Sunday, August 20, 2006
Almost You
Commentary:
One of my alltime favorite lines from Elvis Costello-- "There's a girl here and she's almost you." I stretched that into a whole song, or tried. There is also a lovely echo of Dylan's "Most of the Time"-- if my songs do nothing but pay tribute to the lines and songs I love than that is enough.
I know what this should sound like but I don't have the musical or vocal talent to make it sound right, I hope you can kind of guess what the notes should be-- eventually again this should probably be on piano, and I've tried it on there a couple times. I'm not a huge fan of this song, but I do like the thematic movement in the last three verses.
Lyrics:
She's almost you
She's almost you
before I went insane
before all the shame
without all the pain
without all the blame.
It's almost true
It's almost true
that I can repent
and be forgiven
I've found you again
just like you were then.
I was almost through
I was almost through
Your memories confined
in the back of my mind
you were far behind
most of the time.
But she's almost you
She's almost you
Everything I forgot
the day that we fought
all that I've sought
or maybe she's not.
I don't know who
I don't know who
she is deep inside
I can't see past her eyes
that I've covered in lies
to look just like you.
Which they almost do
They almost do
She is almost you.
It is almost true.
I was almost through.
Before she was you.
One of my alltime favorite lines from Elvis Costello-- "There's a girl here and she's almost you." I stretched that into a whole song, or tried. There is also a lovely echo of Dylan's "Most of the Time"-- if my songs do nothing but pay tribute to the lines and songs I love than that is enough.
I know what this should sound like but I don't have the musical or vocal talent to make it sound right, I hope you can kind of guess what the notes should be-- eventually again this should probably be on piano, and I've tried it on there a couple times. I'm not a huge fan of this song, but I do like the thematic movement in the last three verses.
Lyrics:
She's almost you
She's almost you
before I went insane
before all the shame
without all the pain
without all the blame.
It's almost true
It's almost true
that I can repent
and be forgiven
I've found you again
just like you were then.
I was almost through
I was almost through
Your memories confined
in the back of my mind
you were far behind
most of the time.
But she's almost you
She's almost you
Everything I forgot
the day that we fought
all that I've sought
or maybe she's not.
I don't know who
I don't know who
she is deep inside
I can't see past her eyes
that I've covered in lies
to look just like you.
Which they almost do
They almost do
She is almost you.
It is almost true.
I was almost through.
Before she was you.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Lucy
Commentary:
This is more specifically personal than I would like it to be, and therefore has that kind of triviality of the real that might fail to make it meaningful for anyone but myself... or another person who has taken part in a silly college non-love affair. I have considered striking it from the repetoire, but I also feel it is my most successful chord sequence-- probably because I lifted a fair portion from Costello's "Deportee" (honestly, he wasted it!) and a key figure from Tom Waits' "Blue Skies." I apologize to "Lucy" if she ever hears this song, because I bet would probably figure it out, maybe for the first time.
Lyrics:
Remember the day you were crying
eyes wet with tears of belief
you weren't supposed to stay together
but you could never really leave
Why did you let me fall in love with you
when your heart was never free?
Why did you take me out dancing all night long and hold me so
I'd believe?
Remember that night in the pool hall
with your ex-boyfriend and Marie
I could tell right away that you loved him
or at least you had met him before me
Why did you take me out dancing all night long?
Why did you make me believe?
How could look at me with those dark and lovely eyes and never know?
Lucy.
I could tell you were broken like a wine glass
that fell from the lips of a beast
you were waiting to open like a rosebud
that trembles at the touch of the breeze.
Why did you look at me with those dark and lovely eyes?
Why did you make me believe?
Didn't you know that it was godamn, fucking hard not to hold you?
Lucy.
We stayed up all night in November
blowing smoke-rings by the lake.
You told me it was so romantic
and couldn't look me in the face.
Didn't you know that it was godamn, fucking hard?
Why did you make me believe?
Why did you walk me by the frozen waterside to feed your breadcrumbs
to the geese?
Never could blame you cause you loved him
that might be the best part of you.
You had so much love and you needed someone
but I needed someone too.
Why did you walk me by the frozen waterside?
Why did you make me believe?
Sometimes I wonder if you even know how badly I... loved you so,
Lucy.
This is more specifically personal than I would like it to be, and therefore has that kind of triviality of the real that might fail to make it meaningful for anyone but myself... or another person who has taken part in a silly college non-love affair. I have considered striking it from the repetoire, but I also feel it is my most successful chord sequence-- probably because I lifted a fair portion from Costello's "Deportee" (honestly, he wasted it!) and a key figure from Tom Waits' "Blue Skies." I apologize to "Lucy" if she ever hears this song, because I bet would probably figure it out, maybe for the first time.
Lyrics:
Remember the day you were crying
eyes wet with tears of belief
you weren't supposed to stay together
but you could never really leave
Why did you let me fall in love with you
when your heart was never free?
Why did you take me out dancing all night long and hold me so
I'd believe?
Remember that night in the pool hall
with your ex-boyfriend and Marie
I could tell right away that you loved him
or at least you had met him before me
Why did you take me out dancing all night long?
Why did you make me believe?
How could look at me with those dark and lovely eyes and never know?
Lucy.
I could tell you were broken like a wine glass
that fell from the lips of a beast
you were waiting to open like a rosebud
that trembles at the touch of the breeze.
Why did you look at me with those dark and lovely eyes?
Why did you make me believe?
Didn't you know that it was godamn, fucking hard not to hold you?
Lucy.
We stayed up all night in November
blowing smoke-rings by the lake.
