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Love Is a Terrible Thing to Waste
This is the official music video for Love Is a Terrible Thing to Waste by the Southern California rock band the Ram taken from the EP/album, I Am Nowhere I Am Everywhere (released April 18, 2025). The single is out now on all streaming platforms.
VIEW ON YOUTUBE:
ABOUT THE SONG:There’s a few events that comes to mind when I think of this song, all the stories beckon back to some of my fondest memories while living as a broke artist in East Coast cities. I once knew NYC and Philadelphia like the back of my hand, but cities change. I’ve not lived there since the 1990s, which was a lifetime ago. When I lived in either city, I worked, but never had two pennies to rub together.
That was not a complaint, merely a statement about my income at the time, looking back, those were good times. It may be true that I’ve been robbed, ridiculed, beaten, and cheated, but never broken. These experiences made me who I am today: especially when I stood up for myself, and learned to recognize who my people were. My family, the creatives, the restaurant workers, the artists, the queers, the outcasts. With them I shared time with some of the most beautiful moments of my life. Many are gone, with respect to them, their memories, I wouldn’t change a thing. I know that each experience was a stepping stone to where ai am today.
I don’t know how I came out unscathed. I don’t wish on anyone the experience being chased down the street by an unsavory character in Camden, NJ, or doing the same in a Brooklyn subway, or on Fordham Ave in the Bronx on foot while buying weed. Nothing bad ever happened, I’ve gotten my ass kicked, but I never got stabbed or shot, and for that I consider myself lucky. Travel and life in our cities has taught me to love all people, be aware of your present surroundings, because tomorrow is not guaranteed. Nothing at all is guaranteed in life.
LYRICS:Take to the street to play musicGot my amplifier, open guitar caseAll of the hookers and hustlersGonna make em move, where they congregate
Let me tell youProstitution’s illegal but ya’d never know by the look of this placeMind you I’ve got no problem ‘cause I tell you LOVE, is a terrible thing to waste
Ask me where Im going, I’m going way down townAsk me what I’ll be up to, said I’m a gonna spread a little love aroundA little love aroundLittle love aroundLittle love aroundLittle love around
Playing myself some guitar, got a big old smile, right across my faceI’ve been out here for 3 hours, I think its about time, to smoke a jayInspiration she finds me, on a crowded sidewalk or just about any placeWhen I’m with her I hold her so closely ‘ cause I tell you love is a terrible thing to waste
Ask me where Im going, I’m going way down townAsk me what I’ll be up to, said I’m a gonna spread a little love aroundA little love aroundLittle love aroundLittle love aroundLittle love around
METADATA:Love Is a Terrible Thing to WasteThe RamUPC: 199080246245ISRC: QZHN52570341Release date: April 18, 2025ASCAP Work ID: T9275161847ASCAP Singer Songwriter IPI Number: 375350750ASCAP Publisher IPI Number: 375351159
ABOUT THE VIDEO:A few years back I took my brother Tommy to the holy ground (Ireland) as a thank you for being my big brother. I was raised with a piece of sod from Clifden in a case sitting next to the History of the Irish Race, by Seumas MacManus. It was a piece of the holy land, at least that’s what those of Irish ancestry call it. The case with glass doors was right by the Telefunken (our stereo), which played nonstop albums by the Clancy Brothers, the Dubliners, the Wolfe Tones, and so many folk singers of the era. My father loved that music.
In the video you’ll meet my brother Tommy. Most people I’ve introduced him to will tell me after getting to know him, that I’m a dickhead in comparison. They only thought I was cool, until they met him, which is hilarious. So needless to say I feel like I’ve won the lottery with having him as a brother, and thought a trip to Ireland was a great way to say “thank you”. I thought about trying to shoot a video that’s true to the lyrics, busking on the streets of American cities, and all the colorful characters in the process, but this trip to Ireland seemed more fitting. Here’s why.
Once we agreed to go to Ireland, we also agreed that to avoid drinking too much, we’d bring guitars and try to play every pub we went to. It was a stroke of pure genius to plan on plying music in pubs to avoid drinking, that’s for sure. It sounded like a braggadocios pipe dream, but we soon found out that people there absolutely love American Music, especially early country and rock n’ roll. We ended up playing just about every pub we went to, because you simply just don’t walk into a bar in Ireland with guitars and not play. Hopefully someday I’ll finish the documentary “Ireland or Busk”, but this is a little past of the good times we had.
Check out all the other videos from the album, “I Am Nowhere, I Am Everywhere” by the Ram released April 18, 2025.
ABOUT THE RAM:Mark “The Ram” O’Donnell is an independent American composer and visual artist based out of Carlsbad, California. He performs original, surf-inspired, West Coast rock-and-roll.
For more information about the Ram and his music, go to www.TheRamMusic.com
MORE INFO:I currently use DistroKid to get everything out to the streaming platforms, Disco for all sync requests, Bands In Town to list live shows, and Substack for just about everything else.
