OPP Week 8

Sarah, my friend is not like a spork...
She's good for lots of things,
like having fun in New York.

She's got oodles of talent & good looks to spare.
And inside that head,
is much more than hot air.

But the memory she'll always remember of me
Is the night that we spent in her bed
just us 2... or 3

...or 4.

Hurray and congratulations Sarah on your exceptional musical literacy. It might well be argued that it exceeds my own. Whether or not you're a Fountains of Wayne fan, you've surely heard Chris Collingwood's songwriting. He's been a ghost writer in the industry for nearly 10 years. In fact, he's behind some of the most bullet-through-your-head catchy pop songs you've ever heard. Including Brittany's "Baby, One More Time" and "Crazy", and the entire soundtracks for "That Thing You Do" and "Josie and the Pussycats". Chris has a gift for crafting hooks that refuse to leave your brain for hours on end... which suits him perfectly for pop writing. Fountains of Wayne has been his personal outlet for songs of nearly every concievable genre for several years. The band's records are always criticized for not having a distinct sound, making them hard to sell. Although they managed to be nominated for a "Best NEW Artist" Grammy with their 4th album. Which included the last song that probably made you want to shoot yourself, Stacey's Mom...

Often considered the "weak" Fountains of Wayne album, Utopia Parkway has a number of gems, the finest of which is "Troubled Times". It perfectly describes my inability to manage even a golden situation with any degree of normalcy. I'm a dating retard. It didn't used to be that way, but lately it just has. There's a girl who I'm reasonably certain would like to go out with me. And I'd like to take her out, if only I could successfully accomplish the seemingly hurculean task of actually asking her for a time that's mutually suitable. Poor girl has tried to help, even suggesting times. Bless her heart, I don't think she likes turning me down, I'm just kinda failing to land a field goal from 15 yards. I've been assured this is sometimes cute, but really, for how long? This song has always helped motivate me to just go for it though. No guts, no glory right? Right. Ok, new week...

I can hear so much in your sighs
And I can see so much in your eyes
There are words we both could say
But don't talk, put your head on my shoulder
Come close, close your eyes and be still
Don't talk, take my hand and let me hear your heart beat

Being here with you feels so right
We could live forever tonight
Lets not think about tomorrow
And don't talk put your head on my shoulder
Come close, close your eyes and be still
Don't talk, take my hand and listen to my heart beat

Listen, listen, listen.

OPP Week 7

Haha! Technically no one won last week, although I expected some AZ'ers to step it up. Yancy, however displayed formidable google prowess and tracked down a girl the poem was blogged to. His educated guess, while wrong was nonetheless impressive. Jake Greider is a singer/songwriter I met a number of years ago when I was playing in a band called Don't Miss the Big in AZ. Heather's Song is one of his more impressive originals, played in a funky half-capoed setup. My favorite song to hear him play was actually Led Zeppelin's That's the Way off of Three. But back to Yancy. While ultimately incorrect, I think he deserves something for his considerable effort to find the truth. So he gets a couplet...

I lived with this kid named Yancy.
I first thought his name was said, Nancy.

Original, no. True, yes. Now to the song. "Gazing into each other's bones" is just plain great imagery. I've learned that good songwriting is often about creating a setting or a visual people can connect to. The red couch is a perfect example, very simple, but it immediately puts us in a place. "Take your time sweet, sweet smile. Blow across those lips for miles." Whew. That brings to mind my old girlfriend Tyler. She was a cute girl, but up close she was beautiful... like other worldly beautiful. I loved to be really close to her face so that everything else was kind of out of focus and I could see her close up, cause she was amazing from that angle. New week, new song.

When you think you've found something worth holding on to
when you're reaching for attention, hoping she would notice you
collecting bottles and thrown-away cans
like she was returnable, one day would refill your hands
How she loved you. All you imagined, fit so well into her plans.

Maybe one day soon it'll all come out,
how you dream about each other sometimes.
With a memory of how you once gave up,
but you made it throught the troubled times.

Pining away every hour in your room,
rolling with the motions, waiting till it's opportune.
Sitting there watching time fly past you.
Why do tomorrow, what you could never do?
How she loves you. All you've imagined, fits so well into her plan.

And it takes a lot of nerve to ask her how she is doin'.
Start with a weak foundation, you may end in ruin.
The way the days and hours pass you'll never understand,
she's falling like rain through your hands.

Song name, band, album and songwriter.

OPP Week 6

There once was a girl named Megan.
She's a little bit of a pagan.
We met in Manhattan,
where everything happens,
our friendship was destined for greatness.

Megan loves to take pictures.
Megan loves to read scriptures. (it rhymed)
She lives in the hood,
but she thinks it's all good,
And we hope that next year she'll be richer. (28K, really?)

