Track 3: Selections from "Delirium" part 1

On the left is the stellar cover art for Delirium, designed by Jeff Foote, a chap I met online (a fellow MSTie and a hell of a talented songwriter and musician to boot).  

I was in the studio between January and April of 2007 with producer and engineer Wade Thames at College Road Recording. it wound up an unfinished project for many reasons (financial and personal), but I enjoyed the creative process, and getting back to writing and recording, after taking a long break from such things, and effectively retiring from touring.

Penny's From Another Planet
Written on October 2006

The first completed song I'd written in over a year, the first since leaving Nashville. "Delirium" was conceived as a concept album, a sci-fi tale inspired in part by the B-Movie "The Astounding She Monster". The first tune was a short space ballad, that lead into Penny. But that idea never got further than those 2 songs.  And a day before entering the studio I changed the melody on the verses. I wanted to dirty up the sound and make it a tougher rock number (it originally was a sweet pop ditty). 

I also decided that night to use my guitar's distortion pedal on my vocals. Another thing, I couldn't hear my lead guitar bits through the cans, Wade tried to adjust it, but the song was just too darn loud. I was playing, without being able to hear what I was doing.

I really wanted a theremin on this, I searched all over town but nobody had one to sell, nor could I find anyone I could hire who had one to play. I wanted to use it the way The Pixies did, subtly, to add a spacy undercurrent. that would be heard first at the pre-chorus. It kills me that I'll never hear a theremin on this song, that I'll never hear it complete, with the bass, and a finished master done on it.

Lyrics

The story you are about to hear is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent... rock on

Penny comes from somewhere out of this world

She's stepping in time to the sound of a snare

When I have the cash I plan to visit her planet

Wish I could stay but I can't breathe the air

Penny’s a drummer girl in skin-tight spandex

Wears a jet pack, lasers sparkle from her eyes

And any man who dares to drink too deeply

Loses his heart as his will slowly dies

Ahh, she sets my head in a spin

Neon lights and theremin

My resolve is paper-thin

And my brains burning in a flash

And my eyes are weeping ash

Penny's from another planet, Penny's from out of this world

Penny's from another planet, Penny's way out of this world

Penny lets me look but she's too dangerous to touch

She's got a pretty face and she’s got a pretty mind

I'm firmly beguiled by the juxtaposition of warm flesh and cool metal combined

Penny's a drummer girl in skin-tight spandex

Wears a jet pack, lasers sparkle from her eyes

Dig that feedback baby

Chorus

I think she's going to destroy me, but I don't care

HOLD ON!

Dead man walking

Working on Puzzles
Written on March 28, 2007

Well, the lyrics say it all. This is the 2nd version, the first was slower and the lyrics were lacking. 

The background vocals were the most challenging aspect. My lips got so tired from forming "OOOs", and there were several layers to the harmonies, so I'd forget which one I was doing mid-way through and have to re-record the track. Wade never let me off the hook, he wanted it done right, and I'm grateful for that. This is the first time I ever used a slide (I bought a glass slide days before), and I had no idea I was supposed to tune the guitar down to the primary key, but I forged ahead with it, rather than tune down and try to figure out a new lead (I was on the clock, and time was money).

About Jessica: On the inside, I kept to myself, sat at an empty table during meals and wore a scowl that said "back off". One day this woman takes a seat; didn't say a word, just sat there. The next meal, same thing, only she says "hi". Each time after she sits at my empty table, and gradually gets me to talk. The next day I go into the cafeteria, and she's already seated, alone. There's another empty table but after a short pause, I slowly take the seat across from her, and soon a friendship blossomed. Of all the pills and all the doctors, having her to talk to, is what really helped me heal.

