Here are some songs from the more distant past:
Bayer My Soul
Friday, December 11, 2009
I just turned 54 last week... Say no more.
Backstage Pass
Monday, September 19, 2011
The first two lines of this one were inspired when I went out to recycle some batteries in our garage and encountered a beautiful and quite large Black Widow Spider guarding the recycle can. Somehow it turned into a story about someone unable just to be herself.
Happy as a Clam
Monday, March 28, 2011
I came across this passage in a 2009 article by film critic Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun Times. The subject was his own mortality:
“I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear. I hope to be spared as much pain as possible on the approach path. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state. What I am grateful for is the gift of intelligence, and for life, love, wonder, and laughter."
His words strangely comforted me and inspired this song. Rest in peace, Roger.
Gotta Ge' Chew Into My Life
Saturday, February 5, 2011
On this one I just started with a wee flippy dippy little bebop piano progression, then added some walking bass, a bit of lead sax and guitar -- and then found I had nowhere to go with it. Somehow these lyrics came into my head, and they fit so well I had to use them.
When in doubt steal from the best.
The Keeper
Friday, January 7, 2011
Here’s one with the guitar tuned to an open E and then capod to a G ... Fascinating stuff, huh? It’s also the first time I’ve tried a little live harmonica.
This one’s about possessiveness.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
The Deaf, Dumb and Blind Kid
Here’s one that’s heavy on electric guitar and twangy bass.
How's It Going?
Shadow Town
Firetrucks
Enter Text
Thursday, October 22, 2009
I remembered liking the book Catcher in the Rye more than most of our required reading in high school, but it’s been out of my memory for years. I read it again one afternoon recently and it moved me to write this song.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
A once thriving town gets forgotten as the interstate is built to bypass them.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
I wrote this one back when Marla turned 16. Teenage drivers were on my mind.
Less Than None
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Have you ever been at a loss for words at a crucial moment, when they would do the most good, and then think of the perfect line long after it could possibly make a difference? ...
Me neither.
Edge of the World
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
This was inspired by an article in Sports Illustrated entitled “The Wave.” It chronicled the birth of big wave tow-in surfing in Hawaii as well as excursions to two separate locales with very different breaks: one to Teahupoo, Tahiti; the other to Maverick’s, near San Francisco...
No, the guy on the lip is not me.
My Best Friend
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Do you hear the voices inside my head?
Yesterday's News
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Assuming I’ll live to be 112, I’m exactly middle- age today. I remember way back when I thought anyone older than 35 was ancient...
Oh to be so “old.”
Mr. Chan
Monday, October 29, 2012
This is about Texas Hold 'Em and the characters that play: Mr. Johnny Chan, Doyle (Brunson), “Jesus” (Chris Ferguson), (Chris) Moneymaker, “Action Dan” (Harrington), and “The Poker Brat” (Phil Hellmuth).
It's filled with more simile and metaphor than a Bob Dylan song ... complete with an Anne Boleyn reference. Who’d a thought.
I Was Only Ten
Sunday, September 29, 2013
This one began as a simple look back to summer playtime with the neighborhood kids when we were in grammar school. But then I started thinking about the music of that time. I heard these songs being played on the loudspeakers at Grandview Pool as we swam. I heard them on my cheap transistor radio. To me they were catchy little tunes and nothing more. I had no idea they would become timeless anthems of political unrest. At ten years old I wasn’t really following the news much. I decided to incorporate them into this song.