Pillar of Autumn

pillar of autumn

i wrote/recorded this a few days ago.. with a few very specific ideas.. i wanted the first phrase (all the synth string bits) to be in an odd-time, with a bunch of 3's in it somehow.. so i started fooling around, weaving these little C minor bits in and out of each other, trying to be catchy and simple and odd.

and i also wanted to experiment with this "tense rising string" thing that seems to be everywhere these days.. it's on Lost a lot, and in There Will Be Blood.. i think it's a string section sliding up slowly while bowing, all at slightly different times. so i did that with a few electric guitars and the moog, but it wasn't quite right.. those frets can really get in the way sometimes. then all those guitars, after the climax of that rising action, just sorta of lie there and look pretty in soft relief. which is probably my favorite moment. just floating in space.

so it didnt' really satisfy my experiments exactly.. but it's odd and pretty.

lil pudding cake

lil pudding cake

we both woke up in ditches today
how'd we let things get so far away?
with our fingers dig deep in the mud
breathe life into clay
make worship the noises we've made.

we swarm out of the basement
never get away
twist up in your stomach
dried up and afraid
it's all for nothing lil pudding cake.

the swarm has lots of patience
it's never been afraid
eats off all your clothing
and no one looks away
it's all for nothing lil pudding cake.

today is saturday, and we have a knick knack poker game tonight at dan and colae's house.. i have collected a few knick knacks.. a leapord print snap bracelet, and a bonsai tree seed, some halloween music, and something else. i don't care much for poker, so i may not last long in the game.. which is just more time to hang out with samba, the dog.

as for this song, it's a crazy thing.. i wrote all the major seven chords and the rhythm in five awhile back, probably just as we moved into the house, and then the drums came next, turning it into a big rock out ending.. and then i came up with emily's verses, but i hated the way i sang them.. so i got emily to do all that pretty stuff she does.. and i spent awhile on the noise solo at the end, over and over and over.. some of the odd filter noises at the end are guitar solo bits fed into the moog, and then manipulated, which i love doing.

really i kinda wanted to finish this groovy little song called ichi ni san shi, but i'm still hung up on parts of that.. emily put down a good scratch bass guitar track, but the whole song needs more work than i thought.. oh well.

High As A Kite

High As A Kite

i shoulda said something
i shoulda just lied
like, "it got out through the skylight"
it flew up high as a kite
"and the sunlight was right in my eyes"
maybe she'll still find her way home

i shoulda done something
i shoulda tried
i know you don't feel good
but twenty bucks and a quick phone call
we'll be high as a kite
maybe meet up on the other side
we'll never be alone

i shoulda said something
i shoulda just lied
now i'm out on a tightrope, all alone
high as a kite
and it's gorgeous but i'm scared of heights
(still glad i let the bird go)

i was playing some songs with my father the other day, old dylan tunes (isis!) and whatnot, when i pulled out this song.. i wrote it awhile ago but never got too happy with it, and the words and the writer's block and the blah blah.. so i played it with my dad and it sounded really nice, and made me revisit the recording i'd worked on. if nothing else, it's a song, eh? or something.

of course, my dad was around 'cause of the recent marriage between emily and i.. so, you know, thanks for the support of our union and all that. and that goes for everyone else, also - the cosgroves and the spurlocks, the couchs and the kronsers and the chess'(s) - and all our friends who were around and wanted to hang out in a park and drink for love who didn't share a last name. love.

Fenced

Fenced

i made a list of the things that i sorta regret
it started off with last night's argument and it still hasn't ended,
but i guess that we're still friends.

a pretty song shouldn't suffer like this
sing that bit about the bicycle trip that seemed never ending
as we swore we'd never fight again

i got a list torn in two on the ground
the falling bombs make a whistling sound
just make a noise when the dogs come around
another kiss and i can go back to digging down
the world seems close to ending,
holding hands we can slip right through the fence.


not too much to say right this second.. emily's parents come into town tomorrow, the weather is nice outside.. i have another 3 or 4 songs that are pretty close, but i've got all sorts of problems writing lyrics.. so it's hard to say when they'll get finished, and in some cases, what they'll even be about. hmm.

and i'll likely be pretty busy for the next week at least.. so we'll see what we can accomplish.