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my cover of “a wolf at the door. (it girl. rag doll.)” by radiohead. from hail to the thief (2003).
download here

this is my fourth cover of radiohead.
knives out” last november,
4 minute warning” last june,
& “high and dry” last month.

i listened to this song a lot in december, three years ago. a lot.

the lyrics are orwell-esque, paranoid. sad, inglorious. least that’s how i figure.

drag him out your window, dragging out the dead
singing, ‘i miss you,’ snakes and ladders
lift the lid, out pops the cracker
smacks you in the head, knifes you in the neck
kicks you in the teeth, steel toe caps
takes all your credit cards, get up, get the gunge
get the eggs, get the flan in the face
the flan in the face, the flan in the face
dance you fucker, dance you fucker, don’t you dare
don’t you dare, don’t you flan in the face
take it with the love is given
take it with a pinch of salt, take it to the taxman
let me back, let me back, i promise to be good
don’t look in the mirror at the face you don’t recognize
help me call the doctor, put me inside
put me inside, put me inside, put me inside, put me inside

i keep a wolf from the door
but he calls me up
calls me on the phone
tells me all the ways that he’s gonna mess me up
steal all my children
if i don’t pay the ransom
but i’ll never see them again
if i squeal to the cops

walking like giant cranes, ah
with my x-ray eyes, i strip you naked
in a tight little world and why are you on the list?
stepford wives, who are we to complain?
investments and dealers, investments and dealers
cold wives and mistresses, cold wives and sunday papers
city boys in first class don’t know they’re born little
someone else is gonna come and clean it up
born and raised for the job, someone always does
always pick it up, get over, get up, get over
turn the tape off

i keep the wolf from the door
but he calls me up
calls me on the phone
tells me all the ways that he’s gonna mess me up
steal all my children
if i don’t pay the ransom
but i’ll never see them again
if i squeal to the cops

i’d like to echo something that i’ve already written about; this is just about a year after i posted “knives out.” that entry was very centered around a man named leonard knight. emma and i talk about finding leonard. going to california and finding that guy. it seems important.

reposting some text from last november:

“so, leonard built a monumental mountain for jesus christ in the desert of southern california using only used paint he found and cement. he only intended for it to be small, and he only intended to stay there for a week. that was 1984. he has now lived there for nearly twenty-six years, working on salvation mountain. he has no electricity, no gas, no running water, no phone, no heating, no air conditioning and he receives $249 each month from social security. he is known for being one of the happiest men you could ever be so blessed meet.”

read about leonard knight and salvation mountain here:
http://www.salvationmountain.us/

anyway, i began working on this song about a month ago and finally finished it tonight. most times i do a cover in a day or two, turn it over fairly quickly. aside from “zebra,” this one’s taken me the longest for some reason. i’m happy to finish it today though, 2 december 2011.

joel does the percussion here. all else is done by me.

for emma.
i hope that you enjoy!

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my cover of “dandelion wine” by gregory alan isakov. download here. from this empty northern hemishphere (2009).

i saw gregory open for blind pilot a couple weeks ago in indianapolis. best show i’ve seen. both gregory and the guys from blind pilot were so nice; i was thrilled to meet them.

sadly, gregory didn’t play my two favorite songs of his, “dandelion wine” and “light year.” so i decided i wanted to do my own version of one of these songs. after reading the words to “dandelion wine,” i knew that was the song i’d do. the lyrics. the lyrics simply are this summer and fall for me. it isn’t a period that’s spoken about with ease. perhaps in an apologetic manner though. a lot of apologetic.

summer days were just a magazine, a magazine, a magazine
cutting grass for gasoline, for gasoline
so i can see you soon

fall swooned and left me drunk in a field
dandelion wine for a year

and i packed up the dust
of all that i owned
handkerchief hung from a pole
i rolled out the day that the apples fell

briefly - so, this recording features adam on ambient guitar. and me, with slightly out-of-tune (tastefully, i tell myself) piano, odd, backgrounded synthesizer leads, distant harmonies, and yes, in the obvious spirit of the song, a bit of drunken clambering in the background (water running, feet, tapping a metal lampshade, kicking a spoon).

without being completely vulnerable, i’ll say that you can think of this song as a direct, retrospective response to the cover of “to go home” that i posted in august. this song is about finding my sobriety in a sense. something i’d fallen away from. someone i’d fallen away from. god, i’d fallen away from.

summer was unreal. summer was fantasy. summer was learning how to serve myself and no one else, and respectfully about how this isn’t simply personal agony. and with god, blatantly testing, defying. holding a small job and a small paycheck, while developing selfish, expensive plans. tiptoeing into autumn. the climax of the oncoming, stale spiritual sobriety. which leads to admitting and apologizing and explaining the things that are hard to explain. shaking the dust from something so important in my heart, but what hadn’t moved for a while. and then surrendering and departing.

i tried to parallel with the lyrics there. and it’s incredible how accurate they are, even down to the apples.

my hope is that with mistakes, we can find forgiveness in and for each other. we can wake up each morning with renewal from god and comfort in his promises.

