wavelength is a song with a fresh sound and perspective. it talks about relationships as being far from perfect harmony – some not even on the same wavelength. all you need is enough interest in the company and mutual respect. after all, a companionship that evolves is a healthy situation. i’ve always wondered why people seem to obsess over finding someone as close as possible to their own ideas, desires and needs. that sounds like an awfully boring relationship to me. would someone please launch an ebusiness called disharmony.com and set couples up for a more exciting life ahead? doesn’t boredom and the status quo lead love to ugly places?

iphone/itouch users:
apple does not support flash music content!

wavelength

wavelength

i’m of the formless
shape without a shape
because i flow across my mindscape
a chain to my shadow
a voice upon a tape
my channeled dreams
can you relate?

on a wavelength
of shared strength
i listen
i glisten
i seek to demonstrate
that two lovers
can hover
through respect of each other
though rarely touching common ground

will you be silent
is a space crammed with voices?
can you make peace with all your choices?
our notes of dischord are necessary noises
unannointed loves confides in hate

on a wavelength
of shared strength
i listen
i glisten
i seek to demonstrate
that two lovers
can hover
through respect of each other
though rarely touching common ground

the frequency of obstacles
can often frustrate
they pry
they pull
and complicate
but from my angle
they’re signs
that i appreciate
symptoms only a complex
love could fabricate

on a wavelength
of shared strength
i listen
i glisten
i seek to demonstrate
that two lovers
can hover
through respect of each other
though rarely touching common ground

analog hiss is the ghost track at the end of the oyster & champagne record. it almost didn’t make the cut. i really liked the song but it didn’t seem to jive with the rest of the record. my engineer at the time (gavin pearce) and i decided to throw it at the end (and buried it after a long silence). i didn’t even list it on the album artwork. i remember gavin asking me what track number i wanted to make it on the master and i think i said “i dunno, surprise me.” well, gavin chose 69. he claims it was a shout out to the ying yang symbol. um…ok. i’ve since arranged a jazzier version of the song, which is how i perform it today. this version is more pop meets soul (maybe even country-esque?).

iphone/itouch users:
apple does not support flash music content!

69-analog-hiss

analog hiss

you are the reason
i’ve come to be so far
from having concrete answers to the bizarre
you are the reason
i’ve come to be so hard
if only i could pinpoint where you are
if there is a woman behind the scars
strip down
you could be my morning star
i could drive you crazy
and i don’t need no pimp ass car
the chords i’d strum
if you were my guitar

forever married to my loneliness
forever married to a higher bliss
forever carried in the analog hiss of a song
yes, i’m holding out for the angry kiss
of a lover who’s uncovered what is already missed
for the poet (out of season) who’ll remember this
with a song

you are the reason
i’ve come to be so bold
there are no secrets
behind the stories that i’ve told
yes, you are the reason
that other people think i’m cold
thinking about our future
as the winter months unfold
where are the dreams?
where are the dice once rolled?
feels like oblivion
now that i am pigeon-holed
yes, mixed and torn feelings
cannot tell the new from old
is it abandon
if i hold on?

forever married to my loneliness
forever married to a higher bliss
forever carried in the analog hiss of a song
yes, i’m holding out for the angry kiss
of a lover who’s uncovered what is already missed
for the poet (out of season) who’ll remember this
with a song

corner joint is another song that’s heavily influenced by jimi hendrix. when i’m writing a song like this, i think about where his songwriting would have gone. i can’t copy his vibe (since he never got to make modern music) – but i do try to summon his spirit. i like how jimi wouldn’t obsess over how clean he played a particularly hot guitar part – well, same with the guitar on this song. in the studio, i was basically destroying my guitar as i chugged along. fans of jimi will recognize the line “sky fall, just don’t fall on me.” i may not be chopping down mountains with the side of my hand, but i can write a bad a$$ tune every once in a while. this song gets requested a ton when i’m live.

iphone/itouch users:
apple does not support flash music content!

14-corner-joint

corner joint

fit me in this corner joint
45 degrees
from your knees
shooting breeze
lip tease
don’t put my mind at ease
baby please
come on
slide me in this corner joint
halfway thinking
you
like the sun
come undone
when there’s none
except heaven’s drum to strum
alright
grinding out this corner joint
meeting of two walls
waterfalls
bathroom stall
sweat crawls
to the small of back
in fact
come on

you make me feel
i got no shape
got free escape
from
all this pretty hate
of complicate
and common fate
i wanna bathe
in earth and paint
without constraint
if i die today
i pray the lord
my songs will stay

fit me in this corner joint
feeling like a played
jack of spades
wanting suede
record fade
and a spot in the shade
to pray
slide me in this corner joint
nothing like a joke
finger poke
wheel spoke
space to choke
when you’re on your back
and broke
alright
grinding out this corner joint
someone slipped a kink
in my drink
so i think
triple blink
as you wink and smile
i sink
yeah

