I wrote this one just based on how I feel myself sometimes and how I would imagine others may feel at times. I was going for honesty and developing my own style way more than any kind of commercial possibilities on this one. I was also trying for a little more meaningful lyrics but now I am considering lighter lyrics on the surface with a little more meaning within... sheesh... I'll keep working on that!
Musically, there are two very different themes/melodies/phrases. The verses are more for the groove and production and the main melody is in the chorus. I really like the chorus melody and it seems to be kind of catchy (I hope anyway).
I always consider most of my songs some form or another of rock. I think that this has more of a jazz-rock feel to it (I was thinking acoustic Steely Dan'ish) and so I did kind of a cross between acoustic and jazz for the production.
I hope you all like it! Lay back and enjoy the groove....
This song actually started from a phrase in a previous song of mine ("What's Up With That"). I always liked the phrase "attractively cool" that I made up for this song, but thought that it just got buried in the song. So I started out to make this the theme and title of the new song. The phrase starts the chorus and is a main part of the song, although the song could also be called "How can I make you love me?". I thought Attractively Cool was more unique and sounded better though.
The lyrics are just kind of a typical "I-love-you-love-me-back-please" type of thing... Kind of a simple flirty pick-up song, like its ancestor but I think the music is really pretty good for this one. This is a really nice song to jam with on lead guitar also. I was doing that after most of it was recorded and it goes really well with a screamin lead guitar (although my electric screams more like a toad) but I decided not to spend a lot of extra time and bury the rest of the recording with a bunch of guitar leads.
I still like a little deeper, more meaningful lyrics as in "Enjoy the Ride" (probably my favorite lyrics song) but I think that song lyrics are pretty much light by nature. I am trying to find a balance on this... maybe the next one will be more of a double meaning... Light on the surface and deeper within (or visa-versa). I just don't know yet... Well, time for a new idea... More later...
A Beautiful Day in Fantasy Land
OK, I'll start with the real scoop on this one... It's really about drifting off into a music daydream. I was playing my guitar one day and really enjoyed the escape from reality (or maybe it was the escape into a different reality, who knows?).
Now, as for the rest of the lyrics, I wanted to leave this open for plenty of different interpretations and I think that I succeeded at doing that. (this song not about getting high, but I'm sure some people may think that also).
The Real Clarinet Part:
I broke my total solo performances on this one... My son, Casey (11) has been wanting to do a clarinet part on one of my songs for a while now. It took me a while to find just the right part for him... but I gave him a small section of the melody to practice. He kept joining in and playing along with me, when he heard me practicing. So I recorded his part and well, we did it! Thank you Casey!
The Original Idea (and structure):
I had a very short and simple melody idea for a few months and the lyrics changed drastically over time (I had the basic melody prior to the music daydream idea).
I also decided (after over 30 something songs in my catalog) to break my straight verse-chorus (bridge sometimes) format and do an A-A-B-A (partial A anyway) format. (The Beatles song "Yesterday" is my favorite example of this particular song structure (A-A-B-A) and I tried to model the structure after that song).
I got a little bummed out and dissatisfied with some of the initial drafts and it almost ended up on the cutting room floor, but I tweaked it a little here and there and saw the potential and now I believe that it has become a pretty good and very unique song!
The Production (and style notes):
Wow, did I have a hard time on the production of this one... I keep pushing the limits of my obsolete little 4 track mini-disk recorder... Some of the really cool passages got lost in the mix, but eventually after spending a lot of time, I just had to call it a take... (the bass was a little too heavy, but I couldn't afford so many more hours to remix this on the 4 track (it's still within an acceptable range, I think)).
The original, mostly acoustic versions sounded really slinky, with the syncopated drum track (that I kept tweaking over and over). I finally ended up with the basic drum track that I started with and some percussive shaker sounds added to the high-hat rhythm... (this is not extremely noticeable in the final mix). The final mix is a little more rock and a little less "slinky" but that is the best way that I could describe the style briefly.
This is kind of a soulful-bluesish-rhythmic-jazz-rock song about needing a little love. I initially intended this to be a fairly main stream love/desire song. The music then fell into the ... jazz-rock style that I mentioned so I went with it...
The recording mostly stays with the basic guitar, vocal and rhythm section (featuring the bass) with a bluesy trumpet solo and some heavy organ added in to keep it interesting. There were a fair amount of other sounds and solo instruments that I tried that ended up on the cutting room floor before settling on this simple arrangement.
This is a combination of a couple of different ideas and experiences that I have had recently. Most of the idea for this I got after I found that it was really nice riding my bike in this cemetery not too far from our house (after it closes and just before dark). I also really enjoyed one of my bike rides that I had in a thunder storm one afternoon, so I threw that idea in and tried to tie it all together with the "enjoy the ride" philosophy of life (and what a better place to consider life and mortality stuff then at a cemetery).