“because of the lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. i say to myself, ‘the lord is my portion; therefore i will wait for him.’”

~lamentations 3:22-24

mostly. mostly what i want you to hear is that i’m so sorry,
that i’m blessed to know you,
that i’ll always care.
this recording is for z.

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jazz piano cover of “high and dry” by radiohead. from the bends.

i’ve been on a big radiohead kick lately, and have begun multiple projects using their music. i’ve done “knives out” and “4 minute warning” in the past and am presently working on covers of “reckoner” and “wolf at the door. (it girl. rag doll.).”

“high and dry” was a very spontaneous thing. it was the product of a bored afternoon, killing some time before david’s surprise party last night.

my makeshift studio/bedroom. note the painting on the wall above my bed, done by emma friend emma from connecticut. fantastic! eloise.

for joel. the poor guy was in his bedroom next door the whole time i was doing these obnoxious vocal tracks. hours of tired falcetto.
also for luke. the man loves radiohead, what can i say?
and for patrick, my cousin. because we’ve promised to go see radiohead together when they finally come near ohio again.

you can download this track through soundcloud.

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ukulele cover of “stone” by the woodrow wilsons. from according to the seasonal tilt of the earth (2009).

we saw this group play in a basement in columbus a couple years ago, on their small midwestern tour. they’re from boston. they played homemade instruments and were really, really charming performers.

you can download their free record here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/gfj73d

it’s not important
it’s not important
it’s not important like you said
it’s only love
and they’re only my thoughts
and it’s only my life
and it’s small
human beings are such funny creatures
always worrying, always worrying ‘bout how they feel
my skin’s too tight
and so is my belt
and i think i’m sure i’m gonna die alone
i love you darling like sisyphus loves the stone
i love you darling like sisyphus loves the stone
it’s not important
it’s not important
it’s not important like you said

once i looked up who sisyphus was, the words really struck me. greek mythology. a king who was sentenced to push a large stone up a hill, only to watch it roll back down again for eternity. and this is used to describe love. what kind of love could that be? it sounds miserable. exhausting. ”sisyphean” means “endless and unavailing, as labor or a task.”

i decided to put the song to some footage of us in this house. hope you enjoy!

“stone” has been stuck with us for weeks; this recording is for emma.

download?

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crosby, stills & nash

—helplessly hoping

adam and i recorded this cover of “helplessly hoping” by crosby, stills & nash this afternoon. it’s from their debut self-titled in 1969.

adam and i listened to this song so much about five years ago. constantly. a group of our friends got to see crosby, stills, nash & young perform in the amphitheater in our town before they shut it down. this must’ve been in 2006 or 2007. always have loved the words.

helplessly hoping her harlequin hovers nearby
awaiting a word
gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit, he runs
wishing he could fly
only to trip at the sound of goodbye

wordlessly watching, he waits by the window and wonders
at the empty place inside
heartlessly helping himself to her bad dreams, he worries
did he hear a goodbye?
or even hello?

stand by the stairway, you’ll see something certain to tell you
confusion has its cost
love isn’t lying, it’s loose in a lady who lingers

saying she is lost
and choking on hello

we’ve always been close, adam and i. and now we live together. close as can be. there are seven of us in this house, no dull moments, no. we moved in a few weeks ago. oakland avenue. adam and i like to sit out back. on the back porch. in fact, we all do. it’s a measly porch and it creaks. we love it. it’s there and we talk. and we talk for a while. and we watch raccoons eat our garbage. we’ve a nice little brick alley running behind our house. it’s all really been a good thing for me this year. i’ve been able to unburden myself out there with adam, and to listen to him do the same. something i’ve been struggling with is communication. that’s one thing. distance. i seem to find myself burrowing away a lot from people i care about. struggling with patience. living here and enjoying the company porch has been a constant though, and i just love it. i know the tradition will continue, even through the brittle months of winter. we’re going to put a blue light bulb out there.

we decided this afternoon as we recorded that we wanted to put the mic out back for a while. it picked up birds and bugs, planes and cars and other creaky things. it’s down in the mix of the song. the sounds of out back. hope that it’s a friendly touch!

it’s great living here so far. it’s great to finally be living with my best bud.

download?

