named after this AWESOME book I’m reading.
Yep, library school is THAT riveting.
Oystercatchers
For Susan, a song about birdies.
Written late, recorded even later. Lyrics from Wikipedia.
::::
A guy named George John Stewart actually wants you to buy this painting
Here (Their Destination)
Yay! Another song about destruction! I seriously need to write a happy song. It’s getting ridiculous. I mean, the subjects for the songs this week have been: being lied to and getting pissed, kidnapping, environmental disaster and now: the destruction of a village by a wandering hoard of people with ‘mighty weapons’. Geez! I need to lighten up. I’ll pick something light for tomorrow’s cover.
OMGROFLMAOBBQ:
When you're listening to this song, imagine these guys burning your house down with you inside of it. They're so hunky!
I repeat…this is NOT heaven!
I got 204 hits yesterday because an image used on this blog is the second third one retrieved when you type “heaven” into google image search. I don’t know how to feel. I guarantee almost none of those hits listen to any of the songs. I mean…they’re busy trying to figure out what the afterlife looks like! And who can blame them. Anyway, just wanted to post an image of the top search terms that led people to this blog (my favorite is “photos of heaven”…or is it “pic of heaven”):
(Please scroll down for today’s song…)
Joe Wilson’s Lament
Of course, the title was thought up long after the song was written. Then I added a little snippet at the end to really tie the room song together. It’s about realizing you done got lied at. I recorded the song, again, really late at night…so no real live instruments on this one. It’s all garageband software instruments and one drum loop that really doesn’t want to fit nicely with everything else. I’m getting better at playing piano on my computer keyboard. You say I suck at playing the computer? “You lie”!
Here you go:
'He's a jackass' - Señor Obama (admittedly, about Kanye West)
See the Sun
This one’s about, what else, looking back on life before that unfortunate environmental meltdown! I wish that my thoughts didn’t move in that direction so much. What can I say, I love “the dark future™”. That’s right, “the dark future™” is a trade mark of this blog and all of it’s subsidiaries. Don’t even think of uttering it.
Viola:
I hate it when the Earth bleeds like that. It can't see a doctor because of a pre-existing condition.
Uh Oh, We’ve Got Company
This song is about kidnapping someone. The narrator wants to back out but his group of cronies won’t let him. They probably end up getting arrested or killed or something. I had a ton of reading to do today, so I wrote this one really quickly and recorded it on the old laptop mic. Sorry for making excuses. It’s not all that bad…for being written so quickly. If I do say so myself.
Heeeryar:
Bummer...that's a bummer, Man.
Sorry I Missed Last Week’s Cover
Yep. I missed posting a cover last week. First of all, my songwriting schedule got all screwed up because of labor day. Then, I recorded a cover and posted it until I decided (under M’s wise advice) that the cover was too obnoxious to leave up. So I took it down. Boo Hoo. Don’t know if that’s a sick day or not. I’ll decide soon.
Shades of Grey
Hiya. This song’s another quiet one. It’s about being stuck in the mundane, I guess. These lyrics are just what came to me as I sat down to write the song. Which is funny, because I don’t feel all that ‘stuck in the mundane’ at all. Well, I guess I get bored sometimes. Hmmm. Anyway, the chords in the chorus, I just realized, sound suspiciously similar to those of Pachelbel’s Canon in D. But don’t most songs?
Shalom:
This drawing is titled 'Run Like Hell II: A Million Shades of Grey'. How awesome. I wuv you Google image search.
The Bastard
This song is an homage to those great old blues tunes about killing the dude who’s sleeping with your wife. Classic. I’ve also been listening to alot of Tom Waits (hence the repeating guitar line). The original recording (heard on this version, too) is me banging on the bass drum with a plastic ladle (hitting the rim for the snare) and singing really loudly into the laptop’s microphone. The lyrics are half improvised, half written out. And yes, the bass and the guitar are software instruments! Thanks for asking! I played them using Garageband’s computer keyboard=midi controller interface. And that sucked.
Here’s to songs about murder:
I think I said the word 'bastard' more times in this song than I have in my entire life. Actually...probably not.