you make me feel
i got no shape
got free escape
from
all this pretty hate
of complicate
and common fate
i wanna bathe
in earth and paint
without constraint
if i die today
i pray the lord
my songs will stay

sky fall
just don’t fall on me

key won’t unlock the door is a song with a simple yet powerful sentiment. in some ways, it’s a sequel to “telephone ring” from the oyster & champagne record. i don’t perform it live very often – though maybe i should! i think the lead and follow vocals in the second verse, combined with the harmonies in the chorus that follows it, are a cool touch. lyrically, the song references “red house” by jimi hendrix – “wait a minute / there’s something wrong baby / this key won’t unlock the door / i gotta bad, bad feeling / that my baby don’t live here no more.” um…that’s alright…i still got my guitar.

iphone/itouch users:
apple does not support flash music content!

04-key-wont-unlock-the-door

key won’t unlock the door

tick tick
goodbye
so sick
these lies that’ll tear love in two
not hung up over you
click click
goodbye

i still adore
though our eyes don’t bind anymore
tossing and turning
this constant yearning
this key won’t unlock the door

tick tick
(blurring the lines between)
goodbye
so sick
(wishing i could have foreseen)
the way that the need for distance grew
not strung out over you
click click
(maybe it ought to be)
goodbye

i still adore
though our eyes don’t bind anymore
tossing and turning
this constant yearning
this key won’t unlock the door

raise the dead is a wild and unique song. i remember when gwen, my fiancee, first heard this. she pictured rocking out to it in a dance club…but with a cha-cha feel somehow (kinda like the mojito commercial, maybe?). i wrote the song after i had begun recording the eLOVE record. i completed it on the fly without much deliberation. I needed a transition type song in the middle of the album (yes, i still think in terms of producing a record that flows from beginning to end – call me old school). i remember jeff severson, the engineer on the record, just shaking his head. he couldn’t believe what he was hearing – but he liked it just the same. it’s been that way between us since.

iphone/itouch users:
apple does not support flash music content!

08-raise-the-dead

raise the dead

why do we got to raise the dead?
bring this ringing to our heads?
spit the shit that we gone and said today?
why do we got to raise the dead?
piss our history upon the bed
dull our skulls with all that’s plain as fate

open your mouth
and what should fly south
a babbling gaggle of geese?
squawking and hawking
balking and chalking
baby let’s talk about peace
i’ve had a tough year
but now that you’re here
there’s got to be more better than bliss
pour  me some concrete
adore me more complete
our roots should be firmer than this
what’s your eye?
what constitutes lie?
a twinkle
a stare
or a blink?
before the night’s through
babe i wanna feel you
in ways more obscene than you’d think
i wanna turn you out
eliminate doubt
uncover the thoughts  on your mind
that we hold
we preach and unfold
is more than a past we can find

why do we got to raise the dead?
bring this ringing to our heads?
spit the shit that we gone and said today?
why do we got to raise the dead?
piss our history upon the bed
dull our skulls with all that’s plain as fate

i can remember when i was a kid
those monsters beneath my bed
i never did see one
i never did become
material thing i could dread
but now that i’m older
and 50 times bolder
it’s funny how things we can’t pin
consume us
exhume fuss
doom
and then gloom us
cut a relationship thin
what’s in your hand?
what constitutes band?
the show or the time spend between?
before the night’s through
babe i wanna heal you
in ways more surreal than you’ve seen
i wanna lift the veil
relieve the braille
of these fingers that long for the trail
because sometimes we need
to feed a new seed
and wait for the guessing to fail

why do we got to raise the dead?
bring this ringing to our heads?
spit the shit that we gone and said today?
why do we got to raise the dead?
piss our history upon the bed
dull our skulls with all that’s plain as fate

problematic michelle (live) is a song that my friend, vinny parrish, calls buster brown’s “opus” – i’d have to agree. seeing this song performed solo acoustic at the old town theatre in alexandria va in 2007 is what galvanized my interest in helping buster’s music career in any way that i could. many have said that buster’s mix of rock, rap and r&b reminds them of my own music. again, i’d have to agree there. few performers are as fun and engaging as buster. this probably comes from his background as an accomplished tap dancer.

iphone/itouch users:
apple does not support flash music content!

problematic michelle

problematic michelle

people say
but anyway
and people talk alot
but i’m ok

cause i’m getting to know myself
and i’m figuring that maybe baby
you’re my someone else
but you got me caught in this crazy spell
powerless over problematic michelle

in my head
it’s all worked out
but instead
oh, i get
i get the runaround

when i call her problematic michelle
constantly causing me mental hell
going or coming
i can never tell
blind-sided by problematic michelle

i’m awake
seeing straight
but my fate
it’s the entree on your plate
(and like frosted flakes, they’re great!)

