<![CDATA[Max Norton]]>

<![CDATA[Max Norton]]>https://maxnorton.substack.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pMyD!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6be216e7-e040-40a3-8715-34e4aa81661d_954x954.pngMax Nortonhttps://maxnorton.substack.comSubstackThu, 03 Sep 2026 12:45:29 GMT<![CDATA[Flip the Switch]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/flip-the-switchhttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/flip-the-switchWed, 12 Aug 2026 02:07:29 GMTEveryday I keep telling myself and my companion: it’s time to flip the switch. What I mean by this is a great reset we are all thinking and know we need. It’s obviously coming, it’s a lame duck term. A complete waste of time for this planet. Throughout the history of our world and civilizations, we have always had great resets. They can be painful, but the alternative is stagnation and the end result usually brings hope. Look to the American Revolution. A time when the voice of the people was squelched, how did that work out for those thinking a peasant farmer couldn’t uprise? It’s time to flip the switch. It’s Common Sense!

]]><![CDATA[Buffalo Stampede]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/buffalo-stampedehttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/buffalo-stampedeFri, 10 Apr 2026 18:47:40 GMT

BUFFALO STAMPEDE

Cold cold river take me down

Cold cold river hallowed ground

Cold cold nights in the sky

Cold cold nights for you and I

Buffalo stampede through the night

Conquering their right

Cold cold river take me down

Cold cold river make a sound

Cold cold shiver on down my spine

Cold cold shiver on down the line

Buffalo stampede through the night

Conquering their right

Please deliver me down

Please deliver me sound

Please give me away

Please learn how to say

Buffalo stampede through the night

Conquering their right

Cold cold river I am found

Cold cold river hallowed ground

Cold cold nights where I lie

Cold cold nights for you and I

Buffalo stampede through the night

Conquering their right

Buffalo stampede through the night

Conquering their right

Out everywhere! 🦬🦬

]]><![CDATA[Artemis II]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/artemis-iihttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/artemis-iiThu, 02 Apr 2026 12:08:29 GMTYesterday was hope to me. Watching the Artemis II rocket propel into space from the backyard in Tampa, was complete awe with humanity. We ran outside as soon as the launch started and I was able to catch the last few seconds, right before the separation stages started and the capsule became a blip lost to the sky. Standing in wonderment and seeing the massive smoke trail left behind from the new rocket technology is a moment I’ll never forget. Numerous minds came together to create this exact moment. That is the power of intelligence and critical thinking. The human mind truly is the closest thing we have to understanding the origins of the universe and I hope one day we arrive there. It’s a marvel to behold. It’s obvious it stole the thunder from the reality show that presumed shortly after, because this is actually real and you can always feel real. It felt good to have hope and veneration for something authentic, even if briefly. The horizon was the star and so were all the minds that made this possible. We needed this moment yesterday. Godspeed Artemis II.

]]><![CDATA[Great Pyrenees, Sheepdog, and a Mini-Horse]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/great-pyrenees-sheepdog-and-a-minihttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/great-pyrenees-sheepdog-and-a-miniMon, 09 Mar 2026 04:16:15 GMTA Great Pyrenees, a sheepdog, and a mini-horse. Romping in the yard off the highway. I’ve never seen a happier setting. The mini-horse bouncing around, while the Pyrenees watches in the center as a farm manager. The sheepdog running laps around both, pure agility and acuity. Passing by in a blur, I wanted to live in this moment forever, because this is the real shelter from the storm. Animals teach so much. All walks of life, no discrimination. Their little trots of happiness could be felt for miles. The mini-horse knew he was safe amongst these ancient, domesticated wolves that are our best friends. The Great Pyrenees knew he was the gentle giant that nothing dares mess with. The sheepdog was the unbounded energy we all need to reinvigorate. The mini-horse was the reminder to never stop being humorous and childlike. I plan to make the trip again, just so I can drive past this small paradise on the border.

]]><![CDATA[Paradigm Shift]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/paradigm-shifthttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/paradigm-shiftSat, 07 Mar 2026 14:48:45 GMTEveryone has a microphone and no one knows how to use it. Everyday feels like we’re further and further away from being connected. We’re so connected and yet so disconnected. Constant scrolling to nowhere, while so many have to think of actually surviving. There’s an obvious paradigm shift happening. A new generation that represents a new landscape. Just look at the state of the world, not your country made of fictitious borders, but each geopolitical ideal that’s being upended by the thought of the future. Never in the history of the world has going backwards ever worked. If you’re not moving forward, it’s over. It’s one last hurrah before a new generation steps in. It’s always a rocky start, but the hope lies in the process of adopting of new ideas and real truth. Pass the torch it’s time.