A Great Escape
I know this song is being posted a little later than usual…but it is still Tuesday. The long weekend screwed my timing up a little. Over the weekend, I acquired a large bass drum which is featured on this song. Expect to hear more of it (less reverbed-out in the future, after I figure out how best to record it with my limited means). This song is based around Adam’s suggestion from the comments. It’s about an escapologist who decides to off himself mid-escape because he can’t live with the guilt of having murdered his brother, Jacob. So, yeah, real upbeat. This song is a lot more stripped down than usual. I recorded the vocals pretty late at night so I’m basically whisper-singing into the microphone on my laptop.
Here it is:
I've seen this very contraption at one of the less savory stores on High St.
Hot Fudge!
I felt bad about not posting yesterday so I wrote an extra song to make up for it. This is for A, who requested a reggae song. It’s about…HOT FUDGE! Just like I promised earlier this week. Stop accusing me of making this in 10 min. out of garageband loops! Gawd! I worked on this, like, all week.
Yo:
Don't know what this picture is about? Image search for 'hot fudge' turned out surprisingly unpornographic.
Her Mystery Not of High Heels and Eye Shadow
Cover number 2
This song was written by Mr. Jonathan Richman. It is a lovely little pop tune that I essentially turned into a dirge. Hope you like it!
He was dancin' in a lesbian bar..in the industrial zone
OH NO!
I can’t post a song today because I am SOOO sick! A sudden outbreak of rectal hallucinations. I have two more sick days this month. I hope I don’t need them.
Don't despair! Let's head down to Gaylord St. and get some Rectone™!
Tell me what to write a song about, please.
Partially because it’s hard (but fun) coming up with lyrics and mostly because I want to hear from you, I’m asking you to please give me some song topic ideas in the comments to this post. I will write a song about anything. Really, anything. The stranger the better. If it requires research b/c I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about…awesome. If it involves animals acting like people in a post-apocalyptic wasteland…I’m drooling. Please, let me know what you want to hear.
Bumper stickers have ruined all quotations for me...this one was cliche from the get go, I think.
Aurora
This song is about that first person to stumble upon the Northern Lights. There had to be a first, right. You always remember the first time. Spooky.
It features my 5 note calliope made from water filled bottles of Columbus Pale Ale (I recommend trying some)
I admit, this isn’t my best effort here. But I did specify that some songs would sound like cats being skinned. (This one sounds slightly better than that, though)
Seymour! The house is on fire!
No, mother. It's just the Northern Lights.
Enemies
This song is in D minor (the saddest of all keys). It’s about questioning longstanding disputes. It’s about moral ambiguity. It’s about hot fudge. Wait, that’s coming later this week. Hope you like it:
A rivalry as old as time itself...
Sick Beatz For Beth!
I guess the title sort of says it all. I dropped these beats so hard. HARD. SICKLY HARD!
Ok, actually this is my first instrumental post and the title is a little trick to throw you off the scent. Why am I telling you this?!?
The whistling in the song is a little off because I recorded it after M went to sleep. i had to whistle very quietly.
Listen to the song. It’s about Dog the bounty hunter’s wife. (Prove that this song isn’t about Beth the bounty hunter. Go on, prove it, wise guy)
Beth, this one's for you! I wuv wou!
If We Never Meet Again This Side of Heaven
(Update: I got 195 hits today (9/16/09) because the picture at the bottom of this post is the second image retrieved when you search “heaven” at google image search. I had no idea so many people wanted to see what heaven really looks like!?! I’m debating taking this post down just because when I look at my stats, I feel really awesome and then I realize it’s just people looking for images of this place they think they’re going after they croak. Decisions…decisions)
I love this song. Who knows who originally wrote it? Really. I’m asking? Do you know?
(Update: My dad informs me that this song was written by Albert E. Brumley. Apparently, he also wrote “I’ll Fly Away” of O Brother Where Art Thou fame and 800 or so other songs.)
My first cover. (Here’s an amazingly lame cover of the song)
Next week’s key will match this song’s: D major major/minor.
This is EXACTLY what he@ven looks like...all other images of heaven are blasphemous
Hyperactive Songwriter 