jesse f mcrae

My Four-Minute Life is Jesse McRae's brilliantly conceived memoir of seven-plus decades as a human being, told in stories, lyrics, philosophies, and opinions predicated on a fifty year love affair with songwriting.

The way he tells it (with earnest, hard-won insight; rugged examination; an eye for the exquisite; tender humor; and unstoppable love), you can't miss the fact that his story is also the story of his songwriting craft, and thus, it seems like the biography of a living body of work.

Seeing the personal life in Jesse's songs may well serve to open our eyes to the potential songs in our own lives. For some of us, perhaps for all of us, breathing and creative expression are equally essential. 

In this intimate and unflinching exploration of his life, the author offers his observations on creativity, childhood trauma, depression, addiction, recovery, relationships, single-parenting, personal growth, healing, love, redemption, and humor, and on the craft, inspiration, and business of songwriting.

To quote a line from one of Jesse's songs: "I'll paint you my life story, four minutes at a time, with pictures framed in rhyme and melody."