The Girl in the Hydroplane
Written on June 18, 2010
It was going to be called "The Girl in the Lime Green Beret" (and you can hear the background voices singing that in the chorus) – but the opening line was such a compelling one, that it took over. It fit the subject matter better, since it's about the dangerous types, who make life unpredictable. (Plus, Prince already did a colorful beret song)
Hydroplanes were a big deal in my home State. I watched them a lot when I was a kid. I pulled the opening 2 lines out of thin air as I was working on the music.
I wrote this and recorded the demo in chunks. I had the first verses, recorded it, went back and wrote the second, and added to the recording. This is why it stops in each section. I was planning on re-recording it, but I could never match my vocals on the demo. I liked the quality of my voice and for some reason, have never been able to duplicate them to my satisfaction. So, I just stuck with the demo.
There are 2 nods to movies in the lyrics (Barbarella is name dropped, and Vertigo, when Kim Novak emerges from another room). Lyrically it reminds me of Bob Dylan, the colorful, odd, descriptions of people and events, the things that gave fuel to the psychedelic movement in the 60s. Oh, and I never could decide what was better "slash" or "splash" (I used them both here)
I don’t know if it's good commercial form to open a song with 2 verses, and then finish it with 1 each… but I do it a lot (though will sometimes add a lead guitar solo to balance it out)
Lyrics
I’ll write you a love song about the girl in the hydroplane
She went ‘zoom’ in a splash of blue and outran a hurricane
She wore a lime green beret that matched the color of her eyes
And stood there just like Barbarella, so confident in her disguise.
She emerged from her cocoon bathed in a sickly neon glow
Said, baby your looking like a man suffering from a bad case of vertigo
Let's get you out in that fresh air, where you can breathe a sigh of relief
Knowing that I took everything from, cause I’m your master thief
But I see that you're the fashion, lit the fuse, lit the passion
You're my escape route out of this black hole
Make my getaway with the girl in the hydroplane
I often take the fall over things I can’t control
When I saw her dancing in those go-go boots I knew deep in my soul
That she would be the tonic for what ailed my weary heart
I knew damn well I’d happily let her rip my world apart
Chorus
She said, baby, you’re a prophet, you foresaw the end of all
But for one brief moment, didn’t we have a ball
So, write me a love song about the girl in the hydroplane
Who went ‘zoom’ in a slash of blue and outran a hurricane
Chorus
Penny Dreadful
Written on April 3, 2009 - Rewrites January 21, 2010
Penny Dreadfuls were cheap pulp stories printed in Britain in the 19th century, and early on they were about sensational subjects and adventures. I used the term to signify that the people in the song have lives that had become lurid and cheap.
Musically it’s a slight but catchy skiffle, which was a different style for me. I kept it minimal - a simple drum - I played the bass and guitar, added a backing vocal. All told I think it only used up 5 to 6 tracks.
Along with the rhythm of the piece, I like the colorful use of language (Electra Glide to represent something other than the motorcycle, the ironical, "It's a Wonderful Life" quote). On the negative, not real thrilled with backing callback vocals at the end. A songwriter from Scotland offered me some advice, he suggested singing in a higher note on the words "Penny Dreadful" and changing "lose the plot" bit from my original accusatory line to a questioning one. Which was a help.
Lyrics
Every time I break a leg, I have to sit and beg
Before you’ll ever crawl down from your tree
And put me out of my misery
Cause if it interferes with your plans
You won't deign to sully your hands
You’re here - but I’m alone, because you’re living your own
P, P, Penny Dreadful
I once tried to lasso the moon, but 'yer too busy cooking lunch on a spoon
To take heed of anything beyond the pale
Unleashing drama on a global scale
Cause if it interferes with your plans
You won't deign to sully your hands
I picked you forget-me-nots, baby did you lose the plot?
