I thought of the chord progression for this song on the A Train coming back from the Cloisters on Sunday afternoon. I was able to record it into my phone so I could remember it and it became this song. It’s my pop-punk hit of ’09. Rock it!
My good friend, Ben Lord, came in to play drums on this song. He and I were in Up The Empire together and run The Cougar Label together now. Thanks, Ben.
Last Monday I had a bad day. Things we just not going right for me. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice to say I was in a rotten mood. I started this song that Monday night and was going to make a bad day song or bad song day or some kind of bad durge. The bad day continued right into the night and I had a problem with my computer and I had to stop recording. Ugh.
So, I finished the song today, Sunday, and since that badday Monday, I have had a few much better days and I was not in such a bad mood anymore. So, this song is what happens when you start it on a bad day and finish it on a good day.
This song is influenced by a bad day, Steve Reich, and Jim O’Rourke.
Here is the Two of Clubs. It’s late, I know. This is because our apartment was broken into over the weekend while I was in Boston and Hillary was also out of town. I meant to record this song, which was already written (I finished the lyrics in Boston) on Sunday when I got home but I had to deal with the aftermath of the burglary. The Police came, then the Detectives, and finally the officers that took fingerprints. It was an action-packed evening, that’s for sure.
It seems that the subject of this song was eerily appropriate. The basic idea is that sometimes, when we are in a situation that we can’t change, we need to not worry about what’s already happened and concentrate on what we can do now and in the future to make things better. I didn’t know that this would apply to one’s apartment being burglarized. But I guess it can apply to that too.
Over the weekend I asked my girlfriend the question. Yes, the question. I wrote this song on the Monday before last weekend and had a plan for the way it was going to happen. It didn’t happen exactly like this because it was raining and I couldn’t bring her up to the roof. But it’s basically right.
She said yes.
Here is a sneak-preview of this week’s song. It’s gonna rock. I bet you can’t wait until you hear it. Well, get going, already!
This week’s song is about riding the subway late at night. Very late at night, or maybe very early in the morning. It’s basically how I feel now, tired and overworked; but the only difference is that I’m home right now. Which is where I wanted to be in this song.
I did this one this weekend at the space. There are some differences between recording at home and at the space and they each have their advantages and disadvantages. At home, I have reason so I can do fake drums and synths and keyboards. But at the space, I have my better guitar, the ability to play it loudly, and my bass and, basically my better equipment. But the drawback is that the space is home to many bands and it’s not the most soundproofed place in the world, as you will be able to hear at the end of this song if you listen carefully. I think it gives it character. But that’s because I have to live with it.
Here’s a photo of the A Train platform at 34th Street at 2:45 am:
from flickr
Nine of Spades is a road song. Road trips are awesome and I wish I was able to take more of them. I still haven’t done a cross-country drive and I really want to do it someday. There is so much to see and do basically anywhere you go. So, that’s what this is about. I did this at home with the acoustic guitar and reason drums. I finished the vocals at the space this weekend.
Now, I’m gonna get in a zip car and go to Long Island.
A couple of weeks ago I took a trip to Long Beach and Los Angeles, CA. I really love California and I used to live in Walnut Creek a long time ago, when I was youg.
There is an ongoing rivalry between LA and New York, where I live now. People in each city think theirs is better and try to convince their counterparts of those facts.
I won’t get into what I think here in this post, but you can find out by listening to this song.
The Seven of Spades is a song I wrote to a poem by Walt Whitman. A collection called “Leaves of Grass” contains this poem. It’s a bit like what Billy Bragg and Wilco did to Woody Guthrie lyrics except that this poem was published and wasn’t intended to be lyrics (as far as I know).
I did this at home with the acoustic guitar.
“The sun rises, but shines not,” is a quote from Walt Whitman about a certain battle early in the Civil War. The Union lost this one and it set everybody in Washington in a pretty bad mood. This was Whitman’s assessment of the morning that followed the battle. Because the battle was so close to Washington, civilians, including Congressmen and their families had picnics on a bluff from which they could see the battle in action in the distance. As the Union Army retreated they panicked and the streets back to Washington were clogged with soldiers and the spectators alike.
President Lincoln told General McDowell before the battle that “You are green, it is true, but they are green also; you are all green alike.” I used part of this quote in the song as well.
This is the second song that I have used eight tracks of vocals (5 and 3). It’s definitely “something.”
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