Track 2: Tracfone, Shell Beach, and 3 from "When the Clock Strikes 13"

Tracfone
Written on August 12, 2009

Composed Johnny-on-the-spot for a demo collection titled "The Next Exit".

On the distorted guitar, I bar traditional blues chords and had lyrics ready to go, but when I hit the record button, I suddenly went in a new direction with the music, so the rhyme scheme no longer worked. I went back and wrote a third verse that was a better fit, recorded this on the quick with the intention of rewriting the first 2 verses, then have my lead guitarist come up with a scorching mid-section solo... but this never came to be, and all I have of the tune is this fast and dirty recording. I think it's a gas anyway. And yes, the chorus is Batman theme meets the Beatles Taxman

Lyrics

I got me a Tracfone, but it don't ring

Got hundreds of minutes I'd like to use

I got me a love song, I wanna sing

Got me a lonely heart I'm wanting to lose

I got me a Tracfone, collecting dust

It used to light up with dozens of messages a day

Got me a motorized heart, fueled by lust

Got me a valentine I need to give away

I got me a rusty nail, but no picture frame

I got me a photograph and it causes me no end of pain

I got me a Tracfone, waiting for your call

And oh it's driving me insane

Tracfone! Tracfone! Tracfone! Tracfone!

Shell Beach
Written January 27 to 29, 2010 - Home demo collection, "Life Model Decoy"

Lyrics came about as I was searching for something to write about other than my broken heart. I happen to have my copy of Dark City sitting by my TV and thought, "why not". It's not a literal song about the movie, it simply draws themes and ideas from it. It's about feeling displaced - that your life isn't what you wanted, or hoped it would be, and then remaking it.

The music took a lot of work, I kept hacking away and stitching together pieces so that I wouldn't have to re-record it from scratch. I also wasn't happy with the drums, and since I didn't have a computerized home studio, I couldn't cut and paste the way I needed to, so I added another track, and blended the two. I wanted the second slightly ahead of the original in order to give it a fuller, big beat sound. It was tricky but somehow did it. I also believe I recorded two separate lead guitar tracks and put one on the left channel, and the other on the right.

This tune had one of my 'too abrupt' endings, so I went back and recorded a Beatles-style finish, which fit the piece. The drum/guitar/bass bits were filtered through "Radio 1", then I faded those tracks in and out. I went back and recorded noisy vocals, bass, and guitar tracks with a heavy echo and reverb. The final touch was the distorted "sleep" at the start... this line comes from the movie.

Lyrics

Sleeep

I was trying to make my way to Shell Beach, when I took a turn, a turn for the worse

Uh oh, uh oh, I think I lost my life

I was crying, crying over something I lost, crying over something I ain't never had

Uh oh, uh oh, I think someone stole my mind

Oh this running around in circles is way overrated

All this bumping into walls is making my head ache

Got find what's out of reach... got to get to Shell Beach, get to Shell Beach...

I was trying to find my way into the arms of someone, someone I don't know

Uh oh, uh oh, she loves me anyway

Trying trying trying to remake my world, reshape the universe as I need it

Uh oh, uh oh, I think I found my heart

Chorus

I can't recognize my own reflection

I think I'll find the missing there

Over there? No, maybe it's over there? I don't know

I just gotta get there, gotta get to Shell Bech

Wake up, sleepy head

As Wonderful as You
Written on August 24, 2009

I was stuck, I was leaning into the same chord structures – so this was an attempt to branch out and break my songwriting habits, and I did that by looking at other tunes, what did this do, or that one.

It starts with a standard F and Am, and usually, from there I’d want to go with something in an E, but that’s where I threw in 7ths (and told myself, no E/Em, absolutely not one on this tune). I was happy with the bridge, which went into C – C11 – Bbmaj7.

The lyrics concern my first kiss, young summer romance, and how new and wonderful my world could be. This is a story song, I probably couldn’t have written it before Nashville (they taught me how to tell stories). I originally had drums but felt they ruined the flow and sense of beauty I was striving for. In the end, I kept the recording simple on the instrumentation and used multiple tracks to get fullness on the background vocals.

This comes from my homemade CD titled, “When the Clock Strikes 13” – The next to be posted “Magic Things” and “Rock and Roll Chick” were also featured on that disc. All 3 are acoustic guitar and bass-heavy and in each, I was trying to write lyrics that spun off in a more positive vein. (I had written a lot of sad songs in the previous 3 years, another habit to break)

Side note: I submitted this to a songwriting contest, and it received high marks, they liked the lyrics but put "?" next to a few. Such as... "the colored lights", references a line in Tennessee Williams' "Streetcar Named Desire", now Williams was talking about sex, not a kiss, but the feeling of heat and color was the same. I was surprised they didn't understand or weren't familiar with that literary reference, and I guess I could have gone with the old standard "fireworks" thing, but that's so overused. Spiraling 'round the world was another that received the "?" - I remember feeling like the world was spinning under me like I was floating and spinning, but I'd used the word 'spinning" already, so I tried spiraling, meaning "winding or circling around a center"... maybe that was a poor choice, but I didn't have room to flesh out the idea. And finally, "blue and golden sky", I was trying to capture in a few short words the innocence of that age and that time, drawing from familiar terms, 'nothing but blue skies' - 'everything's golden' - it's expressing days that were young, happy, and hopeful. 