]]><![CDATA[The Traveling Chess Man]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/the-traveling-chess-manhttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/the-traveling-chess-manFri, 06 Feb 2026 19:32:00 GMTMan: Would you like play chess, sir?

Me: Yes, let’s play!

Man: In chess, don’t you think every move counts?

Me: Absolutely.

Man: Everything is important. I’m a bit OCD, so let me fix all your pieces.

Me: Sure, no problem.

Man: I’m going to give you one take back, are you sure you want to do that?

Me: Ouch, that was the wrong move.

Man: In chess, you must force your opponent. He who forces your opponent wins. Let me fix your pieces. I’m a New Yorker, through and through. Do you live here?

Me: No sir. From Tampa, still live down south, thinking of moving here though.

Man: Do you want to buy some poetry?

Me: No thank you, I’m actually here to write too.

Man: Let me show you why I’m playing offense and forcing your hand. In chess, don’t let your hands do the thinking.

Me: Sometimes defense can win.

Man: Let me fix your pieces

Me: I shouldn’t have made that move, but we did trade for each others queens.

Man: I warned you.

Me: Did you? I haven’t played in years, but I needed this brain jolt today and the days to come. I want to keep playing.

Man: In chess, there are two types of players. One who brags about their moves and one who lets their opponent discuss their moves.

Man: Checkmate.

Me: That was fun, thank you for inviting me to play.

Man: I play in Central Park all the time, here today.

Me: I’ll see you around. Has anyone else sat down to play?

Man: Just you and one other.

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]]><![CDATA[Coyote Canyon]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/coyote-canyonhttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/coyote-canyonTue, 03 Feb 2026 21:48:27 GMTCoyote Canyon

Howling at dawn

They’ll get you going, they’ll get you moving

Prowling through the canyon

This is their land, where do we stand

They’re on the prowl, hear them howl

The light hits early, they’re on the move

Ancient ways, ancient times in a modern world

Keeping us grounded to who we once were

The wisest of them all, one last howl

Coyote Canyon

]]><![CDATA[When the Snow Melts]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/when-the-snow-meltshttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/when-the-snow-meltsSun, 01 Feb 2026 15:47:17 GMTI see the end it’s clear

The vision is bright

The future is near

I wish it would come soon

But, it takes thirty days for a full moon

Gone and forgotten soon they’ll be

A new landscape for all to see

A clean slate to choose your adventure

Brand new generation to nurture

Give us truth above all else

For that’ll be the signal when the first snow melts

]]><![CDATA[Everyone’s Always in a Hurry to Nowhere]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/everyones-always-in-a-hurry-to-nowherehttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/everyones-always-in-a-hurry-to-nowhereThu, 29 Jan 2026 20:41:46 GMTEveryone’s in a hurry to nowhere

Where are they even going?

Do they even know?

Feels like an empty street

Even though it’s crowded

Everyone’s in a hurry to nowhere

They grunt and sigh

Always a face of why

Shove and rush on by

Everyone’s in a hurry to nowhere

The day starts with surprise

Do they notice, do they see?

Everyone’s always in a hurry to somewhere

]]><![CDATA[Fish Lips Government]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/fish-lips-governmenthttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/fish-lips-governmentTue, 27 Jan 2026 21:32:34 GMTEveryday is isolation

Social species be damned

You can’t take it with you

How small their brain must be

Lesser evolved, more devolved

You can’t take it with you

How do they not see?

The infinite joke

They don’t care about themselves

Morality traded for pseudo immortality

Reality show of the year

Too real this time, it’s not even good

The paradigm shift is happening

No more fish face or lips

Wrinkle of face time wisdom instead

Only one side has the humor to laugh at themselves

Jokes on them when they’re gone and forever forgotten

]]><![CDATA[Giant Desert Painting]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/giant-desert-paintinghttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/giant-desert-paintingThu, 23 Oct 2025 15:48:54 GMTIt’s not everyday you come across a painting that speaks to you. I guess desert aesthetics aren’t in vogue right now, but I have a good feeling about this one. It’s only a matter of time before the masses catch on to the pacifying nature and mystique of all things western. They truly draw you in. Stay awhile it says. We’re so disconnected from being so connected these days, it takes a giant desert scene like this to remind the mind of the world out there.