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midlake

—chasing after deer

my cover of “chasing after deer” by midlake, one of my favorite groups. from the trials of van occupanther.

this has been one of the songs of my summer. i listened to this album a lot in the fall of 2009 and on into that winter, even saw midlake perform with leah and jessica. and while i adored this album, the latter tracks, namely this one, bored me. wasn’t until this summer that i found so much in it. and i find the words tragically sad.

yes, i’m sorry that i missed you
i’m sorry that i missed you
when there’s no one there to greet you
i’m sorry that i missed you

you’re always chasing after deer
oh my dear, oh my dear
and through the meadow, i can hear
my fears, oh my fears

for myself, i must remind
that the woods are usually kind
and the sea is not mine

and when you’re all alone
and chasing after deer
don’t be upset if it’s scared
and you can’t reach it
i know that you are fast
but it’s much faster
and after a while, you can’t keep up
so you start to lag behind
but it doesn’t know that you’ve resigned
so off a cliff, it falls to the sea
and you are sad
but the sea is not mine

the sea is not mine
the sea is not mine
the sea is not mine
the sea is not mine 

life. presents both positive and negative settings in which we’ve no control. the woods and the sea. it’s the image of someone pursuing desperately something that they can’t reach. sad. tragically so. tragically sad. in their pursuit, they destroy what they desire, what they love. they lose it to an alien place.

stirs to mind living as children of light. when all efforts are guided towards something of this world (something material, something fleeting, something that isn’t god), this thing will eventually get lost, fail you. what do you do then? as your world is turned and all you’ve longed for is gone? here. this world. all’s broken here, but christ is the only non-failing, forever-satisfying pursuit. this is my faith.

i’d like to think i’ll always have someone to love me, or a voice to sing, or my full emotional and mental capacity, comfort, ah. though, certainly we’re not with all those things at the end. perhaps the lucky outliers? i expect i won’t always have those things. just god’s love, truly.

“so i tell you this, and insist on it in the lord, that you must no longer live as the gentiles do in the futility of their thinking. they are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of god because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

you, however, did not come to know christ that way. surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in jesus. you were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like god in true righteousness and holiness.”

~ephesians 4:17-24

and this for me? me, i’m so broken. so imperfect. so, it’s not that i won’t chase my deer. but i’ll know the sea is not mine if and when it escapes me. won’t let it harden my heart. the only love i can’t destroy is god’s.

the sea is not mine. i think that’s a nice string of words. i think it’s good as a finger to humility. the sea is not mine.

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deadwood floats

—fellow hollow

this is the fourth track from our record, called “fellow hollow.”

as this is posted, our record can now be downloaded here for whatever you choose to pay; music should always be free.

yesterday, i posted the song “about a man,” also from the ep.

i’d ask that if you like the track, please reblog this post, have your friends download our ep, all the nice things.

the third song on our record, called “between two summers” was written by adam. the night before we left for nashville to record provence, i heard his scratch demo of the song for the first time. it brought me to tears at its simplistic weight and beauty. i walked upstairs to try to write out a sort of continuation on “summers.” at first i called it “about winter,” but changed the title later. so if listening in sequence, i hope that this pairing will shine, despite the perfectly opposite lyrical and musical moods.

as far as “fellow” goes, and quite a contrast to “about a man,” there’s not much to say for the lyrics. the first half is a fictional self-debate. the second half is a detailed scene of images, and no less fictional.

there was a time and you could see it still
she’d rather humor you than pay the bills
she loved you then and she loved your grin
and you’d run and spin so the world could spin
if the world could spin then so love could live
lord knows we’re bound to that since we were kids
but kids shouldn’t pull strings to catch high tide
and she’s lost in french films late in the night
guess her dreams went fishing to leave dreams dry
guess your laundry stacks neatly brick the sky
love’s cold, pulled strings hardly moved a thing
your coffee’s so cold and she’s about the same

you are my fellow hollow

a classic memory. as we drove to nashville from columbus the day before making our record, and having just written this song the night before, i tried to teach it to adam, tommy and katie in the car, as andrew drove us. just a snippet: it was dark out, clambering down the highway in the minivan which was full of invented music that didn’t have much direction then. we just wanted to incorporate the bouzouki, really. the next day, there was a moment shared by adam and myself as we played through the chords when the bouzouki enters, and i always think of that. so really, while there’s not much to say for the song itself, there is a whole lot to say for the making of it.

the songs, they were recorded and mixed and mastered by our good friend mark. the photograph was taken by emma before she was ever my friend, and now she is also good friend. these songs are all reminders or times of things of people we love.