On the other hand, they liked my clear descriptive passages, the parts that took you back, mentioned sights and smells, and the tactile... the cut flowers, the farewell scene all received enthusiastic notes (though I wish I'd replaced the word 'smell' with 'scent')

Lyrics

We were only kids, running and laughing - spinning madly in the tall grass

In days when it was wonderful, my eyes were filled by the blue and golden sky

But nothing was as wonderful as you; no nothing was as wonderful as you

I remember the smell of cut flowers in your hair

As you leaned in and pressed your warm lips against mine

The heat and the colored lights were popping off in my head

And here I thought I knew what was wonderful

But nothing was as wonderful as you; no nothing was as wonderful as you

And when your daddy came over that hill, and broke the spell

You ran off and left me here to die – Laying there, spiraling ‘round the world

I never knew that would be the last time, I’d see you only once more across the way

Head cocked, biting a nail, a hint of a shy smile and a quick wave

As you drove off in your father’s car

I knew nothing would ever be as wonderful as you; no nothing could be as wonderful as you

Magic Things
Written on August 23, 2009

I spent a day on this darned thing, wrote and recorded it through most of the morning; I was bothered by the poor transition to -and the performance on the bridge and the horrible ending. So I went back to scratch and made a better go of it. Unfortunately, the bass line was soft on this version. I did another mix and recorded a fuzz lead guitar, not bad, but I wanted a dominant "Smithereens-style" bass riff, so I went back, dumped the guitar, and added another bass track, used a pick to try and bring it out. The clicking heard in the first verse was created by hitting two pens together (in the second verse I use claves)

Good melody, lyrically it is about my "quirky ways" (as my sweet Lady C used to call them). It's about muses, and music being alive, Hendrix tapping into something elemental and pure, Lennon's gifts being God-given and as much a part of him as breathing.

The 'single bullet theory" comes from a Michael Connelly novel, which speaks to that one great love, they leave their mark, their bullet, permanently within you. The 'hand' line was about me staring at, and drawing a close-up of my hand, shifting it, drawing again, Lady C wondered what the hell I was doing, Lady C was also the fallen angel in the lyrics (and my own single bullet). "Lost in Space" is a reference to the Aimee Mann record of the same name, specifically a line in the song "It's Not", which is a track that really speaks to me.

Lyrics

I believe in magic things, that there and elemental life infused in Jimi's strings

You might think me addled or confused, but I truly believe this gift comes from the muse

And while you'll likely find this odd, I believe Johnny touched the face of God

Every time I show my true face, they look at me like I'm lost in space

But I'm not the one hearing static when I turn that dial

I believe in magic things, in the single-bullet theory and the love it brings

I believe thought it might all fall to ash, there's nothing more beautiful before the crash

Though I've been told it's crazy or wrong, I believe you can live forever in a song

Every time I show my true face, they look at me like I'm lost in space

But I'm not the one hearing static when I turn that dial

And I believe it's so, a fallen angel can save your soul

And make it all right even when it's all wrong

I believe in magic things, blood in music can be comforting

I stare at my hand, see miracles etched on that skin

The landscapes and brushstrokes, the sinner and his sin



Rock and Roll Chick
Written on August 28, 2009

One more from the "When the Clocks Strikes 13" demo - What I wanted was to open a song with a scream and a punchy guitar riff, reminiscent of "The Muffs", but what I ended up with was a goofy pop confection. (Besides that, my screaming days were long past me, lol)

I like to use a bit of humor in my lyrics. Even with the ‘cryin and dying songs’ I use exaggerations - that are not meant to be “Ha Ha” funny but are meant to take a little of the edge off the melodrama.

If I go too far the other way and break the goofy meter- then I get a novelty song on my hands. This brings me to “Rock and Roll Chick” – which isn’t a novelty song (I hope) but was intended to be a playful, fun rock song.

R&RC is really one of my sloppier mixes. My home demos aren’t perfectly polished, but this one is messier than most. I really need to re-do it, and add a drum roll at the stop (plus it sounds like I was losing my voice). But what the hell, I’ll go ahead and share. 

The shouted “HEYS!” were done as an afterthought. They work nicely if I might be so boastful, and I’ll make them pack more punch if I ever tackle the song again.

Lyrics

Hey rock and roll chick, lay down that rock and roll lick

And I’ll fall in love tonight, I’ll fall in love tonight, alright, alright, alright

‘Cause there’s nothing in this place, that can make my poor heart race

More than a drummer girl and a beatnik with a bass

Hey rock and roll chick, I’m feeling a little sick

Nothing makes me fall so quick as seeing you on that stage

Hey rock and roll chick, when you kissed your guitar pick

You called it an I.O.U for a rainy day, okay, okay, okay

‘Cause there’s nothing in this place, that can make my poor heart race

More than a drummer girl and a beatnik with a bass

Chorus

Hey rock and roll chick, I can be a little thick

But I have a feeling that you’re feeling the same way too