‘Something Very Horrible (Bluebeard’s Lament)’

Well, Masters of Songfu Round 2 is up. I have written a song called ‘Something Very Horrible (Bluebeard’s Lament).’ We were told to write a song that doesn’t rhyme. It was very difficult. I chose to write a song about Bluebeard. It’s based upon his fable. You can find out more about Bluebeard, and his poor wives – here, where I liked all the story except the very last line!

It features a fellow called Joe “Covenant” Lamb. He is also a member of Too Much Awesome with me, and won the last Song Fu, so I’m fortunate to have him on my track.

And SECOND most importantly, you can vote for the song HERE!

(and apologies for BLOGGING this SO LATE to anyone I’ve passed a card to :S)

5 Moody Review-y Thoughts on the Review

I’m moody today. I don’t know. Maybe it’s the weather. I don’t feel like I have the right, because I’m doing really well in the voting for Fu this time around. But I kind of feel like something bad is going on right now and I don’t like it. Then again, I’m a crazy person.

Anyway, I really liked Travis’ review. I’m going to put it in a list though because that works better for me. These are just pre-thoughts about my segment. Because I’m going to be narcissistic right this minute.

1. You “get” more about my song than you think you do because of your choice of “favorite lyric element.” I threw a key in there. Of course, it’s a broken obscure key and hardly explains a damn thing about what I really write about. Of course, I’m not prone to talk about myself anymore than I’m gonna post “rainysexy song fu reviews.” Particularly not today
2. I really liked the way that you summed me up, and kind of gave me room to breathe. And you did it in a review-y fashion. Actually, you seemed to do it for a lot of people. You really captured the personality of everyone and showed that you kind of GOT everybody. And you showed that you have a lot of respect for everyone as well.
3. I liked that you pointed out “film noir,” because that’s kind of what I was going for. I’m actually trying to do a consistent theme with my SongFu collection because I am going to make an album. I will explain how I think things “work” at some point because I have an idea for a mixed-media thing. … and stuff. … Maybe. (I like an ellipsis like you like a good bag of hashtags)

Someday I will explain that more fully. I probably have a lot of things I could explain. It’s difficult though. Sometimes I try to talk more about myself, and it doesn’t come across.

4. I think my dynamics are getting a little less jarring because my engineering is getting better.
5. I don’t think that I’m the most experimental though, but it’s high praise because I have some raw ingredients that I find it tough to work with that I’m glad I’m getting across. Most of my songs are highly sexualized and romanticized thoughts about very specific things that I’m going through that I dramatize because I am a songwriter. But I don’t talk about them because … like you say … I am “weird.”

I’m glad that you don’t think weird is bad – but many people do. There are so few people that get me. I’m fortunate to live with someone who does. Unfortunately, good marriages sometimes are NOT good song fodder. Fortunately, I’m kind of a psycho who thinks about death and cannibalism (not for me!) and perversion and flowers and monkeys and poptarts and conga drums and quality footwear and perfume and hair dye and has “topical” and “work” and “just for fun” crushes on lotsa people at the same time. So I write.

Anyway, your review was really good and your writing really IS stellar. I like people who bother. In Austin it’s a hard thing to find because everyone is really busy trying to get people to come to their shows, of which there are 5-7 a week.

Song Fu

Well. I am in Song Fu Six. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the tune either. But I think it’s growing on me. It’s been a hell of a week, I can tell you that much!

Afterward, I indulged myself a little bit. I stayed up here and just kind of … hung out. I thought that I’d try to maybe summon up some courage to come out of my shell even more about some of my .. stuff – and I almost did. But I think that submitting my Fu and sitting through the listening party and doing all that was quite enough adventure for one day.

Pins and Needles. And repetition. And faith.

I’ve typed about seventy entries. And erased them. All.

Just a little list then.

