Ok, so here’s my Christmas Song. I didn’t do a Halloween song or an Easter song or a Veterans Day song or an Arbor Day song (note to self: do an Arbor Day song). This is officially Christmas Song number 45225566265789001.
Santa’s had enough. His back hurts. Let someone else deliver the loot for once. He’s going on vacation. Deal with it!
Merry Christmas!
This is one that has been in the works for a long time now. Back in the middle of August, I went to the space to record a lot of samples. I got samples of the acoustic guitar playing a bunch of different chords at different volumes (loud/quiet) and different lengths (long/short). I did the same for a clean electric guitar as well as a distorted electric guitar. Then I got single notes from the electric guitar. Then I got my voice singing Aaaah, Eeeee, and Ooooh (short and long). Then I had them and I didn’t do anything with them until tonight.
This is the first of (hopefully) a bunch of things stitched together from these samples. This one’s a bit wacky but just go with it. Maybe another in the future will be kinder to your senses.
MAYBE NOT! Who knows?
The Ten of Diamonds was made last week, just before the first snow of the year here in Brooklyn. But the mood is right and since I mixed it tonight, I’ll call it First Snow.
The first snow, as any of you on the Eastern Seaboard already know, was a big one. It’s the most snow I’ve seen in the city in quite a long time.
This is another of the instrumental acoustic guitar pieces. Enjoy!
The Nine of Diamonds is essentially a Neem song. The Neem, my band back 10 years ago in St. Louis, wrote a bunch of State Songs (before John Linnell) and we got through only about eight or nine, seven of which we recorded. (New Jersey is lost forever.)
So this song is about South Carolina. I got some facts from the internet and from my brain and went for it.
I sincerely hope you enjoy… South Carolina.
I have nothing to say about this song except eee aah.
Isn’t that something you can say before exactly anything? “I have nothing to say about ____ except…” It’s all just for effect. If you had nothing to say about that thing, there would be no “except.” I have nothing to say about chocolate chip cookies except that I want one now. So, I actually do have something to say about chocolate chip cookies. It’s that I want one. So, that’s not nothing. It’s something. I have something to say about the KKK: they’re not on my list of good folks. That’s putting it mildly. I have nothing to say about my list of good folks except that the KKK is not on it. Neither is Kim Jong-il. He’s funny looking though.
Eee Aah.
There is a site that I found when I searched the internet for weekly songwriting things. This site is called SONG FIGHT! It’s a weekly competition wherein people submit a song written to a previously determined title. This week’s submissions must be called “Your New Dress.” So I decided to compete this week and write my very own “Your New Dress” song.
That’s what I did tonight. So, probably sometime over the weekend the folks at SONG FIGHT! will post my song and the others of the same title at the SONG FIGHT site. Check back early next week and check out my song and compare it to the others. When you’ve determined that mine is superior to the others, vote for it! This should be fun.
Here it is, I made it to the halfway point. I’ve basically stayed on schedule, only posting songs 1-2 days late but mostly not late at all. I’ve created 26 songs where only a small few (2) are not really songs, but ambient soundscapes or some kind of whatnot. Not that there is anything wrong with that anyway, it’s just that they are not exactly “written” or “songs.”
This one is “written” and it is also a “song.” I summoned my best 60’s sunshine folk pop to try to brighten my day. I think I got there somewhat. I learned the effects of the D-Major 7 chord from John Mathias back in college and I’ve never put it to use until today. I also think it may be the opening chord (and rhythm) to Pink Floyd’s “Dogs” (which is on Animals, an awesome album).
Anyway, this song is a tribute to “half” and the fact that I am halfway done with this whole thing. Half and half. Bring me the halfling. Halved bagel. Halva. Goodbye.
I’m skipping ahead to the King of Clubs because there is a king in this song. I’ll come back to the Jack and Queen in the next two weeks.
This song started with some of the lyrics then I just built upon them as I went. I got to a point where I thought of a short story that I read in college by Gabriel Garcia Marquez called “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings.” I remembered the title a little differently last Monday when I was working on this though, hence the title of the song. When I found the story in my old book I realized the difference. In any case, the story by Marquez and the story in this song bear very little resemblance except for the Old Man within.
I thought about Michael Zapruder’s songs when working on this one.
This weekend I attended the wedding of two very dear friends in Big Indian, NY in the Catskills region of upstate New York. It was a great weekend with good friends and good times. The happy couple are en route to Spain as I type this and I couldn’t be happier for them. They have great families and great friends and I’m so glad that I was able to share in the experience with everyone. Thanks, guys!
the wedding attendees running for cover (by Nina G.)
Sounds of the summer. Some people hear this and run towards it. Some people hear this and run away covering their ears (is there anyone actually who does this?). One thing everyone has in common is that once you hear it it’s locked in your head on repeat for at least an hour.
For those of you outside of NYC, name that tune!
Enjoy!
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