am i losing my mind?
cause i find i want her
i want her around me all the time
(ladies and gentlemen, the greatest band in the world!)

forgiveness please
for living fantasies
slipping panties
below the knees
to taste and ease the tension
give me a pinch
i wake up
dreaming
drenched in sweat and screaming
her short skirt
tight white shirt
heavy breathing
finger tips
touch lips
slip below the hips
she grips the sheets
and grits her teeth
when she peeks
she squeaks and squeals
this is how it feels
it’s good, good, good
you know she would, could, should
fall in love with the kid
cause the pleasure he gives
is better and bigger than the best
and it get you burning calories
to make you thinner
a little touchy feely
burn a dutch and you’ll see
i’m an addict with a habit
and my habit is problematic michelle
with this spliff
that i lift
and inhale
it ain’t hard to tell
it’s problematic michelle

radio reception is a not your typical romantic tune. it centers around a retro thought (listening to the radio). the music is eery and murky. i’m not sure how i’ve coerced the verses to work with the chorus and bridge. sonically, they couldn’t be more different from each other. i guess that’s what makes for a great record. i think any time you can create something that’s both catchy and challenging – well, you’ve done something right as a songwriter.

iphone/itouch users:
apple does not support flash music content!

06-radio-reception

radio reception

could it be that i was hiding in you
however far away?
could it be that you were hiding there too
until i got it straight?
i got lost in between
who i was and where we’d be
if i could only compensate
could it be that we’ve been
given a second chance?
don’t wanna hesitate

radio is on
the reception isn’t strong
i can barely hear you
there could be a song
there could be no wrong
if i was lying near you
(but i can’t stand the rain)

how can it be
if love is like a symphony
that you are into me
through distance like infinity?
how can it be
how can it be
how can it be?
how can it be
if love is like a melody
that you are into me
through dissonance with trinity?
how can it be
how can it be
how can it be?

could it be
that you are choosing the easy way out
whenever times get hard?
could it be
that you will always see through
whenever i get scarred?
you were trapped in between
all the women you had seen
planting smiles in my backyard
could it be
that we are victims of circumstance
why can’t we drop our guards?

radio is on
the reception isn’t strong
i can barely hear you
there could be a song
there could be no wrong
if i was lying near you
(but i can’t stand the rain)

how can it be
if love is like a symphony
that you are into me
through distance like infinity
how can it be
how can it be
how can it be
how can it be
if love is like a melody
that you are into me
through dissonance with trinity
how can it be
how can it be
how can it be

radio is on…

sting mixes rock, r&b and rap seamlessly. it was written about a relationship that just wouldn’t seem to end – the kind that keeps coming back to disrupt your current thing and that fills the gaps before your next thing. thankfully, these days are behind me. tim dwelle, a fellow songwriter and friend, tripped out when he first heard this – remarking about the reference to rae caruth. i may be the only person ever to put caruth in a song! another friend, anthony saracini, gets a kick out of how the last verse lyrics resolves the sitch once and for all. i really enjoy performing this song live. it becomes a bit too dramatic for some (so i’ve heard) but i think that’s what makes for a better performance!

iphone/itouch users:
apple does not support flash music content!

02-sting

sting

reading your digits through the glass
i wish that i could hear the melody
but i could still measure up that ass
funny how lost i find myself
whenever she stands in front of me
i leave my wits upon the shelf

why do you bring up history?
dumb
how i cling to this theory
how can i free my mind of blistering
when you just sting me
you sting me with your misery?

tearing the sheets up off my bed
believe me
i’ve tried to crack her code
instead i just let her give me head
funny how lost i find myself
whenever she empties out them drawers
i watch her run her fingers through my wealth

why do you bring up history?
dumb
how i cling to this theory
how can i free my mind of blistering
when you just sting me
you sting me with your misery?

bread of the earth child
instead of a dirt pile
and stuffing more pages
in your really-been-hurt files
let’s separate the reasons
the teasings of the seasons
and find a way to get on down to pleasing
how many ways can a brother adore you?
how many ways can a sister ignore dude?
how many prays can the heavens endure through
before a lover gotta score anew
am i getting through to you
betting true to blue
should i let the lions in my zoo
pursue the truth?
am i new to sleuth
in a telephone booth
would i hella-bone you
would i rae caruth?
will i stay aloof
with a golden tooth?
will i raise a roof?
will i playa-proof?
can i haze my mind with my vermouth?
can i lays my wand upon you?
poof
if i can make this go away
if i can love you more each day
if i could fake this more i’d day
that this is crazy shit
let’s try another play
hmmm
how?
better move on now
letter to the widow
of the never-been-sold-out
these last few months i’ve searched
now hold up
don’t you pitch that tent
fold up
trace that glitch
erase your hard drive
waste that bitch
before she scars five
place that itch
on trigger
go live
hmmm
yeah
sounds like a plan there
you sure of the fan fare?
it sounds like a man dare
you miss this girl
you want this girl
you flaunt this girl
you haunt this girl
aw man
fuck it
hurl