Lyrics

And they wont let us walk out of this happy place

We're under lock and key, far from the normal human race

And you've got your Bible, but all I got is you

And we're working on puzzles 'cause there's nothin' else to do

You hear your voices, I've got scars on my wrist

We are very fragile, and life's a swinging fist

And you've got your Bible, but all I got is you

And we're working on puzzles 'cause there's nothin' else to do

Jessie, Jessie - I've never shed such desperate tears

Jessie, Jessie - I never would have made it alone in here

And you've got your Bible, but all I got is you

And we're working on puzzles 'cause there's nothin' else to do

I told you I was leaving, you wrote my number on your hand

You promised that you'd call, I guess I didn't understand

The time we had was fleeting, we took refuge from our misery

Now I wonder where you are right now, Jessie, Jessie  

Jessie, Jessie - I've never shed such desperate tears

Jessie, Jessie - I never would have made it alone in here

No, I never would have made it alone in here

She Doesn't Like You
Written on December 2, 2006

I was thinking of the Violent Femmes for the music, the Beatles' "She Loves You" on the lyrics... with a comedic spin because unlike She Loves You, this guy is telling the other that, "Dude, she's not into you". 

The harmonies added a lot, I concentrated on backing vocals for much of this project, and it shows. Often they would be the thing that took the most time and Wade would push for retake after retake until I got it right.  

At the end of the tune I messed up, I was supposed to say "No, no, no" all the way through - I continued on, expecting to 'patch in' a fixed vocal, but it made me laugh so much that I kept it in.

Lyrics

And she doesn't like you like that, she likes you even less when you call

She doesn't like guys like you, in fact, she doesn't like guys at all

You've got it bad, you dream about her day and night (yeah)

You've got it bad, I take it you're not terribly bright (no)

'Cause she doesn't like you like that, so would you make like a rock, and roll

You've got it bad, you dream about her day and night (yeah)

You've got it bad, I take it you're not terribly bright (no)

'Cause she doesn't like you like that, she likes you even less when you call

She doesn't like you like that, can't see why she'd like you at all

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah - I mean- No, no, no, no, noooo

The Beginning of the End
Written on Jan 2007

The collaborative spirit can be an amazing thing. I'd written this short piece, it was going to last about 40 seconds and act as a bridge between happy and sad songs (that was another concept that was quickly abandoned). But Wade heard bigger things and I agreed. The backward intro was always in play, but I wrote that lead on the spot. Now, I imagined something dark, foreboding (hence the fuzz bass I played), but Wade heard something ethereal (the acoustic lead, the gated vocal filter), and he transformed this thing into something more than I imagined - (though you can hear me hit the strings too hard, still have that heavier thing stuck in my head). 

The original title was "a brief interlude..."

Lyrics

I'm so broken, mind's gone sour

Where are you, how are you, at this late hour

Are you in his arms, are you sighing

Do you know I'm out in the world, slowly dying

I Stand Alone

Written on December 22, 2006

I wrote this in a club, watching a girl make her way back to our table, people chatting her up, some she knew, others just trying to connect, and I'm standing there alone, waiting for her, thinking "nobody knows her name". She had a lot of names, she was always trying on a new one, the way someone tries on a new outfit, remaking herself, creating a new identity for herself, I don't know why, what fueled that. 

Musically I was thinking Beatles (Two of Us), the bridge was inspired by Dylan's "All I Really Want to Do". I enjoyed coming up with the harmonies, and the tune came to me pretty quick, scribbled on a napkin, melody playing in my head from the start. 

The video was a bunch of random images, mixed with art I put together... CD cover mock-ups, comic book supers who were based on MST movie characters (Paula in the Violent Years, Betty in High School Big Shot) and a quick sketch done with a ballpoint pen (the woman with the words "Delirium" over her head). 

Lyrics
Everybody wants you, everybody thinks they know your name

Everybody is your friend, everybody seeks your acclaim

But I stand alone - but I stand alone

Everybody is the same, after they find you they are lost

Nobody can touch your flame, nobody can pay the cost

But I stand alone - but I stand alone

I'm not looking to change you, or dethrone you

Capture you, cage or own you

I only wanted to love you

Everybody has an angle, everybody longs to bend your will

And anyone who that they can blame you, has underestimated your skill 

But I stand alone - but I stand alone

To Delirium part 2 >