5-31-09 I Wanna Be Your Fish

Sometimes, you've just got to lay it all out on the line and say what you want to be. On this day, it was all about oceanic true love. Link.

5-30-09 I Smell Fear

An improvised ode to things that smell like fear. Almost goes off the rails in the middle. Actually, I'm fairly certain there were no rails involved with this one.

5-29-09 I'm Doing This Because I Have To

A song about trying to keep writing songs every day when you really don't feel like it. Link.

5-28-09 I'm About To Say Something Dumb

Hey, a song that doesn't feature the ukulele!

I remember this stretch of time being particularly difficult when it came to writing and recording. Sometimes you just don't feel like sitting down and making stuff. Link.

5-27-09 Control Alt Delete

Sorry, o tens of readers, for the late-nite post. Just came back from an amazing show at the Tractor - Bill Kerchen. Twangy guitarist who used to play with Commander Cody. Effortless mastery. Made me either want to become a rockabilly guitarist or give up trying to play an instrument.

Ho hum. anyways, hey! Here's a song. Link.

5-26-09 Will You Light A Candle

When will the ukulele songs cease? Oh well. This is a nice little lullabye about death.

5-25-09 Falling Down Backwards

A little sloppy, but it's got a nice feel to it. Throwaway lyrics. Link.

5-24-09 Motorcycle Slapback

recorded in the living room, with traffic from 8th Ave NW providing the backdrop. Link.

5-23-09 Finally Home

This was moving day. We've been in our place in Ballard now for one year! It's fun to listen to this song and relive the utter exhaustion I was feeling. I'm pretty sure this one was made up on the spot. Turned out pretty good, all things considered.

5-22-09 Racing The Clock

Once I had a goat.
His name was Jim.
Once I had a goat
But I lost him.

Link.

5-21-09 Packin' It Up

We were getting ready to move into our new place in Ballard. Which is why a lot of the songs during this time period were hastily composed and played on the one instrument that hadn't been packed up, the uke. Link.

5-20-09 When You Sneeze

short but sneezy. I recorded the uke part first. I stuck with the first take, ending in a cathartic sneeze by my wife. The rest of the song pretty much writes itself. Link.

5-19-09 Hit & Run

On this day, we came out of our rehearsal space in Frelard to see another dude checking out the damage that his Smart Car had incurred from a hit and run driver. I'd never seen a Smart Car get smashed before.

I'm not sure where the part about the fish fry came from, though. Perch is better than cod, though.

Link.

5-18-09 Under Your Umbrella

I think this might be the only ukulele song I've written where I don't play chords, just individual notes. I like the minimal nature of the uke and vocal harmonies. I believe the 11th Avenue in question was in Capitol Hill. And it was probably raining that day. Link.

5-17-09 The Girl and Beatrice

A children's story of sorts, set to music. mostly improvised. Link.

5-16-09 Woodchipper

This one makes me happy. I don't know why.

And by the way, kids, this song can also serve as a PSA: put your wood in the chipper. Nothing else. Got it? Or do you need to be Scared Straight?

5-15-09 Do You Want to Sit In My Lap

Yeah, that's right. I rhymed 'pleasing' with 'malfeasing'. You got a problem with that? Link.

5-14-09 I Want To Make A Difference

An honest desire. One year later, and I'm still not sure. Link.

5-13-09 Your First Memory

It's hard for me to pin down what my earliest memory is. A few that come to mind:

1. chipping the ends of the keys off of my parents' piano with a hammer
2. sitting in front of the massive space heater in my sisters' room
3. being sneak attacked by a neighborhood dog, and my grandpa defending me.
4. my mom singing 'Going Bye Bye On a Choo Choo'.

anyone else have a specific earliest memory?

Link.

5-12-09 The Doppler Effect

Science is neat! Link.

5-11-09 Wobbling Towards Infinity

The lyrics are throwaway, but I really like the chords on this one. Link.

5-10-09 Freaky Freaky Freaky

ummm. I've got nothing here. Not sure where this one came from. Link.

5-9-09 Garage Sale

Yes, we were having a garage sale, because we were getting ready to move. No, it wasn't fun. Stop asking. Link.

5-8-09 Funny Medicine

Almost caught up!

This one's kind of icky, but also pretty funny. I think I'd been having some trouble sleeping, and had just gotten a prescription for Ambien. Don't do drugs, kids. Link.

Alright, I just listened to it again, and it's actually pretty damn clever.

5-7-09 The Boring Leading The Bored

Kind of a throwaway song, but I like the film noir-esque bridge. Link.

5-6-09 Let's Paint

We'd just watched a disturbing documentary called My Kid Could Paint That, about a four year old in New York whose art ends up becoming wildly popular on the gallery circuit. I like the jump blues feel of this song. Link.

5-5-09 Little Mistakes

A straight-ahead alt-pop tune. Link.

5-4-09 Train Song

Aha. Now we come upon a piece that actually made it into West. The closest thing the show would have to real train sounds. Link.

5-3-09 Riding On A Bicycle

I can't place the vague accent of the narrator of this song, but I do know that I want to punch him in the mouth every time I hear him sing. Smug bastard. Still, it's a catchy tune. Tragically catchy.

5-2-09 Bblorted? Blorted B!

Okay, this one is so intentionally annoying it's almost funny. Almost. This was another Bananagrams-inspired song. When we get sick of playing it the regular way, we like to take a bunch of letters and make up new words. The fun is in defining the word. On this particular night, the word was Bblorted. The song quickly turned into a jingle for a product called Blorted B. "If you're feeling bblorted, why not try new Blorted B?" Of course, those lyrics aren't actually in the song. Wow, such a long explanation for such a ridiculous song. Link!

5-1-09 Don't Give Peanuts Away

I had calypso on the brain whilst writing this. I blame The Toucans. This song was completely improvised. Amazing!

Hey! Where did I go?

Sorry, o tens of readers, if you were worried. I took a little vacation to do a show in Calgary, and I'm now finally getting caught back up. I didn't take a vacation from writing songs every day last year, however, so get prepared for a blast of songs. Don't worry, I'll be gentle.

4-30-09 May 10th, 1869

A little railroad history factoid for you. Link.