Music

Summer Song

Chorus

Summertime is just around the corner
Another time is just around the bend
We both thought we could stick it out my friend
But beautiful things that we doubt will end

First impression had me higher than high
Her suggestion that I stop on by
Conversation we were seeing eye to eye
Pure elation now I'm touching the sky

Never got bored as we further explored
The parts of me before that went completely ignored
No tense moments of regret or sorrow
Just a promise to each other for a better tomorrow

Out of the blue I'm being haunted by demons past
What, who knew, I thought that this would last
All of a sudden, flinging mud ya know it stuck real fast
Sorta mean we're disagreeing and we're reaching an impasse

Uh oh--oh no--what do you know--why did you go?
Why'd I start the fire not expecting it to blow?
So many don'ts and dos, if we settle we both lose
Sight of the fact of us two, I thought you knew
I should have thought twice, before we settled the score
If you can't say nothing nice, please don't say anything at all
It turned on us both, or should I say it went sour
Don't feel I got the patience, and ya haven't got the power
How was I supposed to know and now what can we do?
Should I fly off the handle or just sit around and stew
I'm finished, stick a fork in me cuz I'm done--
A thousand ways to say fuck off--choose one

Chorus

Although things may pass
Although love may cease
There is always a chance
That you will find some peace

You don't have to believe me
Just grab on before it's gone
You don't have to receive me
But it just might help you to carry on

First, Last, and Worst

When I said that I appreciate you,
Didn't think I'd wait so long for the real truth
Well this is the last thing that I'll take, clean the slate
With a song that I know you'll hate--
Mama taught you how to hit the pipe,
Daddy taught you that two wrongs make the right
Oh, what a sight to behold
Hearing all the inside jokes and you out in the cold…

Chorus

You're my first, my last and worst waste of time

You're King Kong, ten feet long,
Check yourself when you're singing your own song
Cause one thing I don't understand,
Why'd you try to hook up with the queen of the damned?

You told me to stay out of harm's way
The melting road around us, and you just slipped away
I'd always taught we'd grow fatter and fatter,
Whaddaya know, Jacob's ladder

Chorus

Now you're desperate, lost and confused
Takin' lame cues monkey see monkey do
But you lost your chance for you and me to sing,
When didja turn out to be such a little thing?

Chorus

It's Becoming a Bigger Thing

Would you turn that radio down?
There's a tune in my head
Words just keep on coming back round,
to the last thing she said

Chorus

It's becoming a bigger thing, baby
For you and me

You pretend it's summer baby,
I'll pretend it's fall
This road has many colors lady,
don't throw me the curve ball

Chorus

(on)liner notes

This album was made in my bedroom, mostly, wherever that would be at the time. Other case scenarios will be laid out as they flow…

It's Becoming a Bigger Thing

Mike Reilly, Ray Thyssen Wilcox

This song came to me near done, I just added the sauce — Mike is an idol as well as my favorite collaborator, he has been writing great songs for a long time. Props to Prince for the beat, come 'n and get me, baby! Mike is playing the bass part as well as tasty crunchy wha guitar, and leads in the chorus and intro — that's me on keys, acoustic 12 string, lead vocal and guitar solo. Mike and I kept screwing up the words in the chorus, which makes me sing them wrong to this day! There is a cool sample of a radio dial beefing turned in the beginning and the end of the song. That where the horns come from.

Everything's Around

RTW

Corny & hokey but as pure pop as mountain dew in Molene. Written in love with a beautiful and sweet girl. I had to borrow the Stones greatest riff to make the intro work. Fun ska break in the middle 8, and an XTC/Beatles turnaround — hopefully the words will sneak right by you.

Mixed Messages

RTW

The hard funky truth. I've got to testify — I can't take it any longer! Basic thing from the deepest, darkest corner of the soul. I think the not so subtle "Get Smart" reference comes to represent this "secret agent of love" character I can see myself as, picturing 007, actually being the Pink Panther.

(segue) {I ain't gonna get inna} Funk Over You — a moment from the original demo of the song I later perfected with Mike, when I recorded this version I was trying out a new "everything but the kitchen sink" effects box, which I obviously used on everything.