please listen to and download our record!
http://deadwoodfloats.bandcamp.com/ 

old musing: http://neweverymorningmusic.tumblr.com/post/2413076585

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deadwood floats

—about a man

http://deadwoodfloats.bandcamp.com/

tumblr friends. hi. many of you i’m happy to now know personally and well these days. many of you are a blessing to me, and have transcended the “strange online friend” to “realife friend” border and walked that line, walked it quite fantastically. since starting this blog nearly one year ago, a small community has built for me and us, or so i’d like to think, yes. although it occurs to me that in many ways, i’m still perhaps vague and oblique to many of you; i don’t say much - at least not on my page itself really - not about me, not so much, no.

so, here, now let me tell you things. today i am going to tell you things.

many times i mostly do covers (covers project), as you know. some scatteredbrained original things. allsoveryscattered. this post, this post will tell you about the project that i’m currently working on, called deadwood floats.

and then it will tell you about a song from the record.

the project called deadwood floats, which adam and i started, has had my heart over the last two years. gotten me through my first two years at school and beyond. been a major outlet for me, the absolute first generator of personal happiness and satisfaction and brotherhood (and sisterhood, yes, of course). with both life-long friends, meaning preschool and early grade school, and college-age friends. these humans are important to me. the most, and our sibling-like bickering but also shared tears will attest. what i’m saying really is that god exists in these people, and i see it, and what i want to do is share something that we’ve created together, and i want you to see us in it.

now, my little aforementioned group is releasing our debut record, a five-track ep, on september 1st, which is tomorrow.

photograph taken by lovely emma.

again, i want you to see us in it. i want you to see us in it. i want you to pick up our music here, i want you to feel with us, be back in nashville with us in december. in the van. and hear us playing and practicing the songs in the van, on the way there, writing together and being together. eating breakfast that morning at a place called provence. and trying to come up with it. mark’s basement. this ep has evolved into something very meaningful to us.

and for those of you still reading, which is definitely roughly thirty-nine of you, bless you, and also. i ask that if you like what you hear, please reblog. this post? perhaps. you’ll want to shorten it later. but what i mean is show us to your friends. help our sillydreams. that was intentionally one word.

our record is streaming here: http://deadwoodfloats.bandcamp.com/
and tomorrow, it will be to download for name-your-price. free, yes, free.

end preface. right.

…. …. ….

song name is “about a man.” this is the first track on the record. tomorrow i will be posting another.

here is old version, “about a man, about”:
http://neweverymorningmusic.tumblr.com/post/1012535459

it would be my usual stamp to give a small summary of what the song means to me. and, ha, what a heavy song then, for an already cumbersome block of text. hm.

there was a girl close to my heart. there was her family, which was close to my heart, even when that heart could be a fairly dark place, and i was a young person. i couldn’t handle things well.

about (about) a man who got away from here
about a man who left her dancing in the rain
about a man who changed us all in a year

so selfish;

eight eighteen

what i’ll say is that the words are incredibly deliberate. repeated words serve a vastly huge purpose. intentional, the second “about” is as heavy as things get. the first “about” indicates that this is a story, a hidden story, dealing with a man, ah, but the second “about” will twist that. not quite a man. right. this man changed. sure time. trying to write like i speak. breathe. i’m not insensitive about this. it’s difficult for me to directly tell you things, andandand i want to scream.

it’s about the rejection of self, the rejection of family, followed by the rebirth of self, the rejection of family, endless selfishness;

endless selfishness;

endless selfishness;

and it’s not what he did but how he did it.

it’s something controversial and seemingly far-removed from society today, but it’s not that at all. that’s all fine. it’s how he did it. so. so so.

selfish -
(and we got to look past that,
which are the three-years-learned tough lessons)
- future glory.

i look to that.

there is someone who is called the strongest person i’ll ever know. there are three of them, but there is one that i know well, and probably better than anyone. the most important thing that she’s taught me, eh, that anyone has taught me: and it’s through her actions:

romans 8:18 says:

“i consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” 

i’ve had to shout this in the dark. that is literal; “dark” is not metaphorical here, don’t look as much into it. i remember being in my dark room and just pounding these words into my brian. repetitionbrainrepetition.

