it was when I was in the zone, producing music, that I lost track of all time as well. In that, there was a lot of healing, as hours over hours would pass without my realizing it. The fear was on the shelf – right where it belongs.

Enjoy the music, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it, and Happy 2019!

Alison