1. I’ve got to start booking. Tomorrow.
2. I’m going to make a press kit. IMMEDIATELY. I’ll be hitting up EVERYONE who EVER said anything nice about me. Especially if they’re doing well in “The Biz.” I need this now.
3. Everything that I’m in the middle of doing for other people (or even my own other projects!) needs to now be finished by the weekend. Middle of next week TOPS. This includes all videos, charts, rehearsal practice, recordings, little demo-type things, dah-dah-dah …
4. I have to do Song Fu. It’s not a luxury anymore. It’s not a choice. If I don’t stick around Song Fu, and TMA, I WILL BE FORGOTTEN ABOUT and OTHER PEOPLE from Austin will hear about all this stuff in a way that does not involve me. It will be exactly what happened here before. If I think that I fade into walls now … (let alone why …)

This means that I cannot afford to get sick again. And it doesn’t matter that Mike’s having surgery. I’m just going to have to be perfect, that’s all. And it doesn’t matter who just might happen to sign up for Song Fu 6.

And I will just have to trust that all my trial runs at this will hold. That practice makes perfect. And that I am NOT neurotic.

SongFu Song Update

I’m happy with my SongFu song and I think that people should vote for it. I put lyrics out on another blog entry. But I like it so much that there’s a better version that I have put on my myspace site and on the Too Much Awesome website on my profile page.

Just watch out when you go to my TMA profile site. There’s a song on there called ‘Humbug’ with some cussin in it!

SONG FU 5: Lyrics

In a perfect world, I will fix this.
I swear it shall be done
This is the MASTER’S OF SONG FU5 ENTRY that I made it in for just in time!

BTW: (*there’s a note at the end, about some lyrics)

“four5ths“

[1]
I never seem to finish / any thing I start
I never go audition / so I never get the part
Always sitting in the shadows / while the cool kids pass me by
Racking up excuses / and all the reasons why

[CH]
Four-fifths
It’s only four-fifths
And it’s not good enough to win your love
Four-fifths / and it’s not good enough
to make it …

[2]
This isn’t going well / I’ve just got something random down
I’ll commit to it right now / maybe you can’t tell I’m freaking out
… with a boy that makes you paranoid, your sit’ch is gonna crack
So you set yourself back up in case the other one don’t stack up

[CH]
Four-fifths, this is only four-fifths
And it’s not gonna be good enough / not good enough
Four-fifths / it’s only four-fifths
And it’s not good enough
to make it … to #1

[Weird trippy BRIDGE]
But you know that the other songs were perfect
…perfect and superior
and superior to everything
I ever, ever did
(the angst is palpable)

I obviously take exception to the rule … of mediocrity
“She’s such a fabulous specimen of a songwriter.”
(Look at her go …)
- – - – (na, na, na, na …)

Time bends slowly in exile
no one understaaaaands
in my bedroom all alone

ahahahahahah….
No one understands the bleak black dreary darkness that my emo soul demands….
(no one understaaaaands…..)
*

CH
Ah……
four-fifths
it’s always four-fifths
but apparently it’s not good enough
four-fifths / four-fifths
I’m always faking it / but it’s not good enough … for your love

REPEAT IMPROVY ADNAUSEAM PIANO AND VOCAL STUFF:
(only good enough for a fraction of your love
only good enough for a little tiny decibel of your love)

*this is an inaudible line that BARELY got heard in the mix. I decided to put it in the lyrics anyway. It’s kind of a rumbling grumble under everything. Oh welllwhale!

The Hour Before Song Fu …

This is something I dashed off. It’s stupid. I haven’t been blogging very much lately. Haven’t really felt like it. I don’t really like to blog much anymore. I think I’m afraid of being online. I was happier when I had fewer people that I knew floating around here. Oh well. Ack.

busybusywrongwrong

I need to be better. I’m not eating, and I’m not sleeping. I need to get ON-IT!.

Apparently, it’s really not very motivating to have your entire psyche filleted by a physic vampire – but there you go.

