The Weekly Song

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...

Week 7 - Sun to No One

I'm convinced God invented boys so that women would have something to write songs about.

I would like to thank two people without whom this song would not have been possible: Joshua Hertz (He loaned me the Epiphone I used to record this one. I heart it. I will steal it.) and Somebody Else (He should remain anonymous. But it's fair to say that Weeks 2 & 6 wouldn't have been possible without him either. So, yeah, big thank you to THAT guy.)

Couple of notes on percussion - the 'cowbell' is a coffee can filled with stale cheerios, struck with a souvenir from Disney World. The shaker is same can.

I wasn't that thrilled with this song when I set out to record it, but I have to admit that it's steadily growing on me.  Give it a chance, is I guess what I'm saying.

I also want to point out that I've started to refer to myself in these songs as 'star' or 'stars' and it's becoming a bit of a habbit (used in week 2 as well).  My name, in Italian, means 'little stars' so that's where that comes from.  Just a little trivia for those of you with enough time on your hands to actually give a crap about me and what comes out of my mouth.

 

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lyrics
i saw the sky turn white
pushed it up too high
i fly before i climb
i saw the sky turn white

where do you find the time?
bulletproof every line
in between each sigh
where do you find the time?

i could be waiting
for something that might not ever come
a star that's a sun to no one
you're still debating
holding what you shoulda never won
a star that's a sun to no one

it flashed before my eyes
the days the months gone by
she'll still be at your side
it flashed before my eyes

i could be waiting...

Week 6 - Mess We Made

This song was borne pretty effortlessly out of a simple lyric that caught my attention when it popped into my head earlier in the week. They lyric I'm referring to is 'you and me and the mess we made.'

I'm embroiled in a sort of 'situation' with a young man right now and this phrase seemed to capture some kind of essence of that situation. There was just something about it that struck me.

I built the whole song around it and it was relatively easy and painless.

Also, the guitar solo is perfect. I love guitar solos that start with the melody of the song. It's one of my guilty pleasures.

 

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lyrics
we should drive to a new town
radio up and the top down
boxes and bags packed full of shame
just you and me and the mess we made

you should take every single word
i said to you and you said to her
sprinkle it all on top of the fray
of you and me and the mess we made

the mess we made feels like a home
rooftop painted blue and gold
brown and red leaves on the lawn
(don't forget the)
sinking ground underneath it all

i really hope you don't stay here
i really hope it becomes clear
and every reason never ever fades
you and me and the mess we made

the mess we made...

Week 4 - Tick Tock

First of all, this is the 3rd song in a row for which the lyrics were written first.  I'm truly enjoying this method of songwriting (thank you, again Ms. Palumbo).

This song is quite clearly about me wasting my life away at a bar - there is a specific bar I can name, but I won't, because I know my fans may overrun it in the hopes of catching a glimpse of me there. tee hee ha haha <ahem> ha.  The influences here are also quite evident, though not ones you'd expect to co-exist quite so harmoniously, namely Kate Bush & Elliott Smith.  Go figure.

Also, you will notice that my nifty little soundcloud player has decided not to join us for this week.  It will return soon, I promise.

There is one more thing I would like to say about this week's song.  I have never before been able to play and record such a smokin' guitar solo as the one captured here, at approximately 1:48. It is my most favorite thing in America.

There is one final thing I'd like to say, but it is unrelated to this week's song.  In my internet bumblings this week, I've discovered several other brave souls subjecting themselves to this very same undertaking.  I shall shout them out appropriately in my sidebar and in another post - but for some reason right now, I just can't seem to summon the will to collect the urls and paste the code and blah blah blah. I'm a lazy, awful person.

 

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lyrics
just sit there
in your cold chair
with your face in your hands
and your lunch on your pants

touching the face on your watch
leather band
and the hand
goes
tick tock

sit there
fake a cool stare
with your hands on the bar
and your drink never far

touching the face on your watch...

the owner takes his seat
says, you gotta be kidding me
when change is all you know
and the word fast is said to slow
before you know it we'll be all grown

sit there
frizzy brown hair
with your lips on a shelf
white stain, nothing else

Week 2 - Stars to Chase You

So, this week I found myself entangled in a bit of a situation with a friend.  A friend with a penis. This song was inspired by that - specifically the line about pretty girls and mistaking stars for snow.  The rest is a loose interpretation of events coupled with the requisite compulsion to compose lines that rhyme. 

I have a feeling I may want to change the title of this blog to "Dudes I've Boned this Year and the Resulting Songs About Them," by the way.

I tried something new this week by writing lyrics first, then working on the melody on my guitar later.  Wouldn't have even entertained this idea had it not been for Dorian Palumbo, with whom I am working on a very kick-ass musical.

This is also the first time I recorded with Stella (the guitar, not the beer or my dog). It's a really old, awesome and rickety little guitar my cousin Jason gave me that can only handle keeping about 3 strings in tune at a time.  I think that limitation shaped the guitar part and it came out rather haunting yet minimalistic.

If the SoundCloud player isn't working for you, you can
DOWNLOAD WEEK 2 HERE.