It all started with a message to seller. Advertised at only $20, a Last of the Mohicans handmade painting. The measurements seemed huge in the ad (5’x4’), but I’d make it work. I knew the exact wall where this painting would hang permanently, just needed to figure out the transportation logistics. I showed up in the library parking lot and saw the giant painting protruding from the truck. Trying desperately to fit the painting in the Ford sedan to no avail, we decided it wasn’t going to work. I drove away saddened, yet determined to make this giant scene fit. I messaged later that day with the option to meet again with a larger car, cautiously lent out by my Mom. The seller was too far north though. I finally called it and said I’m going to pass on the painting. My subconscious knew this was a lie. I decided to message my best friend from high school the next day. He offered his wife’s Chevy Tahoe. It was meant to be. The desert will live on! We met last night after taking a detour to the wrong meeting spot. I even asked my friend if he had the right address plugged in, he said yes before we started driving. I thought for sure these sellers are going to leave without the painting after all the messages I’ve sent back and forth for days. But, they waited patiently and we loaded the painting into the Tahoe. Everyone was so excited to see the painting live on. Now, I have to figure out how to transport the painting back to Alabama, whether stuffed in a hatchback or shipped like a fine art masterpiece.

The desert is an arid, mysterious landscape. You can spend your entire life wandering and trying to understand it, but a grand painting will suffice. It was $20, a lot of headache, and more to come.

]]><![CDATA[What's to Come]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/whats-to-comehttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/whats-to-comeWed, 06 Aug 2025 16:19:28 GMTPulled up three chairs outside for us all to sit in the sun. She leaves to get us coffee across the street. I enjoy the company. I keep picturing my favorite novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I don’t think these people are all that crazy. It’s taxing trying to keep up with their minds, but everything becomes clear with time. The older man with glasses tells me about his wife’s operations that involved draining chocolate from her sides. I sit, listen, and nod. He tells me I’m a good listener. If I didn’t listen, where would the stories be? I’m assuming chocolate didn’t pour out from this lady, but you never know these days. I’m tired, but there is something very profound about this place. We all tend to forget the underlying honesty of life that is presented here. You enter a place like this where cellphones are a bad idea to pull out and then realize life has always gone on in idiosyncratic ways that make sense. We’re trying so hard to be perfect and prove ourselves to strangers, when the ones that last are the ones who aren’t perfect and full of chocolate.

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]]><![CDATA[CHAINS out May 16th! ]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/chains-out-may-16thhttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/chains-out-may-16thSun, 11 May 2025 13:56:59 GMTI have a new song, CHAINS, coming out on Friday, May 16th. I’m proud of this one, it’s an anthem for the summer. I wrote, recorded, produced, played all the instruments, and sang all of it before I moved out of Nashville. We had an artist in Ukraine do the portrait for the artwork. The portrait is now hanging in the dining room next to a Wager style ship scene found on Portobello Road. I was sitting in a pub one day and noticed all of the flashy Victorian portraits creating the ambience that makes England quintessentially British. I knew immediately that’s the artwork I wanted for this song. It’s letting go and breaking out of what you think was reality at the time. Disappearing and then reappearing. There’s depth in that mystery.

Pre-save: CHAINS. Streaming on all platforms.

]]><![CDATA[Something in the Water up There]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/something-in-the-water-up-therehttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/something-in-the-water-up-thereMon, 05 May 2025 15:49:16 GMTThere’s something in the water up there. It’s what people keep telling me. There’s definitely some magic and factuality in the saying that makes this place different from the rest. Not being eaten alive by phony and retaining homey has its effect. It’s a time capsule with a modern, millennial movement. It’s what we can afford to attempt to get ahead. Most of my favorite music ever was recorded here. You’d never know it without being a devotee, but it’s here and it permeates the ground you live and walk on. The music speaks volumes for everything. We’ll see where this heads starting from the ground up, but for now there’s something in the water up there.

]]><![CDATA[Too Many Boots and Not Enough Cowboys]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/too-many-boots-and-not-enough-cowboyshttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/too-many-boots-and-not-enough-cowboysMon, 28 Apr 2025 12:51:27 GMTThis whole land’s gone corporate

Can’t even drive a Corvette

Money won’t buy you a window sill

This is Patheticville

Too many boots and not enough cowboys

Plywood houses built

Without an ounce of guilt

Build them up, blow them on down

Move onto the next town

Too many boots and not enough cowboys

Kinda seems like the world is going to hell

I don’t know, I can’t tell

I heard a nun say “what the hell”

I guess that means it’s going to hell

Too many boots and not enough cowboys

]]><![CDATA[Everything Looks Better at Night]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/everything-looks-better-at-nighthttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/everything-looks-better-at-nightFri, 25 Apr 2025 16:29:14 GMTHow come everything looks better at night? You can have an abandoned junkyard next door with raccoons running the place like a democracy, but at night it can feel the same as a revelry at the Parthenon, the one in Athens. Rusty jalopies become marble statues chiseled from Olympus. The same goes for the old wood house with the peeling paint and foundation issues. At night, this house can glow from within like a mansion. The moon hits everything just right on a clear night and everything gets a much deserved magical facelift. There’s always magic in the night if you can see it and believe it.