The Ram: Art, Music, Saltwater, & Snow, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theram.substack.com/subscribe
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By Prerecorded, mixed, and mastered local live performances by Ram, his friends, and family.This is the official music video for Love Is a Terrible Thing to Waste by the Southern California rock band the Ram taken from the EP/album, I Am Nowhere I Am Everywhere (released April 18, 2025). The single is out now on all streaming platforms.
VIEW ON YOUTUBE:
ABOUT THE SONG:There’s a few events that comes to mind when I think of this song, all the stories beckon back to some of my fondest memories while living as a broke artist in East Coast cities. I once knew NYC and Philadelphia like the back of my hand, but cities change. I’ve not lived there since the 1990s, which was a lifetime ago. When I lived in either city, I worked, but never had two pennies to rub together.
That was not a complaint, merely a statement about my income at the time, looking back, those were good times. It may be true that I’ve been robbed, ridiculed, beaten, and cheated, but never broken. These experiences made me who I am today: especially when I stood up for myself, and learned to recognize who my people were. My family, the creatives, the restaurant workers, the artists, the queers, the outcasts. With them I shared time with some of the most beautiful moments of my life. Many are gone, with respect to them, their memories, I wouldn’t change a thing. I know that each experience was a stepping stone to where ai am today.
I don’t know how I came out unscathed. I don’t wish on anyone the experience being chased down the street by an unsavory character in Camden, NJ, or doing the same in a Brooklyn subway, or on Fordham Ave in the Bronx on foot while buying weed. Nothing bad ever happened, I’ve gotten my ass kicked, but I never got stabbed or shot, and for that I consider myself lucky. Travel and life in our cities has taught me to love all people, be aware of your present surroundings, because tomorrow is not guaranteed. Nothing at all is guaranteed in life.
LYRICS:Take to the street to play musicGot my amplifier, open guitar caseAll of the hookers and hustlersGonna make em move, where they congregate
Let me tell youProstitution’s illegal but ya’d never know by the look of this placeMind you I’ve got no problem ‘cause I tell you LOVE, is a terrible thing to waste
Ask me where Im going, I’m going way down townAsk me what I’ll be up to, said I’m a gonna spread a little love aroundA little love aroundLittle love aroundLittle love aroundLittle love around
Playing myself some guitar, got a big old smile, right across my faceI’ve been out here for 3 hours, I think its about time, to smoke a jayInspiration she finds me, on a crowded sidewalk or just about any placeWhen I’m with her I hold her so closely ‘ cause I tell you love is a terrible thing to waste
Ask me where Im going, I’m going way down townAsk me what I’ll be up to, said I’m a gonna spread a little love aroundA little love aroundLittle love aroundLittle love aroundLittle love around
METADATA:Love Is a Terrible Thing to WasteThe RamUPC: 199080246245ISRC: QZHN52570341Release date: April 18, 2025ASCAP Work ID: T9275161847ASCAP Singer Songwriter IPI Number: 375350750ASCAP Publisher IPI Number: 375351159
ABOUT THE VIDEO:A few years back I took my brother Tommy to the holy ground (Ireland) as a thank you for being my big brother. I was raised with a piece of sod from Clifden in a case sitting next to the History of the Irish Race, by Seumas MacManus. It was a piece of the holy land, at least that’s what those of Irish ancestry call it. The case with glass doors was right by the Telefunken (our stereo), which played nonstop albums by the Clancy Brothers, the Dubliners, the Wolfe Tones, and so many folk singers of the era. My father loved that music.
In the video you’ll meet my brother Tommy. Most people I’ve introduced him to will tell me after getting to know him, that I’m a dickhead in comparison. They only thought I was cool, until they met him, which is hilarious. So needless to say I feel like I’ve won the lottery with having him as a brother, and thought a trip to Ireland was a great way to say “thank you”. I thought about trying to shoot a video that’s true to the lyrics, busking on the streets of American cities, and all the colorful characters in the process, but this trip to Ireland seemed more fitting. Here’s why.
Once we agreed to go to Ireland, we also agreed that to avoid drinking too much, we’d bring guitars and try to play every pub we went to. It was a stroke of pure genius to plan on plying music in pubs to avoid drinking, that’s for sure. It sounded like a braggadocios pipe dream, but we soon found out that people there absolutely love American Music, especially early country and rock n’ roll. We ended up playing just about every pub we went to, because you simply just don’t walk into a bar in Ireland with guitars and not play. Hopefully someday I’ll finish the documentary “Ireland or Busk”, but this is a little past of the good times we had.
Check out all the other videos from the album, “I Am Nowhere, I Am Everywhere” by the Ram released April 18, 2025.
ABOUT THE RAM:Mark “The Ram” O’Donnell is an independent American composer and visual artist based out of Carlsbad, California. He performs original, surf-inspired, West Coast rock-and-roll.
For more information about the Ram and his music, go to www.TheRamMusic.com
MORE INFO:I currently use DistroKid to get everything out to the streaming platforms, Disco for all sync requests, Bands In Town to list live shows, and Substack for just about everything else.
The Ram: Art, Music, Saltwater, & Snow, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theram.substack.com/subscribe