It’s time for another acapellic creation! In the course of spending my day entire day off on this demo, I started to remember why I don’t manage these too often – namely, because recording them is a very painstaking and time consuming process. It’s definitely worth it, but it’s a monstrous task!

Rock, Paper, Scissors was a weekly challenge on the song writing site where I hang out. The first thing I thought of doing when I saw it was writing a complaint song about the lack of left-handed scissors. I started expanding on it when the Rock-Paper-Scissors background came into my head, so I decided to go with that.

In doing the recording I tried to use the background vocals in a percussive way, emphasizing the hard consonants of the words and trying to make the microphone pop a bit instead of softening them. I also played with the mixing, so if you can, listen in stereo.

Before you listen, here’s one little last fact! This song beats the record set by “Lullaby for the Bruised” for the number of Debs singing together simultaneously. Venture a guess?

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Rock, Paper, Scissors

Tell me my friend, what would it take
to get ahold of some lefty scissors?
‘cuz all i’ve got are a thousand pairs of
of shiny new right-handers I can’t use

Tell me my friend, how do I tear
a piece of paper wrapped up in plastic?
These biceps here don’t do much good
against the strength of see-through fossil fuel

Tell me my friend, what can I do with a
rock that weighs so much that I can’t lift it?
just leave it there in the middle of the road
and hope we can all get around it

What if the fate of the world
was placed in your hands
and it hinged on a single round of…

Rock, paper, scissors
Rock, paper, scissors
Rock, paper, scissors
Rock, paper, scissors

Tell me my friend, why it’s so hard
to find our perfect place in the puzzle?
Too much distraction from the roads
that fight to place themselves beneath our feet

Tell me my friend, how can we undo
the negativity that has been written?
For the words have seeped into our soul
and the collective being is not one to forget

Tell me my friend, what would it take
to lift the weight of worries from your mind?
It’s a marvel that we can move at all
under the barrage of scissors, paper and stones

What if the fate of the world

was placed in your hands
and it hinged on a single round of…

Rock, paper, scissors
Rock, paper, scissors
Rock, paper, scissors
Rock.

Comments (3) Jul 28 2008

As I write this, I am sitting in the outside as I was when I began writing this song. It’s late afternoon, and the sun is shifting into the west. I thought it might be easier to write this out here, but it’s not.

I’d like to tell you about someone I knew. His name is Nick, and he was 22 when he died unexpectedly a few weeks ago. I can’t remember the first time we met, but it was years ago, and back then he liked to dress up as Han Solo, while I wore my Padme outfit. It is true that I did not know Nick very well, as our only interactions came during large Star Wars costuming events where Toronto meshed with St. Catharines’ club, Young Jedi Niagara, but I knew that he was thoughtful, kind, and always willing to lend a hand.

This past Saturday, Nick’s memorial was held in St. Catharines. I was sadly unable to attend in body, but I share with you, my friends who knew him, the celebration of Nick’s life, and the sorrow of his passing.

I wrote this song to express my feelings in the aftermath of his death, and I humbly give it to you in his memory.

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Aftermath (Song for Nick)

In the summer grass
I watch the ants crawling on my feet, I can feel them
So light, so light

The colour of the sun I taste
as it descends and splays its golden hues across my skin
so warm, so warm

But I wish that it would rain.

The breeze drifts by,
I hear the grass stir to its call, and I can smell the earth
so damp, so damp

A hundred cotton clouds
Hang in swirls and move across the crystal sky
so blue, sky blue

I wish that it would rain.

Because you’re not here to feel this day.
You will never feel the sun this way,
nor see the sky this shade of blue
You will never twist the clouds
with your imaginings again

I shut my eyes
I brush the ants away
I go inside
I’m trying not to feel today.

I wish that it would rain.

Comments (6) Jul 22 2008

This song is a result of an unfortunate byproduct of a photography expedition up to Georgian Bay two Thursdays ago. Namely, the mosquito bites! They still haven’t faded completely, but at least my coworkers aren’t looking at me aghast and asking what the heck happened. The photos, and the song, are both worth the discomfort.

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The Dregs (aka the song about Mosquitos)

I itch
oh God almighty
I itch
all over my body
from the top of my head to my toes
every single bit of me that was exposed

I itch
it’s so distracting
I itch
I want to be scratching
those tiny little buggers had the guile
to paint me up in red and camomile

Oh you goddamn mosquitos, the dregs of evolution
I would kill you off without any hesitation at all

You know
you wreck a summer day
You know
you make your victims pay
you wait until we’re occupied and sneak right in
and leave us with the aftermath on our skin

Oh you goddamn mosquitos, the dregs of evolution
I would kill you off without any hesitation at all

You need to reproduce and you need to dine
but Honey, I ain’t your bloody Valentine!

You goddamn mosquitos, the dregs of evolution
I would kill you off without any hesitation at all

Comments (7) Jul 13 2008

I had a choice in what to post this week since I was spurred by the opening of 50/90 and managed to write two over the weekend. As an aside, 50/90 is the marathon of February Album Writing Month, where the goal is 50 songs in 90 days. I must say I love having songwriting company again!

This is the second one I wrote as a poem written late Saturday night, and put to music yesterday. It’s riskier, and something very different to start the second half.

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Pretty Birds

If I could
I would be courageous
spill myself
and release
barbed arrows
with bloodied feathers
and tips
so sharp
they would pierce your heart
and you would die
in me.

But instead
I can only loose these birds
these pretty, pretty birds
such pretty pretty birds
to distract us and
make us think
that I am
pretty
too.

These pretty, pretty birds,
Such pretty little birds
that I would strangle
in an instant
if their death would
set me
free.

Comments (2) Jul 07 2008

I can’t believe that we’re already halfway through this thing! I’m really happy and a bit surprised too, but we’ve certainly come a very long way since January! I’m planning something to commemorate the occasion that I’m really excited about that, but that announcement will have to wait another week or two to be made official. In the meantime, I’d like to thank everyone who comes and spends a few minutes here each week. Your comments, feedback and criticisms (both online and in person) are cherished and appreciated, and give me the drive to keep putting out a new song every Monday.

This week’s song is called, appropriately Halfway. And, as an extra bonus song, check out the My Partner’s A Nerd, a parody of Part of Your World which Errol wrote parody lyrics to. After all, it’s not every day I get to sing my favourite Disney song!

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Halfway

I’ve lost my roadmap
I dropped my compass long ago
I’ve been missing all the signs that perhaps were placed for me to recognize

I’m hopeless at reading the constellations
I can’t tell east from west
I’m a fool with landmarks that would give me guidance from

Halfway between feeling and flight
Halfway between fire and night
Halfway between wrong and right
Halfway between blindness and sight

I’ve got no skills of navigation
back and forward seem the same
I’ve got nowhere in mind but not from lack of dreaming

Halfway between feeling and flight
Halfway between fire and night
Halfway between wrong and right
Halfway between blindness and sight

when every step is a leap of faith
at least I’m already half way

Comments (7) Jul 01 2008