lyrics after starting with three heavy songs in a row, number four is something of a palette cleanser. it’s an homage to homages: a kind of 20s music hall number that was a favorite of the psychedelic popsters of the later 60s. mccartney was a master of the style (“when i’m 64,” “honey pie”), […]
Category Archives: monday song
monday song #3: birthday (part one)
lyrics number three. the guts of this song – chords, melody, the phrase “it’s your birthday” – came to me a couple years ago on a family camping trip, playing it over and over by the campfire. i imagined paul mccartney singing it, solo, with an acoustic guitar, but as i fleshed out the lyrics […]
monday song #2: nadine
lyrics the second monday song. when i was in junior high there was a girl named nadine in my wood shop class. at some point, the boys started taunting her: “nadine, nadine, the header machine.” i never discovered the background, but, though she disappeared before high school, she was forever etched into my brain. years […]
monday song #1: ghost story
lyrics the first installment of monday songs. the descending/ascending piano line came first. it suggested to me a kind of hopeful melancholy.