The Weekly Song

Week 34 - Fun to Begin

I'm violating a pretty major rule with this week.  I wrote the hook to this song a long ways back - months ago, in fact, but never really finished it.

I've always been into this hook and the concept behind it, particularly the turn it takes that is kind of unexpected, so I don't feel so guilty finishing it.

I'm pretty deep into this thing, so I'm allowed to cheat every once in a while, right?

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Week 33 - Soon

Well, here it is folks - the 33rd song on my 33rd birthday.

This has been an interesting experiment so far.  I'm learning more about myself than I ever dreamed (or feared) possible. The lesson I'm taking away from these past few weeks (and this should be rather clear if you've been paying attention) is this: happiness doesn't really agree with me, it just freaks me out.

So, again, I must nod in the direction of my beleaguered boyfriend who really is much better to me (and for me) than these past five or six songs would have you believe.  I'm just a tormented, drama queen of a singer/songwriter and the idea of being romantically satisfied is a very unsettling notion to me.

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Week 19 - On Our Way

I'm just gonna come out and say it.  I think this song is awesome.  I think the production is pretty tight and I think the song itself has the potential to actually make people feel good (like a real pop song) not depressed and/or hopeless (like a typical Stellini song).

Part of the reason for why I'm so in love with this week's song is that in came from a pretty happy place, and if you've ever written a song, you know just how hard writing from that place can be.  So, this song basically saved me from having to start an unnecessary fight with my boyfriend to churn something out this week.  I susupect this is the reason why he digs it so much too. 

Special thanks this week goes to Mr. Jesse Pagano for adding to my swirly-bendy-swirly solo section with a neat little slide guitar part.  There are three lead parts in that solo section - 2 guitars (one of which sporting a pretty normal guitar sound, the other being Jesse's tripped out slide guitar), and the third is something else.  I want you to guess what it is.  Free cupcake for the first correct guess!

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lyrics
watching you breathe and i'm not afraid
of feeling like this is
what i've always wanted, well, since i cold say,
'i'm feeling like this is
never gonna happen to me'
can it really happen with you?
watch you sink to a higher place

leaving the answer
on your lazy smile
i believe it when you say you wanna take me away
to no particular place
i believe it so i sing it and we're on our way

keep falling over in a different way
feeling like this is
standing up, walking into the wake
of feeling like this was
never gonna happen to me
is it gonna happen with you?
watch you float to a deeper place

leaving the answer
on your fading smile
i believe it when you say you wanna take me away
to no particular place
i believe it so i sing it and we're on our way

Week 16 - Driving Me

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you Tony Dilella of Queens band, Quick Finger. He happened to stop by (and step in) while I was unsuccessfully trying to cobble together a decent lead guitar part for this song.

The result is pure magic. I will say no more. But, your face is about to get rocked off, JSYK.

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lyrics
I've been shaking since yesterday
hid my hands and ran the other way
i made sure it can't go far
bought a lot of gas
put it in the wrong car
you always knew it can't go far

but you're driving me...
you're driving me...
you're driving me...
crazy

it's all new since yesterday
lost a shoe but walked here anyway
you always knew you'd take it too far
you need a lot of gas
and maybe you need the right star
you always knew you'd take it too far

and you're driving me...
you're driving me...
you're driving me...
crazy

Week 14 - Flu Not a Heart Attack

Since I started this project (and proceeded to write nearly a dozen songs about one single boy*) Angela Bowers and I have been joking about needing a quarterly boy about whom to write these weekly songs. 

Be careful what you wish for.

This is another one of those songs that I put together out of a bunch of ramblings that made no sense at the time, but hang together in a way that is rather illuminating. (if knowing more about my psyche can be classified as illuminating in any way to anyone but me).

I think it's about falling for somoene, or more accurately, meeting someone you think you could fall for and then deciding it's probably best not to.

Thanks this week goes to Christopher Plummer and Ms. Bowers (the latter for lending her much needed and oft-appreciated guitar skills and the former for once again lending a solid pair of trusted ears).  Truth be told, there are few weeks that don't get a good Plummer once-over.  

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* He's actually more man than boy, just for the record.

lyrics
i make every mistake for a reason
you now every sad song has a season
turned it over again in my mind
and i'm not giving in this time

real love creeping in can be deadly
turning every sad song into a medley
of never quite getting to find
a diamond that really does shine
so I'm not giving in this time

you can take it back
caught your flu, not a heart attack
and i'm not looking back
your flu is not a heart attack

someday you'll take it away for no reason
saturday? or maybe today. it's the season
turned it over again in my mind
the hows that don't have a why
i'm not giving in this time

you could take it back...

 

Week 13 - New Boy

This one goes out to all my New York ladies.

Special thanks to my old & dear friend Kim Loconto (thank you for being a friend), with some extra help on the recording from two other dear friends - Zarrin-Taj on vocals and Sam Hopkins on smokin' guitar.

Angela Bowers did not appear on this week's song because she couldn't drag her ass out of bed at 4pm on a Sunday.

I would also like to thank New Boy.  (Can't wait to meet him!)

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lyrics
HEY! YOU! NEW BOY! COME HERE!

hey there new boy
what did you do boy?
buy me a drink or two boy
hey new boy, come here!

tell me about the book you read
i wanna know what makes you laugh
oh i just bet that most of it makes me laugh too boy

i can't take you home to meet my mom
she only likes men
men who have real jobs
but I'll kiss you now anyway
it feels too good in your arms
boy!