I’m being really extreme here. I’m totally fine.

I just can’t seem to get it together. Song Fu opens up this week again. ACK! My studio is a SHAMBLES. There’s stuff on Brigit’s Flame to do. I’m not going to even bother to make links. All this means that I pretty much just need to get all this stuff together. Like I say I’m going to do but never really quite manage to complete.

Oh well, at least I have written my complete bio.

The 4 Month Challenge

I have a friend called Shelley who is a very motivated human. I met her in Longhorn Band. I have to admit that I wasn’t a huge fan of my time in the band, as I spent most of my time in the pit percussion area (mallet instruments), muttering under my breath. Like Gollum, but not as charming.

Anyway, Shelley exercises and stuff. I’m kind of on an exercise kick too, and I’m receiving the benefit of happy drugs since I’m ditching some of my more offending pharmaceuticals. I won’t get into it, but I’m not as sickly as I used to be. No more Hector Pi Laureate or anything. No more hormonal madness. Nada. So I have an oppurtunity to bend my metabolism to my ever-loving whim.

I put my goals up in a previous blog entry. So how am I doing?

Well, not well so far. This is typical of me. I always rebel at the first start. I stick my tongue out at it.

AT THIS POINT:

1. I have not gone to martial arts this week once. This is bad because I only went once last week, and twice the week before. Unk! I’m going to have to go tomorrow morning, which is going to HURT! And then there’s classes every day including Saturday. I should try to make Saturday, because they have tournament practice then. I should also go Thursday, because that’s when I usually meet up with the 8pm people (which is where I should be tonight!).

2. I didn’t write down my food for the last two days. This is a two day slip-up and has happened for the first time in over a month. I’ve been good about this for an entire month. I’ll write down my food as soon as I’m done with this blog. I’m going to take my vitamins too, because I just loaded three weeks worth of them. It’s not on my “official” list of goals – but it should be in my mind.

3. I practiced for over 4 hours today, so that’s good. It was not really regimented practice, nor did I really get any ideas down. I am firming up ideas for 3 or 4 songs that will need to be finished and put on the 2 hour set though. I’ll need to tighten up on the scheduling and get organized about the rehearsing soon, but it’s good work. I did some good vocal rehearsing.

4. I was all over the place today, socially. I’m net-stalking people who really shouldn’t be net-stalked … I’m CARING WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK (this is a huge no-no in my case), I’m getting in over my head. I need to detach and go back into my own little world. I have told myself that I’m Face-banned. I don’t know for how long. This is good. I’ve enrolled in a writing contest and I’m waiting for Song Fu. These things don’t directly pertain to my goal … but they will help keep me out of the trouble that excessive brooding brings.

I will try not to engage in excessive blogging, or Twittering … or anything.

5. I didn’t get anything done on the studio, but everything tiny thing in the house that I clean is a step in the right direction toward that.

‘O Queen’

I have gotten into Masters of Song Fu round three by the skin of my ass. Here is the song, ‘O Queen‘ – and its lyrics below. I will post reviews of both rounds on this site.

Thank you!

 

O QUEEN

Men look at queens of the past for their clues
trying to see where the problem lies
in these old women’s shoes

Many men could have said / off with the ladies head!
what shall I do with her ?
maybe my wife should burn …

 CH
Queen Christina, oh Queen Christina
how thankful am I, that I live my life in 2009 …

I look to the past and know my sorry ass
would have tried not to fight
but my head would have ended up upon a pike –

for all to see
matrimonial expressions of horror
at justice gone so awry!

CH / BR
If now were then
would you’ve pulled me off of the fire … then ..?
 - instead of now asking me for advice

CH-out
Queen Christina, Queen Christina oh queen …

 

PS. Christina is Christina of Sweden. She was not executed and lived from 1626-1689. She was the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus and she was a patron of the arts – helping men such as Corelli and Scarlatti.