different ships

different ships
nov 19, 2007

an old man died yesterday
some knew him as "The Bachelor of Brno"
handsome, a bit of a womanizer
a character, stuck in his ways
"It's complicated…" he was fond of saying

he lived with a woman… not his wife, really
more of a shipmate, riding this final sea
she's there now, in the apartment alone
recalculating the points on her compass, probably…
shifting winds, new landmarks, she'll bury him

they are on different ships now.

cause and effect

if you believe in cause and effect
as I do
when you see a hole
you look for the shovel
when you see a scar
you look for the knife
when you see a great love
you look for the heart
when you hear music through an open window…

music, physics, chemistry, war, love
they all teach the same thing
ultimately: you affect me

new cardinal direction

I am leaving now
it took such a long time
but these trips we conceive
always seem to come
at precisely the right moment

if we make our own meaning
why do we make it so hard?

the phone will ring less, if at all
my boots will wear down, walking
aimlessly through that old city
just a large, ancient metaphor
for the same complicated walks taken inside

if we make our own meaning
why do we make it so hard?

I want to extinguish "you"
I want to extinguish "I"
a life filled only with proper names,
new stories, unexplored rooms,
unfamiliar constellations, a new cardinal direction

if we make our own meaning
then we can write a new story.

if i wasn't going to europe.

i'd want to make a very ROOMY record. with gorgeous, open sounds.

i'd play keys, acoustic guitar, and then electric guitar if necessary, in that order.

i'd record a lot of my newer songs... a lot of the songs i played at the Thin Man show...

paper plates
the turnaround
pass that bottle down
don't need you
do you know my name
same scar
to know you
i do, i don't
right now
walter whitman
ghosts
good heart
let it rain
thinking 'bout god
messy mind
clara
lift this man up
the letter
carousel
don't follow virginia
psalm 151

i'd want the bass to sound very old school. definitely not modern sounding bass. i'm hearing that round, darker, muted sound from 60s soul records.

this record would groove. it it's own way.

hmmm...

there'd be female backing vocals on the record. perhaps my friend sara.

i'd probably pull in someone (or maybe more than one person) to fill in the "harmony instrumentalist" slot... guitar, keys, maybe laptop.

and a male backing vocal. maybe my friend ian and/or my friend jed.

i'd want to get the tracking done before christmas. mixed before saint patricks. cd release show before easter. i've decided that the most detailed one should get about recording schedules is to mention holidays, you see. any finer granularity is asking god to sneer at you and fuck with the project forthwith.

i'd probably do the overdubs at my house, in my studio, emmasaurus.

the drums would have to be done in a great room. don't know where. or with whom. again, i'd want the drums to sound open and gorgeous... definitely not "rock" or "funk".

at *this* point in the email, i've used the word "i" eleven times.

the focus of the record would be to simply communicate great songs as delivered by amazing performances from very cool people.

air. breath. voice. room.

that's key.

a balance between [production value / gloss that makes it listen-able over the long haul] and [that honest dirt / looseness that i love].

if i wasn't going to europe.

what do you think?

Beautiful gas station

beautiful gas station

I drank a while
told some lies
I sank a mile
tranquilized
You know I tried
I'm not sure why

the evening's gone
here comes the shroud
it's almost dawn
we're in the clouds
I'm a swan
just one more song

but paradise is waiting
like a beautiful gas station
shining gold, shining gold
way up in in the sky

I took my shot
I took my pills
I smoked some pot
I had my fill
you know the drill
it's all downhill

I'm in my prime
I'm singing songs
I'm killing time
they're bangin' gongs
I don't belong
I don't belong

would someone please get me out of here?
would someone please get me out of here?
would someone please get me out of here?

but paradise is waiting
like a beautiful gas station
shining gold, shining gold
way up in in the sky
but paradise is waiting
like a beautiful gas station
shining gold, shining gold
way up in in the sky

sing it loud (paradise is waiting)
sing it proud (paradise is waiting)
sing it loud (paradise is waiting)
sing it proud (paradise is waiting)
sing it loud (paradise is waiting)
sing it proud (paradise is waiting)

When the roaches have finally won

Years from now...

When the roaches have finally won, I wonder which remainders of our defeated culture will make it to the 'Greatest Hits of the Humans' compilation video that all the roach kids will be watching on RoachTube?

It's something to shoot for.