this week i’m wearing my influences on my sleeve. i started out with the beatles-esque chorus, which came to me while walking the dog one morning last week. the IV-I-V-I chord sequence also steals from my own “love song,” but the more simplistic melody reminds me of the mccartney throwaway “all together now.”
monday song #106: “see-saw”
i’ve been hankering to do an old-time song since i started up again. i sat down with my daughter’s ukelele while i was watching the olympics and sang the opening phrase first thing.
monday song #105: “time machine” (00m #2)
i didn’t realize this was an 00m song until i was recording the harmonies. i started doing the “oo’s” over the bridge and it struck me i could put an ‘m’ on the end. at that moment i realized the whole song shared the 00m atmosphere, with a protagonist struggling with mental health issues and outsider-ness, with a core – if tragic – “happy ending” of acceptance, in this case, forced.
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monday song #104: "maggie mckay (00m #1)"
happy halloween!
monday song #103: "the calm before"
an early 70s prozac vocal as the main character wrestles with some difficult insights and an attempt at feeling.
not entirely certain what he thinks he “should” do. my guess is that a few drinks will undo the softness…
monday song #102: "the lonely boats"
a similar theme to last week’s entry. preparation for some kind of a journey, though not sure whether it is an inner or outer journey. a tidying up before moving on, perhaps.
with the first few, i’m not setting a high bar, just want to get back in the habit of having an unfinished tune in my head all week. ultimately i have a pair of musicals i want to create songs for. but first, some stretching and warming up.
monday song #101: "the undefended heart"
i wanted to get back to the ongoing cycle of songwriting, so here is the official monday song number 101.
monday underground #13: "the cure"
i’ll be releasing the full length “up, up, and away” next monday. in the meantime, here’s something i put together for npr’s “tiny desk” competition. the folks who’ve seen it have said they liked it so i figured i’d share a bit more widely.
the performance was done live in front of a green screen to allow for some fun editing in final cut pro.
up, up, and away #18: "i fly away"
the final track bookends the first (“the cure”) as an overview of the entire experience.
i used the music to underscore the credits for the visual sources borrowed throughout the movie.
planning to release the entire movie on may 2, and will start sharing it out after that. currently putting the finishing touches on a double-cd for which the movie is the accompaniment.
up, up, and away #17: "castaway"
this is the final video in the movie, showcasing the confused depression so nicely captured by the coen brothers in barton fink.