A Southern Singer-Songwriter speaks …
November 1st, 2009 — 2 O's, 2 E's (2009), Magnificent Loser
This song was originally released in 1996 on The Swing. Whenever I play it, I introduce it thusly:
“This is a song about someone who can’t find anything in life to be good at, so he learns to be good at being bad at things.”
That sums it up pretty well.
Continue reading →
November 1st, 2009 — 2 O's, 2 E's (2009), April Snow
April Snow originally appeared on Asking For Trouble (2000), and it’s a pretty straightforward description of my mindset as a Vermont winter stretched on and on. But you don’t have to live in a cold climate to appreciate the sentiment at work here. It’s a song about anything you desperately want, and you know it’s coming, probably pretty soon, but it’s still not here and it hasn’t been here for a long time. It’s an unanswered prayer for patience.
Continue reading →
November 1st, 2009 — 2 O's, 2 E's (2009), Coming Down
This is the first track on the “Walls” segment of Windows and Walls (1994) and boy, is it ever a shutdown. There’s the potential for a real relationship here, but our narrator will not let himself get dragged in. After all, he has to pick up the dry cleaning or something, right? Gee, look at the time.
Continue reading →
November 1st, 2009 — 2 O's, 2 E's (2009), Must Go
This Windows and Walls (1994) track sounds eerily like a leftover from Jim Croce. The narrator is hoping against hope that his lover might change her mind. After all, she hasn’t left yet, has she? He might be right, who knows? The song only lasts so long, but the story continues somewhere.
Continue reading →
November 1st, 2009 — 2 O's, 2 E's (2009), Glowing
This song originally appeared on Windows and Walls (1994). The idea of being taken aback and powerfully moved by the sight of someone you will never meet or speak to is not an original one. In particular, I tend to think of a moment in Citizen Kane when Everett Sloane talks about a woman carrying a white parasol that he saw on a distant ferry. That’s definitely the sentiment I’m trying to capture here.
Continue reading →
November 1st, 2009 — 2 O's, 2 E's (2009), Rain Dance
We jump ahead to 1996 and this energetic track from The Swing. Mel Torme swears that he wrote his Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) in the middle of summer, but I couldn’t muster that level of imagination here. Rain Dance was definitely written after a 3-week drought in Vermont (1995, I think). There’s something deeply wrong when the Green Mountains are starting to turn brown, and there really was an excitement in the air as the storm clouds gathered. I didn’t see anyone actually dancing on the lawn, but you know those New Englanders. They’re so stoic.
Oh, and the line about how the sound of thunder is “better than a mandolin” is a reference to Bruce Hornsby’s beautiful song, Mandolin Rain. Hornsby, of course, is also responsible for the song Heartbreak Town, which plays over the opening credits of the awesome animated film, Twice Upon A Time. Viva Ralph the All-Purpose Animal.
Continue reading →
November 1st, 2009 — 2 O's, 2 E's (2009), On Another Day
This track was originally part of Picture Perfect Fool (1992), and it’s the dark reflection of On The Street Where You Live from My Fair Lady. Instead of being exhilarated by proximity to his true love’s house, our narrator is walking that street long after the fire has died. He is overwhelmed by memories, theories, and old resentment and is finally lucky enough to be able to put it all behind him at the end. How romantic.
Continue reading →
November 1st, 2009 — 2 O's, 2 E's (2009), General Junk, Latest Hits
I’ve been slowly, slowly adding posts and lyrics for the songs on my most recent collection, 2 O’s, 2 E’s, since I released it at the end of March. I’ve only gotten about halfway through at this point, but I’ll wrap it up today.
So stay tuned, cuz here come the tunes! And please feel free to listen to all the other cool stuff up at my Bandcamp site.
September 30th, 2009 — 2 O's, 2 E's (2009), Cigarette Ash
Cigarette Ash is the Alice’s Restaurant of my musical history. It takes a long time to play, it’s a bit childish, it’s got an awful lot of talking … and people keep asking to hear it.
You can find the original version on Picture Perfect Fool (1992), and this take changes around some of the characters to be a tad more contemporary. I actually think it works a bit better this way, but you can be the judge.
(Lyrics not included … you’ll just have to listen.)
September 30th, 2009 — 2 O's, 2 E's (2009), Harder Way To Die
This little portrait of despair was originally released in 1992 on Picture Perfect Fool. The song wears its heart on its sleeve, and doesn’t really need a lot of extra explanation. The world is a hard, cold place and there’s a lot of people who are simply too vulnerable to navigate it well. Whatever sympathy you can muster would probably be appreciated.