The feeling (or emotion) that I was primarily going for here was exhilaration. I created most of the lyrics while riding my bike and much of them from the rides in the cemetery. Riding is fun and exhilarating and so I went for the up tempo (bike speed) and the heavy side to the music was meant to fit the cemetery and mortality stuff. I succeeded at doing an up tempo song and I think I got some of the exhilaration feeling.
I would also like to get a song published one of these days and therefore, I try to learn what I can about songwriting and the industry, market and supply what is in demand. When I started writing this I figured that it would not be a real main stream topic that most people could (or would necessarily want to) relate to, but I had to do it (and sometimes you never know and things can surprise you). I hope people can relate and will enjoy it. If not, well on to the next one...
The idea for this one was sent to me in an email, from a very nice lady from New Mexico. It is based on the email story about her daughter. I don't really know the mom or the daughter, so I'm sure that this is not an extreamly accurate portrail of anyone in particular, even though it was somewhat of an attempt to be. It has to do with beauty, envy, jealousy and preconcieved notions that some people have but I tried to keep it very positive. I think that I succeded at keeping it mostly positive, but with a slight edge to keep it interesting...
I have been trying to keep my music sounding current and try for upbeat stuff as much as possible. This one just came out in a smooth, slightly spaced out style (more layed back then upbeat), with a slight touch of mexican guitar in the background (I think that got in my head from the "NEW Mexico" thing (maybe not real accurate, but it happened that way).
Thank you Marsha.
I mostly started with the "what up with that" phrase. I hear it a lot these days, especially from my son! I combined this with another phrase that I was playing around with (the "you're good when you're good, bad when you bad" idea). After a while, the song got a little life of it's own (as they often do) and I just fell into the flirty/cheaty phrases to fit the famous title question...
I got stuck on the second verse for a short time, but while driving home from Wisconsin, I remembered something my wife said about married people always meeting their boyfriends/girlfriends on off nights (because they are busy on weekends, etc.) and wa-la... second verse...
I had a basic rhythm idea, but I really didn't know that it was going to fall into a basic rockabilly pattern at first. I just sat down at the piano after a walk one day and did my usual piano boogie (in C), added some of the words, and there it was...
I was wanting to do another one of these style songs anyway, but I always like to add something different (as with Mountian Rock the 2 extra bars (making it a 14 bar progression, to mess up the people playing it at first)). With this one it is the off-beat triplet type chorus. I was originally thinking of splicing in a little rap, but it seem better to stay in sync with the rest of the song. Besides, rap really isn't something that comes naturally to me. I try not to limit myself to any particular styles, but this one just came out rockabilly (or rock/boogie), with some syncopation...
My ideas for this one were to try subjects and lyrics that many people could relate to and to use an instrumental phrase in the melody and as a part of the song. OK, even the creative process has a technical side too I guess.
I didn't particularly intend to write a love type song, with a strong rhythmic background... it just evolved that way. Actually, I still don't feel like I have a great deal of control over the creative process. I get ideas and can try to go a certian direction, but then the song comes to life and starts having it's own ideas. Pretty much like a kid (it's true). I have also been trying to get my melodies more interesting and dynamic.
I started with "what do people want?" and "how do we want to feel?". OK, we want to capture that feeling of being in love. Even if you still are there, you want to be reminded (especially when other things take priority and make you forget). OK, this may be a little heavy, but if you are taking the time to read this, I might as well give you something good.... :-) .
I probably started this one 2 months ago and have tweaked it on and off when I got the time to think about it or work on it. Finally, I was ready for the recording and production and that have been almost 2 weeks since I recorded the first tracks (same process as the article below "20 hours for a 2 1/2 minute song").
I got a little carried away with the production (as I usually do these days) and I hope it isn't too much. I could always hear a strong high pitch (treble up) electric guitar on the off-beat chords in the chours but my guitar was too crappy to do that so I did that heavy synth/strings sound.
I also tried many other sounds and instruments that didn't work (ie the cutting room floor) and I actually stumbled on some of the best sounds in this production by accident.
Well, I just finished the last mix, so it upload time!!!
I got the idea for the chorus while driving by Deer Grove Forest Preserve. ("We'll ride into the woods..."). Jotted down some lyrics. In the next few days, I worked out more of the lyrics in my spare time on and off (in addition to the general tempo rythym, etc).
This one seems to be very versatile (I can play it in a few different styles). I choose a jazz style for this. It seems to fit the song well. I also went through the extra effort of bouncing and mixing tracks quite a bit to get a fair amount of a stereo field out of this (from a 4 track). So if you have the time, try the MP3 version. It's a nice song about forgetting the bad stuff and going out to the woods and/or lake.
Also See: 20 hours for a 2 1/2 minute song
I actually had the general idea, and some of the lyrics, for this at a time when things were pretty difficult for me. I really didn't have much time or energy to finish it at that time, but when things got slightly better I finished it off. I also tried to keep the basic theme (hey life happens) but try to stay on the up side too. I really wasn't real sure about the "and then you die" part, but I left it in as a little cynical humor. The bridge gives a break from the overall theme, which is then meant to go into a hard rockin type of instrumental.
