I’m not a particularly skilled or talented musician and/or singer, but the one thing I do pretty well is come up with simple songs on the fly. And it’s fun.
This is the new game: once (hopefully) a week I will improv three or four songs and then share the best of the bunch.
By “best”, I mean, whichever most accurately captures the improvisational quality I’m going for, so there may be more than a few lumps, bumps, and imperfections in whatever I choose.
As I was thinking about how to “mount” the song for distribution, I remembered I had some old footage tucked away in iMovie. I can’t remember if I shot the footage with a short clip in mind or if I was just trying out my camera to see how it worked, but the footage fit the mood of the song pretty nicely. I think I will make a point of capturing random bits of video from now on for future mounts.
I won’t be posting every improv here, so if you want to follow along at home you will either need to follow me on YouTube or on Facebook.
It’s become a bit of a tradition for me to brutalize “O Holy Night” at our annual night of Christmas karaoke.
This year, because I don’t have any holiday appropriate material ready for the blog and because I don’t really do Christmas cards, I thought this might be fun to share.
Back in the time that history forgot (the late 90s!), it was no easy task to record and share music. Fortunately, at some point, some enterprising students at Wilfrid Laurier University started a club that independently produced an annual sampler CD.
It was pay to play.
Eventually, I worked up the courage to record two songs on a reel-to-reel in Studio B at CKMS 100.3. I was a DJ and I hosted a weekly literary arts program called — wait for it — “Free Movement.”
Some of the CDs must be floating around somewhere but my own stash was destroyed in a flood along with every other piece of my personal history that wouldn’t fit into the two bags I took with me to New Zealand.
Either in a fit of laziness or a fit of nostalgia, I thought I record these old tunes.
Here is the first:
Crawl Across My Windshield
Well, you sacrifice your liver, to award the final stand;
And there’s nothing quite so simple as an undiscovered land.
Just draw a line and crack your spine and ring a copper bell;
Words without meanings going to sick below the well
Crawl across my windshield with the sunshine in your hair;
Just close your eyes and comb it straight upon my rocking chair.
Don’t think about tomorrow and forget it when its through;
Pretend to make believe and it will all come true.
Now, everything melts too fast and the water’s far too cold;
I’ve got four hearts, the ace of spades, so I think I better fold.
All my friends are broken mirrors; my life is a piece of glass;
If you sew me another flag, I’ll have to cut down the mast.
Harsh words can’t kill a man and a gun won’t hurt the soul;
But you can’t pay the gatekeeper an imaginary toll.
Just wash your face and I will save you a place at the table by my side;
If you promise to believe me, then I swear to you I lied.
Here is the other:
Flower Girl
She walks in with flowers that she picked that same day.
“I don’t know why I did it”, she says, “but I did it anyway.”
And she sees my mood and knows she should stay clear;
But she disregards all her fears and quickly draws near.
And she takes my hand and she dreams a distant land:
Of us both walking together along sun drenched sand.
And her dream is mine and in absolutely no time,
The world is OK again and I’m feeling fine.
And she says,
“Who else but me? Who will you believe? Who will you trust?”
She stands in the garden with her hands on her eyes.
And though I’m not very close to her I know that she cries,
For the moon and the stars and everything that dies.
And every time I hurt her by asking why.
And later on in bed when we’re both nearly dead,
She turns to me instead of turning away.
And she says,
“Who else but me? Who will you believe? Who will you trust?”
I know that in our travels we may go our separate ways.
‘Cause even if our bodies are far apart our love is never that way.
And we have each other here together for this day;
And forever is just a moment that never gets away.
And no matter where we may be — divided by whatever sea —
Our love is what joins us and love is forever for me.
And she says,
“Who else but me? Who will you believe? Who will you trust?”
After all this You Tube video, one question that stands out for me: why the hell do I frown so much when I sing?
I’m working on a couple of new songs but none have coalesced as of yet. Because I don’t want to lose momentum on my little recording adventure, I decided to record an old song.
It is quite old, rarely played, and for some reason always remembered. There are a few up-dates and modifications but not enough to claim it’s brand new!
Be warned: schmaltz awaits!
Disclaimer
I can’t say I will live forever.
I can’t say I will be a great man.
I can’t even say I want to be.
All I can say is I love you.
I can’t say I won’t kill man.
I can’t say I won’t draw blood.
I can’t even say I won’t want to.
All I can say is I love you.
I can’t say I won’t hurt you.
I can’t say I won’t make you cry.
I can’t even say I won’t mean to.
All I can say is I love you.
All I want to do is love you truly.
Please stay with me.