“i consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

so, so so.

the transition from “so selfish” to “eight eighteen.” look how quickly it can be written. god. that’s because in writing, i can transcend years. years and fucking pain please excuse me. truly, it’s funny to me how closely i can jot or speak or sing those words. truly. that’s why this is a stupid post, that’s why i can’t say it. “so selfish eight eighteen.” soselfisheighteighteen.

in a journal entry written by the man (the man, the “about a man” man - about, about - a man), he spoke of his daughter. so fondly, and this is why i know he is a good man. he spoke so fondly. they danced in the rain, danced and felt the drops, and chased the drops and dodged the drops and were like dancers. and i knew them, and i knew how much he meant to her, and i knew it was hard. and reading about that was too much for me, when i was twelve years old, or seventeen, or what was i? maybe i turned seventy-five. but it’s hard to understand, if you don’t know, if you don’t know how people can be trapped in the wrong place, or in the wrong time period or, or, hell, in the wrong body, or the wrong pizza parlor. these are silly examples. but i know he’s a good man. he’s good now, too, and will be a good human always. i care about the four of them. it’s the selfish nature in my-own-self to be mad at h. this is why i repeat, eight eighteen. christ, i can’t be mad at h, and that’s what i say. put quotes. because truly the pain he brought to her which brought the pain to me, brought me to him with a capital h and god this is so confusing to you.

“i consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

~romans 8:18

8:18

8:18

…. …. ….

i think. i think it would be hard for me to write much about this subject or this song again, as much as it drained me. and what did i really say then? i’m not sure. now, it isn’t my mood that changed, drained, it’s my hands. the keyboard latched more grippingly to my fingers with each letter. this was a hard post to write.

…. …. ….

if you like the record, keep listening, please show your friends, please download it tomorrow, please reblog this but hot damn. please don’t make your friends read all of it!

http://deadwoodfloats.bandcamp.com/

…. …. ….

this song is absolutely forever for lauren,
who lives and teaches me so much.

i think i’ll be finished then, god bless.

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m. ward

—to go home

my cover of the song “to go home.” originally written by daniel johnston and later covered by m. ward.

we headed to the east coast. it had to happen. columbus to portland to middleton to boston to providence to newport to old lyme to home. eighteen-hundred miles, no air conditioning. bandana. the scent of saltiness of that air. breakfast. nice cigars. caffeine. where we slept. the atlantic. hats, shirts. sam adams. fractured foot, late night rambling. sincerely wonderful companionship, firsts. incomplete sentences. “blindsided” by bon iver. vintage bathing suits. incomplete sentences.

so nice to have a friend like you
even though you’re not around
you’re closer to me than most
and if i ever treated you mean
you know that it was only because
i’m sorry i couldn’t have you for my own

vermont.

maine.

rhode island.

massachusetts.

arriving home after that weekend, it was a bit of a slump for me adjusting. there are places and things that aren’t in ohio. the dreamlike state i was in that weekend, reflected perfectly in the line

…forever, or until… i go home

going home was the last thing we wanted to do. that second night, on the rocks on the beach and laughing, convincing each other, egging each other for one more night. what we didn’t want - to go home. i had barely eaten or slept in two days, had walked around boston on a bum foot. and i didn’t want to sleep at home, not yet.

to go home, when everything was quite, quite perfect?

this song is for luke, andrew, jake and zoë, who were there.

god, it’s good to be alive
takes the skin right off my hide
to think that i’ll have to give it all back someday

daniel johnston: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOLNJ5s-S4c
m. ward: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDG2muLgfIE

stylistically, this cover here was fully inspired by my best friend adam’s cover of the national’s “mr. november.” always inspiring me. learning and growing together musically. he took a song i didn’t much care for, stripped it down, slowed it down, and gave it so much more power than the original. that’s brilliant.

see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xguzEE7vN0M

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radiohead

—4 minute warning

cover of “4 minute warning” by radiohead.

mark plays guitar, produces. i play piano & sing.

this was a good night.

in rainbows is my favorite radiohead album. and along with “reckoner,” “weird fishes/arpeggi” and “last flowers,” this has always been one of my favorite tracks. such a great b side; fantastic closer.

i was at work. doing my graveyard shift at target. opening so many boxes. this song came on, and i decided i wanted to do a cover of it. a week later, here it is! i’ve been working a lot this summer. i have to admit that i like coming home as the sun is coming up; sleeping during the afternoons. it’s an interesting lifestyle.. not one i could do my whole life. but for now, it suits me. taking 315 south to work, listening to music, unloading the truck and stocking the shelves. not much of the world is alive at night.

big thanks to good friend mark for sticking it out with me.

it should be noted that is a very important album to me. i remember being in my basement, playing pool with my brother, getting into this album.. ok, this one’s for my brother. and mark. and anyone who was important in 2008.

related - my cover of “knives out,” also by radiohead:
http://neweverymorningmusic.tumblr.com/post/1605161465/radiohead-knivesout

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