"Craig's Song"

This week's tune was written by a good friend of mine, thus the eponymous title. I contributed the last verse, perhaps some other words here or there, but other than vocal/guitar styling, I can't really claim the song as my own although over the years it feels I've turned it that way.

The song is basically a mash of two two-chord songs with a little play on "Em" and "A" in between. It's got great energy, and I've always dug the words, especially the opening verse.

As for Craig, I'm not sure if he was a wise man playing a fool or a fool playing a wise man. It never really mattered. I knew with Craig that I could depend on what mattered most. And it remains that way. I thank him for the tune.

CRAIG'S SONG

Every dying eye in this room
has got a fix on me and is seeing through
their magazines and color books...
I don't know how long I can stand

Every time I take a few
I find I got a few more left to lose
and your stealing me with your eyes and greedy looks...
I don't know how long I can stand

Didn't anybody ever tell you
that good things--they never stay the same
didn't anybody ever tell you
the only constant thing is change

Every other time I look at you
I get the feeling that I'm getting through
but I don't even know if I care...
who are you kidding anyway

And every time I try to try
I see you hanging in my sky
and I want to make you just go away...
who am I kidding anyway

Didn't anybody ever tell you
that good things--they never stay the same
didn't anybody ever tell you
the only constant thing is change

Zombie Apocalypse

"Zombie Apocalypse" has very little to do with zombies. Really it's about any paranoia, any myth of fear under which we attempt to umbrella our lives. I think there's no secret to the advent of zombies and end-of-times movies, books, tv shows in the last decade or so. Apparently there's also no lack of related songs.

The tune itself is new. It was conceived as a jam song, so it really would be best with electric, full-band, nice extended jam in the middle. But a single acoustic gets the idea across. Probably it's yet in draft form.

Lyrically I don't have much to say about it except I like the "they" in the song. It's so ambiguous. It's "them," you know? Them. And the they changes. They/them could be understood to change, anyway. When I jotted them down, I didn't think about it.

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

They say it's getting closer
It's feeling pretty scary
It's almost 'cross the river
It's feeling pretty heavy

C'mon, I think it's time we get on outta here
You know we've gotta get our shit together
We are supposed to meet them at the rendezvous
Yeah, yeah -- at the rendezous

Look at all these people
They're clogging up the highway
Don't look in the mirror
You're never going to make it

Images are closer than they appear
Everywhere I look they're closer closer closer
Do you think they'll ever make it to the rendezvous
Yeah, yeah -- the rendezvous

The truth is what you make it
We're always on our own
I've got a funny feeling
We're not in Kansas anymore

(rendition of the chorus)

And now for some music...

Wow. It's been over a year since my last post. It's not that I wouldn't prefer  a more literary life. I would. But until I finish the great American novel, I don't see that happening. And then I still don't see that happening.

So anyway, prioritizing means the blog gets shoved by the wayside most of the time. When I do have good ideas or when I run across poems I'd like to think about a bit in prose, I'm usually too tired too worry about it. But lately I've been asked by North American Review blog to blog a bit for them, which was a cool, thoughtful, and appreciated offer. And yesterday for Valentine's Day my wife gave me a cool leather-bound journal

and requested I fill it with haiku. I had taken up a similar project a few years ago when my mother gave me a small notebook made from (not with) recycled elephant poop. I called the collection "hai-poo" and returned it to her when every page was filled. That was actually a lot of fun, and I learned a bit about haiku along the way.

So with the NAR asking me to write a "The Art of Ecstasy" for their site and with my wife asking me to persistently keep a record of haiku, returning to the blog seemed a natural addition. But since I don't really care to invest the time to blather on about poetry, I think instead I'm going to periodically post some music. Some new, some old. Some covers, some originals. And of course I'll embed YouTube.

Now I do have some philosophical problems with this. I really hate most of the stuff on YouTube and much of what such a site entails. I mean honestly--most of what anyone needs to know about human existence can be gleaned from the annals of scatalogy past, present, and future. Very little needs to exist ad infinitum per the multitude of hard drives on which the internet survives. I do like all the education YouTube offers, but seriously--most of us having nothing to say or show. It's not true that everyone has a voice and that it should be heard. I don't exclude myself from this predicament.

But as a poet and a musician I am foremost an exhibitionist (aren't we all?). And so I find myself occasionally posting my foolishness online: YouTube, a blog, the infrequent and quotidian Facebook post (I fear how much energy is wasted in its various forms to house Facebook posts until eternity).

And with that being said, I intend to update "Present Everywhere" with regularity again, not with highfalutin pomp about poetry, but with semi-decent music, mine and otherwise.

Cheers.

Rain Song #1, circa 1999, the JimRobbie Trio

Tonight's rain and forecasted weekend rain and hail has me suddenly hearing the "Rain Song," first recorded by The JimRobbie Trio in the winter of '99 -- like, forever, ago. Jake, Andrew, and I recorded the album in this guy's home studio on an 8 track recorder that served it's purposes well at the time. I can still remember the setup, where Andrew's kit was positioned, the green curtain that separated Seth, our producer of sorts, from the rest of the band. More than anything I recall how cold it was, like hurt-your-teeth cold, then stepping out into it anyway for a cigarette between sessions.

Listening to the song now I think how Andrew is to splash cymbal what Will Ferrell is to cowbell. And I wish I could get rid of that little buzz on my guitar. Jake, as always, sounds great. And did I mention it was through Jake that we conned George Dalton--a radio journalist from our local NPR affiliate--to open the song with a little intro? Can't beat it, just can't beat it.



As for other comments about the recording and the band, we were working sort of from a minimalist viewpoint, which meant as little extra as possible: no over-effecting, definitely no over-producing. I'm still sort of into that, musically speaking.

So, please, enjoy "Rain Song #1." Feel free to hear a me-and-my-acoustic version--complete with its mistakes--on my Music page.

New RSR video added from last weekend's Plush show

Our anti-finale finale at Plush last Saturday 8-27-11, "Swiss Valley Road," recorded by Cheryl on the fan-cam: RSR - Swiss Valley Road.