I have a song coming out next month on May 16th, it’s called Chains and I’m really electrified about it. Streaming all over earth.

]]><![CDATA[Chill Cheese Dogs and an Amp]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/chill-cheese-dogs-and-an-amphttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/chill-cheese-dogs-and-an-ampWed, 26 Mar 2025 17:51:34 GMTOur tools are everything in this world. Yes, we can replace them tomorrow if we choose to, but there are the exceptional few tools that speak to you and become an extension. Depending on our profession, our tools can expedite a process or give us a small boost to be more creative and efficient. Being on the hunt for an American made amplifier to add some magic to my recordings is something that always has peaked my curiosity. There are so many tonal colors to choose from since the inception of rock and roll music and electric music in general, so we’re incredibly fortunate to live in this golden era of choice. With every tool comes a story if you tend to like the them with bygone character. On Sunday, I entered a hoarder house with enough second hand smoke to disintegrate your clothes. The man selling the amplifier was clearly unimpressed with life, but I had to know. He told me he had just got the amp in Nashville less than twelve hours ago. Again, the curiosity can be a win or a loss. Throw the dart. Roll the dice. He called me Van Halen, because I needed to crank the volume in order to hear just what I want on recordings that become immortalized once you release them to the wild. He was mad that I didn’t have the cash right then and there. It’s the future, who carries cash anymore. I had to step away, still wanting to purchase the amplifier. Sometimes driving a few blocks away can reset the mind. When I got back to the house, his wife, who had six Chihuahuas in the back room, wanted to apologize for the behavior of her husband. He had been drinking she said. I said, no worries and thank you while I carried the amp out. The negative turned positive and I saw a plate with two chili cheese dogs sitting on top of a hoarder nest. I’m assuming there was a coffee table underneath the chili cheese dog mountain. Two days later and I’ve already been sparked into action with my new recordings using this amp. It was worth it.

]]><![CDATA[Only Valuable on Full Moons]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/only-valuable-on-full-moonshttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/only-valuable-on-full-moonsFri, 21 Mar 2025 16:48:31 GMTDreamt that I met my brother in a psychedelic dream state last night. Hadn’t seen him in ages, nothing changed between us. I looked up to him and he looked down on me with the same dynamic any siblings share with an age gap. I asked how he’s doing. My Mom was the one I usually asked to relay the information. She replied “he bought and owns a house in some other country now. Not sure where”. I hear him say in the same room, “it’s only valuable on full moons”. The profit only comes out on full moons apparently. I found this very on brand for this situation and immediately woke up from my dream state to a message sitting on my phone from my brother in the other room. He asked if I could lay down a snare drum track for a song he’s demoing out. We are definitely tapped into something, maybe only on full moons?

]]><![CDATA[The Laissez Faire]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/the-laissez-fairehttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/the-laissez-faireWed, 05 Mar 2025 16:41:26 GMTCome one, come all! No one gives a care at this fair! It’s free for all to see and free for all to enjoy. No intervention, no demarcation. Just free rides and a wonderful time for all. Hear the whistle and hear the call, the show is about to begin. The ticket taker doesn’t take any tickets, this is a hands off approach. The barker keeps barking and hooting to ride the free rides. There’s never a line here, since everyone has a chance. The ferris wheel never stops spinning and the rollercoaster weaves like an upside down snake. Everyone is thrilled to be here, there’s nothing you won’t miss. The final bell rings one last time to close out the night; embark the final ride! Don’t worry, because tomorrow brings a new day with the Laissez Faire. It will be open for all to see and it’ll always be free!

]]><![CDATA[Bernie Flag and Almond Toffee]]>https://maxnorton.substack.com/p/bernie-flag-and-almond-toffeehttps://maxnorton.substack.com/p/bernie-flag-and-almond-toffeeWed, 26 Feb 2025 16:51:22 GMT Read more

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