Zombigurumi

this song is almost entirely emily's - but i think that's kinda obvious.. she wrote the music on acoustic guitar, including the little minor mid-eastern-ish breakdown section, and had the chorus vocals figured out from the beginning. i went to bed last night thinking about some other song and when i awoke she had written all the verses and figured out most everything else.. and we spent this morning and early afternoon putting bass down, singing all the bits, and recording weird noises.

here's an opportunity to learn about amigurumi (編みぐるみ), and by extension, zombigurumi. (ゾンビぐるみ ?)

Amigurumi Wikipedia

Zombigurumi
I wanted it to be a special night
Amigurumi by candlelight
But the face came out all wrong again

So I tried adding on a little woolen mustachio,
Stitched on some blush.
I knew that I had made a new yarn friend.

But then. . . . .

I don't know what we're doin here.
We were in my room, now we're at the pier.
I don't think I ever wanna go home.

Acryllic boats filling up the sea,
Knitted jellyfish surrounding me,
And a lego lighthouse not too far away.

My amigurumi grabbed me by the hand,
Skipping gaily down the moonlit sand.
We began the steep ascent, the stars so close.

Now it looks like I've come out on top.
I get it, I don't wanna stop.
I don't need nothin I ain't got right here.

I don't remember giving you those teeth.
And why are you looking that way at me?
You know you're only polyester fiber underneath.

You're looming in so very tall,
Near my neck, it barely hurts at all.
And now I'm sprouting multicolored yarn all over me.

I must seem a spectacular sight,
I could never wake up, now I'm out all night,
and I don't think I ever wanna go home.

And, the photos: old-school audio repair. a cardigans tape i've carried around with me since the mid '90s. warped by sundrenched dashboards and dusty boxes (no case of course).

Gorgeous Bruise

Gorgeous Bruise

this song has a neat Abmaj/Cmaj thing going on, which sets up some neat half-step motion.. umm.. like G and Ab, or Eb and E.. that sorta stuff. and it's got a middle section in A minor. and horns and guitars, and lots of singing, and chimalong, even a couple of theremin tracks..

it started off with the acoustic guitar, playing through all of it.. and the lyrics came pretty quick, once i got a bit of a melody, but i had a hard time singing it - i was trying to do this harmony part, not really my strong suit.. so i got sorta discouraged. but emily fixed it all up.

she's got a problem saying numbers
something more than just a stutter
a gorgeous bruise on her left thigh
those kinds of marks will make you wonder
can she see the warmest tundra?
did they just laugh to be polite?

i earn medals i guess..

it's just enough to make you shudder
crawl back underneath the covers
another beast has learned to bite
did you see amy at the window?
did you ask about the candle?
did mary think it was too bright?

i earn medals i guess.. it don't mean much now, but it's all i got left

she's got a problem saying numbers
something more than just a stutter
that gorgeous bruise on her left thigh
those kinds of marks will make you wonder
can she really see the tundra?
did she just lie to be polite?

a lot of self-referential lyrics there. i won't go into it too much, but amy & mary pop up, and the warmest tundra. and the candle. ha!

Normal

Normal

this song went through a bunch of versions.. which is hard to believe for a song-a-day. it started with all the acoustic guitars - i had that little chord thing in seven, which i was kinda proud of, and i was trying to sing real fast over it, with no luck. emily came in and changed the vocal melody, and we tried to write a song about a treehouse and adolescence and stuff, which i thought was a good idea, but all my words were terrible.

so we shifted gears a bit, worked on the outro.. emily sang a bunch of stuff we later got rid of, and put piano bits down.. and we shelved the whole treehouse line of thought for new lyrics. kinda crazy - 'cause song-a-day is really more of a first thought/best thought sorta deal. no time for second guessing.

and i spent all morning working on two other songs, both of which are close to finished, even if one is a little silly. so we're in good shape for tomorrow, i think..

in other news - it's pretty wet and little cold outside. not so great for taking indiana jones outside.

aaron

you are a hell and here's proof

you are a hell and here's proof

this song started off with an experiment in building a note-pool and stacking triads to get chords.. in this case i just ended up with a dreamy Cmaj chord, with an f# popping up every now and then.. kind of a lydian style thing. and it was getting late so i just tagged on this mumbled outro bit, which turned out to be my favorite little bit, 'cause i really dug the lyrics.

then today emily recorded the vocals and trumpets in the middle, all super echo new agey psychedelic. .. and some more moog.

you are a hell and here's proof
full of old ocean water
a minotaur in a mansion garden
but don't talk about the beauty
william never really started any fires
he saw you glance at your watch
you better pray i stay asleep
ended up with the jitters
a passionate critter
with no friends
hanging out the window

And as for the photo: meta!

lest ye be judged

another round of song-a-day begins, officially, with this little number - lest ye be judged - a pretty little song with guitars and moog and emily singing. it's got some neat timing issues, with a verse in seven using these dreamy chords (Eb-7 with a B, and a E-7 back and forth), and it straightens out for the turnaround stuff.

The same things we're running to for comfort
are the same things they're fighting for.

Can you blame them?

Can you feel the perspectives of people who've been taught to care about different things?


On an unrelated note -- the amigurumi is a little Formaldehyde friend I made for the ladies at the lab, sort of a parting gift. They call him Aldy.