I wrote this one fairly recently, and thought that the song was nice, even though I was trying for something more "UP", it just came out very relaxed and flowing.
This one is a song that I wrote about a year or two ago about something that I recalled about an old girlfriend of mine. The song is pretty good and I've gotten quite a few good comments about it, but the recording is old and not as good as the newer stuff. I also re-wrote some parts of this, but I just used the recording that I had available (I don't have unlimited time you know!!!)
This is a real "UP" boogie type of a song, and I've gotten a lot of comments from people that like this one. I've had some ideas for some minor lyrics changes but, once again haven't had the time to re-write and re-record. Unfortunately the recording is not as good as some of the others, but the song and the tempo and style carry it through pretty well.
Oh yeah, this is probably the oldest song of the bunch. I wrote this in the early eighties, on my first trip through the Rocky Mountains (on the way to Oregon). It throws in a lot of mountain scene descriptions in a boogie/rockabilly background. Also for those familiar with music, it is a 14 bar rock/blues progression (not the standard 12, and on purpose!)
(The critics* were'nt too crazy about it, but the public loves it!)
This is another "UP" song, but way more electric. It is a very simple (almost too simple) chord progression, that I tried to change, but it just worked better this way... I like the synth backgrounds... and once again...(The critics* were'nt too crazy about it, but the public likes it!)
Rat Race: (Original Notes) I just came up with this one driving home in rush hour traffic. It took a while to finish the lyrics, but it's pretty simple (especially the chord progression) but it seems to work best that way and hey... "it's only rock and roll". I do have some ideas to refine the basic arrangement (electric rhythm guitar changes and a few picking 7 chords at the break) That will be here soon too. The Rat is Back!!! I did a very minor update to this one. You know even though it's a real simple song,I was listening to it in the car and realized, it's a great driving song! (I know a song should be good in front of a computer too, but it works well on the road!).
This one is dedicated to my parents.
It is a nice melodic song about loosing someone.
Well... It's like it says... It's kind of a spoof, or something like that, but I made a serious attempt at it. The trumpet fit this one really well.
This is, as my friend Dale said a "I'm not a waiter, I'm really a Playwright" type of song.
The idea was you "do" a job but that may not be what you are about, and a "Don't quit your NIGHT job" type of song. It was supposed to be optimistic/positive... I'm not sure if that really came across...
Not Who I Am (Original Notes) (or Selling Time) February 2000-
I couldn't quite figure out what style I would call this... as close as I could get was that it's kind of a I could see it as a Steely Dan song (except that I don't typically use much drums (cause I can't play em!! even the fake ones). Maybe ELP...
This one was about a woman I worked with, that at the time, seemed to have an attitude. In retrospect, I don't know... maybe it's me... but that's the song and I'm stickin to it...
Attitude: (Original Notes) This one started out about a woman that I worked for that had this 'attitude' about many things including me and my work. There were times that it was hard to ignore and well, made me feel bad... so I turned a bad thing (that feeling) into a good thing (the song (I Hope!)). Of course, I took many liberties with the idea and turned it into a fictional relationship... (Who wants a whole song about work gripes...).
** The critics that I refer to are the professional songwriters (published) that work with NSAI (Nashville Songwriters group) to help critique members songs (like mine). I really loved this service (my membership has expired for now, but I will probably join again when I have a little more material to send in). I got some great critiques from them, and very much appreciate their help. They just were'nt too crazy about Mountain Rock or Rat Race and it reminded me of when movie critics don't like a move but it is a box office smash!
Get Me Outta Here: (aka Blue Jeans)
I had the first line for this one months ago (before the finger injury) and couldn't figure out what else to do with it. Then I just wanted to try a minor key fast strum type of pattern and got the start on the music. Then I just decided that I gotta finish this. Still stuck on the lyrics,... then I got the idea on multiple themes and the rest just started to come along.
OK this one is different (and a stretch) for me. I basically wrote the music structure on the keyboard when I couldn't play guitar (I usually do the music on the guitar first).
My idea here was to try a SAPPY, Optimistic Love Song (not usually my style, but I wanted to try it anyway).
I actually had the chorus in my head one morning (kind of like a left over dream... I wasn't consciously trying to write anything at the time). Then I wrote the rest around it.I thought that the chorus needed to be a real dramatic thing, so that's why it is like it is... (yes, I had Dara in mind while writing this...)
I just did another version of Together Now. (From Summer 1999) I had some ideas that I liked for the background instruments (I think I was having flashbacks of the orchestras that I played in (in H.S. and College).
I liked the acoustic guitar and piano mix on the first version, which got a little covered up with the other instruments on the second version. I'll get it mixed better soon. After all, it is really the songs that count... (but I like doing the productions too...).
I like some of both versions now and will eventually mix the best of both, but I knew that I wouldn't get to it tonight, and since I had this part recorded, I wanted to upload it... To keep things interesting!!!