when day i will awaken in the morn
and she will have left me nothing
at least i had the sense
to film some porn
funny how free i’ll find myself
whenever i sell it on the web
knowing i could save
somebody else

why do you bring up history?
dumb
how i cling to this theory
how can i free my mind of blistering
when you just sting me
you sting me with your misery?

sex drive reminds me of the “adams morgan years.” 9davine played cafe lautrec on the first floor and private parties on the third floor (which sometimes spilled out onto the roof). this song was a crowd favorite for its video game feel and fast rapping style. my favorite part of the song is where it flips over and becomes a punk song at the end. no one would see that coming and i would trash my guitar every time we got there. i remember the night we had so many people in the room that the windows were completely fogged over and all of our instruments were falling out of tune from the heat. that’s what you hear in this recording. i wish we had a few mics in the audience for a better sense of the chaos.

iphone/itouch users:
apple does not support flash music content!

sex-drive-live-2001

sex drive

sex drive
feeling like the next dive
into your soul hole i unfold
so fine
can’t believe you ain’t mine
bold as the untold
bold as the unsold

time gone sour
time gone sour
can’t believe we’re in the 25th hour
raw ring finger
sad soul singer
looking for a dance where the beat still lingers
i’m walking like i’m talking to my destiny
with a stride swinging loud like the best of me
i feel like nothing really sparks my day
like the child-hecka-smile of my baby today
and who gonna know if i hide in the shade?
if she ever come back, gonna throw a parade
something sly to get her high
the smell of my lover tattooed my thigh
yeah, this is what i mean, anti-trigger machine
straight shooting love where it was last seen
why you gotta be where my eyes can’t see?
sweetback, same track, get with me

sex drive
feeling like the next dive
into your soul hole i unfold
so fine
can’t believe you ain’t mine
bold as the untold
bold as the unsold

time gone sour
time gone sour
can’t believe we’re in the 25th hour
loose luck crazy
scene grown hazy
how we gonna purify love torn lazy?
and where is the trick
who got me sick?
thought you were joking when you slipped me a mick
but you still hear the knock when the back door’s locked
i traded in love for a penny, hot damn
i guess i deserve all the feelings unnerved
sold out my soul for the love of a curve
sold my guitar
wrecked my car
and only a lover coulda pushed me afar
from where i was
your next buzz
nothing gets me off like your body does
you be the moon
and i’ll be the cloud
shit, dropped the key
you ain’t coming out, cuz

sex drive
feeling like the next dive
into your soul hole i unfold
so fine
can’t believe you ain’t mine
bold like the untold
bold like the unsold

pretty baby
you shoulda come home last night
pretty baby
you shoulda come home last night
why you fooling me?
you’re only fooling you.
last night
last night
while you’re fooling me, baby
you’re only fooling you

mumble my way through the outro…

twisted vine is one of the strongest songs i’ve written, though it wasn’t given the bridge it deserved in order to truly be hit-worthy. i wrote that in early 2009 and will feature it from here forward. the song was born in a rusty, old home in richmond that fellow songwriter tim dwelle and i inhabited for a little over a year. both of us wrote some amazing songs in that house. there was a pair of trees in the back yard that were engrossed by mammoth, seemingly prehistoric vines. i layered this theme with feelings of apprehension at a tricky stage of my life.

iphone/itouch users:
apple does not support flash music content!

09-twisted-vine

twisted vine

existed nine months ago
twisted vine has swallowed me whole
all that’s said
tangles up my head
existed nine months ago
twisted vine has swallowed my soul
all that’s said dangles from this thread

you are the missing stone i need
you are like watercolor bleed
you see the garnet glow
from underneath my skin
you are my faith in what’s hidden

existed nine months ago
twisted vine has swallowed me whole
all that’s said
tangles up my head
existed nine months ago
twisted vine has swallowed my soul
all that’s said
dangles from this thread

you are a feather on the breeze
you are the spiral that it leaves
you see the garnet glow
from underneath my skin
you are the everywhere i’ve been
(i’ve been with you)

existed nine months ago
twisted vine has swallowed me whole
all that’s said
tangles up my head
existed nine months ago
twisted vine has swallowed my soul
all that’s said
dangles from this thread

you are the thought that life will pass
you are the hopes that i’ve amassed
you see the garnet glow
from underneath my skin
you are the screams i’ve held within
(within my head)