Song of the Day No. 6

There's a murder of crows
In a lifeless live oak
As the frigid wind blows
A smell of burning leaf smoke.
It's a good, good day.
The sky looks just like a bruise;
There's not a sunbeam in sight
And you have nothing to lose
The icy glare is so bright.
It's a good, good day.
It's a good, good, good, good day.
It's a good, good day to be alive.

In the snow covered woods
The wolves are hot on your heels.
You wish that everyone could
Feel just what you now feel.
It's a good, good, day.
There's a body afloat
In the river so red.
Bleeding from a torn throat,
There is no doubt she is dead.
It's a good, good day. . .

Everything is right in your mind.
Everything's alright in your mind.

If you never get sick,
How will you know when you're well?
How will you know you're in heaven
If you ain't been to hell?
It's a good, good day.
If you never break down,
It's hard to build yourself up.
If you never get out,
How will you ever find love?
It's a good, good day. . .

Note: Since I didn't post anything the last two nights, I figured I'd make up for it tonight by posting some songs I wrote on those days as well as today's.

James

Song of the Day No. 5

I gave my heart to you;
It was the only one I had.
It wasn't all nice and new;
It was messed up pretty bad.
But when I saw you, I could tell
That you would always treat me well,
So I gave my heart to you,
No questions asked.

And all I ask is:
"Take good care of my heart now, girl;
Take good care of my heart."

James

Song of the Day No. 4

I'm on a capsule to the sky
I don't have wings, but I can fly
Never thought I'd get so high
I'm spacing out
I'm seeing stars
I'm spacing out

I'm on a high speed rocketship
What a kaleidescopic trip
Like when I first tasted your lips
I'm spacing out
I'm seeing stars
I'm spacing out

In the wormhole there's no glare
Of only colors I'm aware
And I'm floating 'round the air
I'm spacing out
I'm seeing stars
I'm spacing out

James

Song of the Day No. 3

This one's a blues:

You can't forget me, baby
Even though you wish you could.
You can't forget me, baby
Down by the river in the woods.
Swirling eddies in the shallows
Underneath the long pine shadows
Kiss the red clay bank where we once stood.

You can't forget me, baby
No matter how hard you try.
You can't forget me, baby,
The one who put out your eye.
Of binocular vision you are bereft
And with the one eye you have left
All you can do is cry.

You can't forget me, baby
Although we miles apart.
You can't forget me, baby
The one who broke your heart
And dried and ground it to a powder
To add some flavor to my chowder
And I keep it in my spice rack in a jar.

James

Song of the Day No. 2

Here are two songs for today. The first one is urgent, with the A section (first two stanzas) in a gloomy minor key. The coda (stanza 3) shifts to a brighter sound. It won't use the usual verse-chorus pop song format, but will instead have the repetitive bit at the end.

I.

In the demon forest night
I heard an unusual light,
Pale as day
But only half as gay
And retarded
By the writhing branches

Into my eyes it shined
And struck me deaf,
Sweet as grass
And almost clear as grass
But piercing
Like a thousand hollow points.

It was the light of your love,
The light of your love.
My only saving grace
In that god-forsaken place
Was the light of your love.

The second song has more of a repetitive structure: verse/chorus/verse/chorus. It will be a really short one without any intros, solos or any other extraneous appendages.

II.

I used to get so depressed
But then I burned that part
Of my heart away.
Now the night looks like day
And I feel a billion times better;
I feel a billion times better.

I used to have emotional problems
But then I took a knife
To that part of my brain.
Now there is no more pain
And I feel a billion times better;
I feel a billion times better.

Take care,
James

Song of the Day No. 1

I'm trying a new experiment. As a way of getting back into writing songs, I want to try to post a new song lyric here every day. It'll definitely be a challenge, but I think I'm up for it. Here's the first one:

I saw you again in my dreams last night
That ugly little face I never thought I'd miss.
And though it's true that you were never clever,
Now that you're gone from me forever
I just can't go on anymore like this.

Who else will stay with me
Now that you're gone?
Who else will stay with this old dog
That wants to talk but can only bark?

Though you tried once to get away,
It was I who escaped you.
I left you all cold and alone
By that old ruin in the snow,
But now I long for you; it's true.

Who else will stay with me
Now that you're gone?
Who else will stay with this old gypsy,
This mean old vagabond?

Cheers!
James

Recent Goings On

So we haven't blogged lately. Sue us! We've been pretty busy. Lily and I want to make some more time for this though, so I figured I'd break the ice and tell a little about what we've been up to lately. I think this calls for a list:

1. September 12: Hangarfest. Lily, Jake and I played a rock show at our favorite new local venue, The Hangar on Wade Hampton in Greenville. It was a lot of fun! We played 6 songs: "Deep Space," "Hurtling Through Outer Space," "It's Kinda Weird," "All You Earthlings Look the Same," "We Are Aliens" and "Goodbye, Strange Planet." It was weird to see Lily's twelve and ten-year old brother and sister rocking out in front of us as we played.

2. Recording Jake Xingu's awesome new album It's Kinda Weird. It is going to be amazing! Jake is an ingenious songwriter and performer and I can't wait 'til this set of recordings is finished so I can listen to them on repeat.

3. Crafting. Lily has been CONSUMED with making stuff! Baby shoes, stuffed animals, paintings, clothes for Beatrice and herself and much more. I am really proud of the diversity of her talents.

4. New music video: "In the Caves" by Cooper Knights. Lily's younger brother is a brilliant if nonchalant musician. As soon as we have this clip edited we'll post it here for all to enjoy.

5. Beatrice is eating solid food now. She really wants to crawl but her little arms aren't strong enough yet. She can sit up in her high chair now. And the biggest news of all: she's got TWO TEETH! As if she wasn't cute enough already. It's almost more than we can take. Almost.

Cheers!
James