(spoken)
hey, kim you know there's nothing i like more than the smell of a new boy early in the morning
i know just what you mean jamie. like, the way his hair catches the light...
makes me wanna lose my mind!

hey there new boy
leaving so soon, boy?
i should go too, boy
oh new boy come here!

tell me about bike you bought
i wanna know what size your bed is
oh i just hope that i can fit right next to you in it, boy!

i can't take you home to meet my dad
he'd just get upset
the whole thing makes him too sad
but i'll go home with you anyway
it feels too good to be bad
boy!

Week 11 - Sooner or Later

I recorded this one last nite at my dentist's house. 

Seriously.

It's for Angela Bowers - my friend and cohort. It's about being a tough girl and letting someone get the best of you and then getting over that someone.

I know I'm not supposed to say this about my own songs, but this one really gets me for some reason. The only thing I'd change if I had more than one week is the guitar solo. Not one of my more shining moments.  Oh well.

Special thanks this week: the aforementioned Angela Bowers (as muse this time, not collaborator), Dr. Shanaahz Gill, his amazing girlfriend Meagan (sorry, Meagan, I can't spell your last name) and Tom Petty for writing the song "Yer So Bad."

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lyrics
you're such a fun girl
you're so bad
and everybody knows it
you know they never look away
you're so bad

you've got ur own world
but you've been had
and you don't wanna show it
but i can see it anyway
you've been had

seen what you been lookin' for
it's not what u think no not at all
not at all
i know he didn't want anymore
but you can't feel bad baby sooner or later
you'll thank him

you'll find a new way
to keep your hand
and no one will see it
yeah you'll never give it away
you're gonna keep ur hand

seen what you been lookin' for... 

Week 10 - Not Enough

One word: 

duet.

That's right - we're talking about a duet this week - and not just any kind of duet. The kind of duet that might make Meatloaf or Bonnie Tyler proud. It's a bit of a departure but it was a hell of a lot of fun.

My only regret on this track is the lack of time we had to tighten things up sound engineering-wise and even songwriting-wise. I'd never written a duet before and even with the capable help of Mr. Christopher Plummer, it proved to be a bit of a challenge. Special thanks this week also goes out to guitar virtuoso Angela Bowers.

So, now, brace yourselves. This is awesome in ways that only a rare few can truly understand.

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lyrics

her:
it took a few years to get over an old fling
you were gonna save me with a brand new thing

him:
it took a few years to get over an old thing
you were gonna save me with a brand new fling

thought this time
it'd be enough
thought this time
it'd be enough

her:
but I like the way you smile
him:
and I like the way you laugh

thought that would be enough
to push away the past

not enough again
it's never enough again
just not right again
another door shuts again

him:
you were looking at me like I was your leading man
but I'm a walk-on role in a one night stand

her:
you were looking at me like I was your biggest fan
but I play a brand new role whenever I can

thought this time
it'd be enough...

him:
you were reckless and fast just like my dreams
knew how to touch me how to make me scream
but it's just not gonna be enough it seems

her:
you better find yourself a new whipping girl cuz it ain't me

Week 9 - Size of the Sea

Here is the fifth installment in the saga of my efforts to document every single emotion swimming around inside me regarding a certain subject who shall remain, now and forever, nameless.

Production notes: drums on this one! Looped drums from Logic, but drums none the less. They don't sound half bad.  Bass, oddly enough, is my acoustic guitar with tons of wacked out EQ on it.

I'd also like to give special thanks to a Mr. Christopher Plummer, for providing alarmingly insightful feedback on the mix (this week and the week prior). I spent my entire Sunday working on this - approximately 11 hours straight - and was subsequently quite delirious by the time I was ready to cut and print (or bounce and rip as it were). Can't tell you how invaluable a trusted pair of 3rd party ears is in that situation.

This one's kinda epic.  It's like my Freebird.  I hope that doesn't scare you.

 

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lyrics
take what you want
just don't try to take it from me
you got the heart
why would u come back for the sleeve?

all the pain should've told you
all the air couldn't hold you
in a room the size of the sea

you were found
till you heard it coming down
don't look now
but i think it's coming down
fill a room the size of the sea

you broke apart
and you're holding it all at the seems
wish you could start
wish you had enough left for me

all your chances are over
and all the ways that you know her
fill a room the size of the sea

you were found....

Week 8 - Uncertain Again

This week's song is based on nothing in particular.  I sat down at my computer this afternoon knowing that I had to write a song and knowing that I had very little to say.  So, I just started typing words and before I knew it - I had a set of lyrics.  About absolutely nothing.

I'm aware of the temptation to read further into the words that my fingers wanted to type today. There's probably something to be said for stream of consciousness revealing inner desires or anxieties, blah blah blah. I can think of one or two things that I could be talking about on a subconscious level, but to be honest with you,

I still think it's about nothing.

 

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lyrics
so what happens now
after the fall but before it comes down
did you say nothing
did you hold your breath
why am i waiting
uncertain again

don't look up or down
after the crime but before they come round
did you say nothing
did they bring'em all in
why am I waiting
uncertain again

and everyone knows
it belongs where it goes
but you'll never find the proper place
if you hide before it shows

i can turn around
after you start but before you touch ground
did you say something
do I have to begin
why am I waiting
uncertain again

everyone knows...