when i grew up, we used to visit my grandparents at their farm in northeast new jersey. we called it ‘the farm.’ there were chickens, and sheep, and a big sheepdog named mike o’toole, and for a seven-yr-old, it was heaven on earth.
monday song #85: rise and shine
happy new year.
wrote the tune the 4:30 in the morning after a sleepless night. was shooting for a cole porter style tune, but ended up closer to billy strayhorn.
monday song #84: where’s michael
this is the second of a planned ten in a row that will feature two-part harmony, in an effort to give kristin and i a full set of original music to perform. plus all the lovely (and obscure) 70s covers, of course.
monday song #83: moon lovers
i spent the week thinking i’d do one song, and then it lay there flat. so on sunday afternoon i started messing around with a melody and a couple hours later i had this song.
monday song #82: why do you write sad songs?
i started this one last week, but walked away from it. i was tired and i didn’t think the song worked. came back a few days later and was surprised to find a pretty promising tune that just needed to be slowed down a bit. you need energy to hang in there with a sad song.
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monday song #81: room 4 rent
i didn’t have much time this week, so i went with a tiny tune. this is the theme song to the show ‘room 4 rent.’ i wrote this one fifteen years ago and have had it in my head ever since. this is the first time i ever recorded it, so i actually had to figure out the harmonies at the end.
monday song #80: i can’t believe i’m dying (with this song in my head)
i’ve had the idea for this song for a couple years, though no musical details; just the concept of a guy who’s dying, and in his final moments, his focus is undermined by an annoying song stuck in his head.
the actual tune came together this week. the main section is reminiscent of an earlier monday song, “cattle,” with the minor/major structure, and the arrangement of the harmonies.
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monday song #79: report card
i almost finished this one a year and a half ago, but got stuck on the bridge, and let it sit. i was digging through some old files and found this and a half dozen others that once seemed like lost causes. i figure i’ll do some creative archeology over the coming weeks…
monday song #78: heavy metal man
i wanted to do a song with just the bass as the main instrument. i started playing this riff last night watching my son play xbox. wrote the entire bassline without an idea of how the melody would go.
monday song #77: sweet sixteen
so i listened through a bunch of early monday songs and was inspired by my earlier “high school” songs: ‘lowe valley high,’ ‘you and only me,’ ‘high dive‘ etc. these are among my favorites. so I wanted to write another one. i felt like i’ve been writing slower spacy songs every week, and i wanted to try my hand at some old-fashioned short story writing.
the result is ‘sweet sixteen,’ and there’s really nothing sweet about it.