Song of the Day #29: "Pixie"

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And to top it off, an actual brand-new song from scratch.

29. Pixie
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Lyrics
I'm not your manic
I'm not your manic pixie lover
You're not my brooding stubbly boy
I cannot save you from your sadness
I'm sad too, sometimes, like now, because
I'm not you're muse, I am a person
I've had a name since I was born
Yes I am having fun, but remember that I'm
Leaving in the morning

I'm not your manic pixie lover

Will you believe me when I tell you
I think you're cutest when you smile
So keep on smiling through tomorrow
When I'm no longer there to hold your head
I'm not your manic pixie lover
You're not my brooding stubbly boy
I'm having lots of fun, but remember
That I'm leaving in the morning

I'm not your manic pixie lover
I'm not your manic

Songs of the Day #25-28: 3 Rewrites and a Cover

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I haven't recorded a cover in forEVER. I was listening to a lot of Bjork on the train. Just got Homogenic and it's seriously blowing my mind. So.

25. Unravel by Bjork
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Lyrics (at times deviate moderately from her originals, mostly because I wasn't paying attention)
When you are away,
My heart comes undone
Slowly unraveled
In a ball of yarn
The devil collects it
With a grin
Our love,
In a ball of yarn
He'll never return it,
And when you come back,
We'll have to make new love

26. Worried v2
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Lyrics
What'll I do without friends who have cars, or a phone, or a job, or a deadline
What'll I do without you and your dinners, and homework, and your house, and mine
What if I lose all my money, and somebody steals all my stuff and I'm starving
Will you come get me and let me freeload on your couch and support me and feed me
And find me a job
'Cause I'm sort of scared
I'm a little bit worried
I'll die before I've seen anything

If I could live on the sand by the sea, I would do it, I'd live there forever
If I could live in a house in a tree, I'd live there forever and ever
But somebody owns all the treetops, and somebody owns all the sand and the ocean
So if you come get me and let me freeload on your couch and support me and feed me
And find me a job
'Cause I'm sort of scared
I'm a little bit worried
I'll die before I've seen anything
Anything

27. Pavilion v2
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Lyrics
We were up in that pavilion
When the rain came
Raging down, sweeping under

Dusting toes and soaking benches
Filling swing seats
Pooling at the bottom of the slide

We had hot dogs
Chips and Pepsi
In a bag by the pond

28. Rule v2
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Lyrics
I'm testing you
To find how you do
The things that you feel,
The ones I don't understand
It's hard, being around you
Watching you think
What do you think about? What do you think about?
When I
Start to believe
That I understand
Why you behave in ways that punish me
And punish me beautifully
Have I uncovered
The rule of the law of the way that you are?

The rule of the law,
The rule of the law,
The rule of the law,
Of the way that you are

Big Changes Once Again

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So I got back from Scotland last week. I miss my friends there. The post-graduation blues settled in for the long term back in June; still waiting for those to dissipate. As it's time to become a responsible adult, I'm now trying to find a full-time job in Akron, where I'll be living with my parents in order to start paying my loans off more quickly, for the foreseeable future.

There are several positives to this arrangement, beyond the financial: I'm only 2 hours away from the Alphaboys now, rather than an ocean apart, or 13 hours as for the last three years. Also, my unbelievably lovely parents are letting me use not one but two rooms, so I have plenty of space to make things.

Part of the making things involves building my studio. This will include a modest recording station, with a computer I hope to build myself, which will dual boot Ubuntu Studio and Windows (blech). Since I sold my keyboard this spring I'll need another one of those. Probably an 88-key M-Audio MIDI keyboard first since they are cheap, then a stage piano with MIDI, or, if I suddenly get rich or decide to put myself into even more debt for awhile, an 88-key Nord synth. This music store on the Grassmarket in Edinburgh, Red Dog Music, had a line of Nords which I shamelessly tested up to twice a week all summer. I still can't decide if it's worth the expense to get something compact, that doesn't need a separate computer, and comes with a zillion incredible voices, rather than the cheaper but unwieldy and cableful MIDI-keyboard/laptop/synth-software combo. We'll see.

Other planned studio elements include a decent commercial-grade flash camcorder, for, among other things, music videos. I've been unimpressed so far with Linux open-source video editing software, and do eventually want to get a Mac, so I can use Final Cut Pro and also because I just won't feel nerdy enough with fewer than three operating systems.

Another, longer-term part of building my studio involves collecting more instruments. Right now I have a cello named Dominique Lucas who needs an A string; Geoffrey the ukulele; Adolphus Accordion, who has a couple of broken reeds; half of Jackie O the electric guitar, whom I share with Forest; Hermione Ernestine the Wurlitzer upright piano; and Melody Melodica. I hope to eventually add to this collection (some time in the distant future when I have not only money but ample space) a harpsichord, harp, acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, air organ, Optigan, singing saw, Theremin, vocoder synth, toy piano, and about sixty other instruments I can't remember.

If you haven't noticed, Sneaky songs have been unusually pessimistic this summer. I apologize for that. They've been quite personal as well. I promise I'm usually a much cheerier person, and will be again as soon as I can afford to be, and make some new friends. The personal nature of the songs is something I've maybe decided I like. This is all very new and strange.

The parent-living situation should last until Forest graduates in the spring, at which point the band will come to some consensus regarding where we will all live. It won't necessarily be in the same city but god willing it'll be closer to each other than previous arrangements. I still have my eye set on Boston.

Song of the Day #24: "Rule"

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Here is another song. It's called "Rule." The chorus was a drunken phrase warbling around in my brain one night this past weekend. I wrote it down. When I read it later it was actually pretty good. I'm not sure what a rule of a law is...maybe it's sort of redundant...but it fits so nicely in my mouth, I don't care much.

Just thought I'd let you know, by the way, that I've presented a number of Song of the Day material to the Alphaboys for Alphabet material. It was inevitable. We are thinking about a new album. Shh.

24. Rule
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Lyrics
I'm testing you,
To find how you do the things that you feel,
The ones I don't understand
It's hard, being around you,
Watching you think
What do you think about? What do you think about?
When I start to believe that I understand
How you behave in ways that punish me
And punish me beautifully,
Have I uncovered
The rule of the law of the way that you are?

The rule of the law,
The rule of the law,
The rule of the law,
Of the way that you are.