P, P, Penny Dreadful
You plead, “Wont you read, it was written in my blood, scratched like brail up and down my arm, it’s all a part of its charm”
Every time I start to drown, you look at me with this odd little frown
Like I’m such a thorn in your side
I’m the guy harshing your electra glide
Cause if it interferes with your plans
You won't deign to sully your hands
You pull me under once again, I'm cut by your poison pen
Katarina
Written on July 16, 2010
I don't know that I have a singular "style" - I play in any style depending on what I want a song to say. But I have penned my share of folk tunes so here's one I'll upload called "Katarina". Which might be some of the finest words I've ever written. Course, you can disagree, and at any moment some listener could pop in and say, "Bob is not impressed". And indeed, there's some Dylan influence in those words.
I don't know anyone named Katarina, she's an amalgam of a couple women.
Lyrics
Once upon a time, whilst I was fully grown
I was compelled to break the law, for I’d tired of being alone
And I’d heard that she could smooth the furrows from your brow
She could smooth the furrows from your brow
It was deep into autumn upon this Sabbath day
When by spurious notions, I found her led astray
She said, “Stranger, you look in desperate need of a friend”
Stranger, you look in desperate need of a friend
So come, I’ll take your troubles and we’ll tamper in God domain
Conduct our mad experiments, both sacred and profane
We’ll live in sin and say “To hell with reality”
We’ll pretend, and for the first time in our lives, see with crystal clarity
She had a dragon tattoo that snaked around her arm
And fiery red hair that contrasted her easy charm
And her body felt like midnight in summer rain
Her body felt like midnight in summer rain
Chorus
She said you can call me Kat, I said that’s a pretty name
She said it’s not the one I was born with, but the old one was habitually tame
She said tell me something eternal, but all I had was more of the same
So she fell back into the shadows and was cloaked in their shame
We parted ways with promises we knew were gentle lies
We parted then as strangers, known only in disguise
And I knew her as a melody that once caught me by surprise
I remember her as a melody that caught me by surprise, I remembered her as a melody that once caught me by surprise
Playing with Fire
Written on October 29, 2007 (last verse added March 1, 2009)
From folk to a hooky pop song... lyrically I like the reference a Twilight Zone episode. I also thought I did a decent job with the music, that little guitar lick thingy, though I wish I’d have played it for another measure. It’s a sweet pop confection, maybe a little too sing-songy? (and yeah, when you hear the first notes a certain 60s bubblegum hit might spring to mind). I carried this around for years, lyrics were scribbled on some paper, in 2009 I added the final verse before recording it.
Lyrics
I don't believe, I deserved to receive, such utter bliss
Dissected every flaw, a slave to Murphy's Law, ‘til I tasted your kiss
It seems so unlikely, that you could ever love me
So I constructed an entire relationship out of spit and wire
You said boy you give up to easily, but I, I never tired, no I, I never tire
Stick with me and you'll learn to love, playing with fire.
I grabbed a train, ticket to serenity, but all I saw the gallows tree
A trick of the light, took my first chance at flight, there's no stopping at Willoughby
Repeat chorus
Bite the Hand
Original taped demo was recorded on March 2008
I had a minute and a half at the end of a CD and was looking for something quick I could plug in there. I had a stack of cassette tapes filled with unfinished songs and whatnot. Pouring through them I found this little folk snippet. I thought I could fit that in there at the end.
But after playing, it timed out to less than 2 minutes. It was a rather slow, mournful thing… what would happen if I sped it up? First attempt, I got it to a 1:45. Third try, nailed it. I was worried that it might come off like some hyper ‘Chipmunk’ thing, but no. It actually sounded much, much better at this tempo. It went from sluggish to catchy in a snap. I added some tambourines and shakers and a bass (which yeah, I hit a sour note here and there. But I liked what I came up for it. It was rather melodic)
I liked the lyrics, though I mis-sang "Imperial" as "Empirical".
Lyrics
This was my crime
I tried to imprison time
With a smile you slip past the gate
Your impertinent, cool and sublime
Your steel resolve
Mona Lisa in a slow dissolve
You’re as elusive as a green-eyed cat
And I can’t compete with that
That’s the nature of your art
I can’t distinguish what is real or lie
Your exalted empirical (imperial) heart
Inhabits space I can’t occupy
Or dare to, dare to understand
As I watch you bite the hand, as I watch you bite the hand that feeds
As I watch you bite the hand, as I watch you bite the hand that bleeds
You’re as elusive as a green-eyed cat
And I can’t compete with that
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