PLUS A NOT SO HIDDEN SUPER SECRET BONUS TRACK!!!:
Because I can’t claim new song cred for “Disclaimer”, I thought I’d video another song to keep me honest.
This song is actually the first of its kind. I wrote it on the computer and then moved it back onto the guitar. It was available for download for awhile on my blog. You may be familiar with it.
In another sense, then, this song counts as a first. It is my first time offering an alternative take on a song. Music nerds take note!
Caught In A Game
You are sky; I am sun; she is the sea.
You both are calm, you both are blue; and I am in between.
You are sky; I am moon; she is the sea.
You both are calm, you both are dark; and I am still between.
And I don’t know what to do or say to make it right
I don’t know what to do or say.
When I’m on a roll, I tend to roll on. Not unlike Proud Mary. Especially when a semi-competitive game like song-tag is involved (thank, Dave).
This short simple song wrote itself fairly quickly but for some reason it was kind of a pain in the ass to get on video. At one point, I actually muttered why my brain wasn’t working properly. I now think I should have saved the out takes. That might have made for an amusing short video, not unlike Don Music from Sesame Street. What is life indeed!?
Songwriting note: the little break is inspired by Lady Rose’s note that it might be a good idea to break up the flow now and again.
Recording note: in honour of Nadine, this video was recorded entirely pants-free.
Enjoy:
Perennials
You are sorry
so damn sorry
you just had to call
And your story
tearful story
made my heart run raw
And I won’t let you down
I’ll go another round
I’ll try to fill your heart with gold
Gauge me, change me
rearrange me
I will do it all
Tend me, bend me
reinvent me
yes, I”ll do it all
And I won’t let you down
I’ll go another round
I’ll try to fill your heart with gold
This little ditty is a case in point — assuming you recall my last song post.
I stumbled across this simple little riff and melody back on Waiheke, NZ, right around the time I was very excited about music software. I tried to to program the riff a couple of times but could never get the right feel. As a result, I abandoned it.
Last weekend, emboldened by your support, I dusted it out and had the lyrics done in a couple of days. I’ve had some audio difficulties and my guitar still sounds like poop over this Mac internal mic and it’s not the strongest vocal performance buuut it will give you the idea of the song. Perhaps, later, I will dress it up properly.
Enjoy:
And as requested, here are the lyrics:
Changeling.
Memory catchs me slowly
Filling the womb of my mind
Reflecting the mood of the morning
I forget my place in time
I can feel it coming
I can feel the rain
Lovers lie bleeding
When will the story change
History waits for no one
Killing time with each moment’s pass
Rejecting the organs of stasis
I return to my place in time at last
I can feel it coming
I can feel the rain
Soldiers lie bleeding
This story must change
The future comes in a moment
The past dies at night
Waiting is an excuse for no one
I know now the time is right
I can feel it coming
I can feel the rain
The hungry lie bleeding
I know this story will change.
I’ve had a hard time writing songs recently. There is a long answer and a short answer.
The short answer is that I’ve been thinking about it too much and not forcing myself to finish songs.
I also had the thought that I should stop fiddling with (virtual) knobs and get back to what I know and enjoy. Pounding out simple songs on guitar.
Here is a simple song pounded out on guitar.
I will make a habit of writing, recording, and posting songs as they come — warts and all. If people like one song more than another than I will refine it. I will also likely do You Tube versions of the other songs I have in that box widget up to the right.
So, let me know what you like or what you want to hear more of!
Well you sacrifice your liver
to award the final stand
there’s nothing’s quite so simple
as an undiscovered land
just crack your spine
and draw a line
ring a copper bell
words without moments
going sink below the well
Crawl across my windshield
with the sunshine in your hair
just close your eyes and comb it straight
upon my rocking chair
don’t you think about tomorrow
forget it when its through
pretend to make believe
and then it will all come true
Now everything melts too fast
and the water’s far too cold
I’ve got four hearts the ace of spades
so I think I better fold
all my friends are broken mirrors
my life is a piece of glass
if you sew me another flag
ill have to cut down the mast
Crawl across my windshield
with the sunshine in your hair
just close your eyes and comb it straight
upon my rocking chair
don’t you think about tomorrow
and forget it when its through
pretend to make believe
and then it will all come true
Now harsh words can’t kill a man
and a gun won’t hurt the soul
but you can’t pay the gate keeper
an imaginary toll
just wash your face
and I will save you a place
at the table by my side
if you promise to believe me
then I swear to you I lied
Crawl across my windshield
with the sunshine in your hair
just close your eyes and comb it straight
upon my rocking chair
don’t you think about tomorrow
and forget it when its through
pretend to make believe
and then it will all come true.
MOVEMENT 