The Big Chief

RTW

…is the name of the song, most of the samples are from an album by a band from Detroit called "Big Chief" their album, Mack Avenue Skull Game, is a parody of a Movie Soundtrack — so it's kind of a tribute to them. This guy I used to know Mark Dancy was in the band, He is an artist that did a cartoon of the Insane Clown Posse in Spin and they put a "jugaboo" contract out on him. The main loop is a slowed down Gapp Band sample. This spill now resides in the first verse of "Tang Thing" — it has one of my most fave lines about WACK RAPPERS TRYIN' TO steal my thunder.

Green Pieces of Love

RTW

Most people refer to this song as "prettiest girl I've ever seen." So it's about this friend of mine, Heather, who is indescribably cool. She taught me a lot about truth and love and fun and freedom, and and she didn't even know it. It also has some Jerry Garcia flavored guitar melody lines, which was an inside joke she never got, along with a few subtle drug references, but these notes are rated G, so wait for the book (or the Behind the Music) for the dirt.

Prove to Me

RTW

this was written when a band AND another intimate relationship started fading at the same time. Angry and confused, not knowing who to trust. We've all been there, and hopefully learn something to save yourself a little heartache next time.

Chance

RTW

A fun rocker, derivative and silly — but ironically, a sorrowful message about giving up, wrapped in a happy package.

As Lianna Climbs the Walnut Tree

RTW

Written from memory about the pre-school yard where I work, this tale of playground politics is a woeful one. those lovely violins are played by pal Catherine Clune (Zircus, Clubfoot Orchestra, Tango #9).

Mystery to Me

RTW

The mystery is how I got the bad idea that marching bands belong in a hip-hop soundtrack. Heavily influenced by The Bomb Squad, without the layers. The sample at the end is from an old radio show from the 40's.

Hang My Head

RTW++++

A metaphor that compares the throws of romantic love with the rapture of the earth's "kinder" herbs. This uses the chorus from an old Jamaican gem of a song, "I've Got to Get You Off My Mind" by the Tenors, and is a collection of musical ideas and quotes. The verse is based on an obscure groove from Al Green's "The Belle Album." The bridge is based on "Mary Jane" by Rick James — the Johnny Cash sample is the bomb.

Some Girls Wont Be Left Alone

Mike Reilly, RTW

An experiment in GROOVE, remix, funk and samples, we threw this together in an all-too-short afternoon. Hence the vocals! All kinds of audio goodies to jog your dance floor memories.

Firecracker

RTW

Written about my first "real" girlfriend, a scream of joy and relief that it could happen. Just a simple bluesy, R&B type funk. Think Elvis.

Shine

RTW

Written about another short-term girlfriend, but someone I adored the moment I saw her. I chased her for 2 years, so it never could have been as good as it would have "on paper". I had written more than a few sad songs with her in mind and she's like… "Why don't you ever write something nice, something happy?" "Good point", I agreed. This is probably the best thing I've written- my favorite anyway. This version was definitely done in one long sitting, I can tell by the mistakes.

Temporary Jigsaw

Troy Dixon, RTW

This is a collaboration between the Crack Emcee and I, an old friend who makes amazing hip-hop-history pop rock. He is the king of Cyberspace and the Chuck D that time didn't forget. The track is bold and spicy, not for the weak-hearted.

Love Takes It's Toll Again

Jillian Armenante, RTW

Fan AND Band fave — I have played this pretty regularly since it's conception in 1982(?) there are SO many different versions of this song from many different bands, I decided to put the original on this collection. So this is my friend Jill, who had an unfulfilled lust for another woman (remember, I'm 16 and she's 17, so we are both in pain any way you slice it, and you can HEAR it if you listen closely!) and we would just sit in the basement making sounds — this original version sounds like the Eurythmics or Yaz.

1st, Last, and Worst

Josh Pollock, RTW

Josh took me under his wing around the time we found each other in SF, around the fall of 1987. We remained musical muses to each other for many years, so when the end came, there was plenty of bitterness from my end. Josh would occasionally take a part of a song I'd written out of context, and put it in a song he was working on, rendering my song obsolete. Sometimes he would add a part to one of my songs to sort of "push it over the cliff."
O.T.

O.T. Sez:

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