You told me it was so romantic
and couldn't look me in the face.
Didn't you know that it was godamn, fucking hard?
Why did you make me believe?
Why did you walk me by the frozen waterside to feed your breadcrumbs
to the geese?
Never could blame you cause you loved him
that might be the best part of you.
You had so much love and you needed someone
but I needed someone too.
Why did you walk me by the frozen waterside?
Why did you make me believe?
Sometimes I wonder if you even know how badly I... loved you so,
Lucy.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Drive Away
Commentary:
I used to think this was a decent song, now I really don't like it. Oh well, its an early song.
Lyrics:
I wish you'd just leave it alone
Instead of leaving me tumbling and lost with no direction home
I spend my whole life thinking of you
If you left I ain't sure that I'd think of much else to do
Why you gotta take my life from me
Pack your bags and hit the street and just
Drive Away
Why don't we just see how it goes?
Sit down feet up and maybe wash ourselves some dirty clothes
Spent my whole life waving goodbye
Why can't we just do all that shit on the day we die?
Why ain't our lives good enough?
Why do we leave the ones we love and just drive away?
And watch drive away?
I guess you gotta change
I guess you need to change
A chance to rearrange
Hop a bus and change your name
I guess we gotta change
I guess we all gotta change
I wish I was more content
Maybe I was too old fore I learned what that word meant
I spent my whole life waiting to be
well someone anyone just as long as he ain't like me
Why do we waste all the time
to build sand castles in our mind and just
drive away
and just drive away
and watch 'em slide away
I'm not sure I can change
maybe you just don't change
Always be the same
different place or different name
I guess we never change
and yet we need to change.
I used to think this was a decent song, now I really don't like it. Oh well, its an early song.
Lyrics:
I wish you'd just leave it alone
Instead of leaving me tumbling and lost with no direction home
I spend my whole life thinking of you
If you left I ain't sure that I'd think of much else to do
Why you gotta take my life from me
Pack your bags and hit the street and just
Drive Away
Why don't we just see how it goes?
Sit down feet up and maybe wash ourselves some dirty clothes
Spent my whole life waving goodbye
Why can't we just do all that shit on the day we die?
Why ain't our lives good enough?
Why do we leave the ones we love and just drive away?
And watch drive away?
I guess you gotta change
I guess you need to change
A chance to rearrange
Hop a bus and change your name
I guess we gotta change
I guess we all gotta change
I wish I was more content
Maybe I was too old fore I learned what that word meant
I spent my whole life waiting to be
well someone anyone just as long as he ain't like me
Why do we waste all the time
to build sand castles in our mind and just
drive away
and just drive away
and watch 'em slide away
I'm not sure I can change
maybe you just don't change
Always be the same
different place or different name
I guess we never change
and yet we need to change.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Break, Break, Break
Commentary:
While I was living in Bologna, I set an Alfred Lord Tennyson poem-- "Break, Break, Break" to music, somehow I just heard the way it should sound. It was I think the first song I ever wrote. Eventually the poem sort of tried to turn itself into a Hank Williams song ("Take these Chains from my heart" comes to mind), which is this one.
Lyrics:
Break, Break, Break
The heart that you've stolen from me
and teach my poor soul to cut loose from
the thoughts that just won't let me be
Oh I miss you in early septembers
I miss you but I know that it's wrong
like a fire's slow-dying embers
my love still shines weak in this song
Break, Break, Break
The heart that you've stolen from me
and teach my poor soul to cut loose from
the thoughts that just won't let me be
Why bury dry leaves in a scrapbook?
Why pine for the things that I've lost?
All the fears and the tears and the crap took
from having my heart as my boss
Break, Break, Break
The heart that you've stolen from me
and teach my poor soul to cut loose from
the thoughts that just won't let me be
Oh, I bet that you think that it's over
And I bet that you think that you've won
Oh, I wish I could make myself hate you
but somehow I can't get it done
Break, Break, Break
The heart that you've stolen from me
and teach my poor tongue to utter
the words that will set me free
While I was living in Bologna, I set an Alfred Lord Tennyson poem-- "Break, Break, Break" to music, somehow I just heard the way it should sound. It was I think the first song I ever wrote. Eventually the poem sort of tried to turn itself into a Hank Williams song ("Take these Chains from my heart" comes to mind), which is this one.
Lyrics:
Break, Break, Break
The heart that you've stolen from me
and teach my poor soul to cut loose from
the thoughts that just won't let me be
Oh I miss you in early septembers
I miss you but I know that it's wrong
like a fire's slow-dying embers
my love still shines weak in this song
Break, Break, Break
The heart that you've stolen from me
and teach my poor soul to cut loose from
the thoughts that just won't let me be
Why bury dry leaves in a scrapbook?
Why pine for the things that I've lost?
All the fears and the tears and the crap took
from having my heart as my boss
Break, Break, Break
The heart that you've stolen from me
and teach my poor soul to cut loose from
the thoughts that just won't let me be
Oh, I bet that you think that it's over
And I bet that you think that you've won
Oh, I wish I could make myself hate you
but somehow I can't get it done
Break, Break, Break
The heart that you've stolen from me
and teach my poor tongue to utter
the words that will set me free
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Pale Compromises is Born
After losing all of my lyrics and chords in the last computer crash, I decided that there should be a home on the web for my songwriting escapades. Pale compromises will be that home, it should have a mini-player with the songs as well as lyrics, comments on the songs, and perhaps chords as well.
Nonsense prevails, modesty fails
Grace and virtue turn into stupidity
While the calendar fades almost all barricades to a pale compromise.