Megan sometimes likes to be fancy.
She made out with my roommate Yancy.
She loves to rock out,
and occassionally shout
when she gets dragged into a fountain against her will and gets all wet.

K, so that last part didn't so much rhyme. Sue me. On to Wandering. Ben Folds has been a favorite songwriter of mine for many years. I like Wandering because it reminds me of how I usually fall for girls. "You told me you can't match your clothes..." I'm a sucker for goofiness. If I think a girl is cute and then she says or does something completely odd I start to swoon. Does that mean I'm attracted to wierdness? I guess so. Anyway, I think it's cause it's genuine. I like to see moments of pure, unadulterated personality; particularly, goofy moments of it. I also like the refrain on "Remember that?". It's typically something you say when remembering something fondly, but Ben uses it to create moody discontent. I highly recommend the song to all. There's some great moments early in the song I didn't quote, so check it out.

Megan and I were chatting this week and she mentioned how easy it was to Google it up and find out the answers. So I mentioned that I'd be making it a little more difficult this week. Good luck Googling this one kids. Actually, you might be able to, who knows?

The red couch holds us still as stones
Gazing into each other's bones
Save my words for another day
Talk is cheap but your eyes they say,

'Love, wait for me and I'll wait for you.
I've got to sail away,
but I hope the wind will blow me back to you.
I want you to say that you would catch a million stars
if I asked you to.'

Take your time, sweet sweet smile
Blow across those lips for miles
Time enough to breathe you in
For just one night, let me win

'Love, wait for me and I'll wait for you.
I've got to sail away,
but I hope the wind will blow me back to you.
I want you to say that you would catch a million stars
if I asked you to.'

OPP Week 5

Colleen likes pirates,
and she's quite the saucy wench.
Some would say a vile strumpet,
but she never sits the bench.

She rocks to the limit
Check it out she's to the limit
I say come on now Fhugagagdz!

Sorry it took more than a couple weeks to get a new post up, but I've been pretty busy. Anyway, Millstone is one of my favorite songs on Brand New's The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me. I don't suppose the lyrics need much explanation, as they're pretty straight forward, but I will tell you about a conversation I had with Jesse, the guitarist/lead singer while they were in tracking the album at Avatar this summer.

He comes from a very strict Catholic upbringing and asked me a great deal about growing up in a Mormon home. He told me he wanted this album to be about how a belief in God develops as you discover and grow into yourself. He said it much better than I can remember or convey. He said he tried damn hard to not believe in God anymore. But that he knew and couldn't not know that God was real and he couldn't replace Faith. So he had to grow into it. He had to deal with his guilt. And I relate to that. So, new stuff right?

Remember sitting on your car that night?
Clouds rolled out unveiling lights around the bay
and you told me all those things...
Remember that? You told me you can't match your clothes.
Remember that? I confess I went all out sometimes in tryin
And we sat and didn't talk for half an hour...

Remember that, alone. 'Cause I won't remember any more.

The artist and lyricist on this one are different people, but they used to be in a band together. Must name both.

OPP Week 4

Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona
Such a fine sight to see
It's my awesome friend
by the name of Jen
And she's soon gonna get to see me

Jen is radness,
laced with madness...
She's way to cool for school,
just the way she planned it.

Ok, so I kinda stole that one. But alas. It's Jen, and she's pretty much too cool for words. So I'll leave it at that. So everybody put your best suit or dress on, let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once. I love to wear a tuxedo. It's the whole "classier than I actually am" feeling. I'm pretty sure girls like that feeling too. Perhaps that makes me kinda girly. Oh well, I'm over it. "Lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn as 30 dialogues bleed into one." Well, I don't really relate to the whole firecracker bit (being from Arizona where they're illegal and all), but I do remember my Uncle Larry (a fire inspector in Tempe) comeing over to demo all the confiscated ones in our back yard one year... that was pretty cool. The "30 dialogues" bit is pretty cool as a sound designer. I listened for that sound this year, the several conversations evolving into a countdown and a "Happy New Year!" It's a pretty cool thing to listen to.

So, something new, right? Ok.

I used to be such a burning example,
I used to be so original.
I used to care, I was being cared for,
made sure I showed it to those that I love.

I used to sleep without a single stir,
'Cause I was about my father's work.

Take me out tonight,
The ship of fools I'm on will sink.
Hung my own stone around my neck,
be my breath, there's nothing I wouldn't give.

I used to pray and God was listening.
I used to make my parents proud.
I was the glue that kept my friends together,
Now they don't talk and we don't go out.

I used to know the name of every person I kissed.
Now I made this bed and I can't fall asleep in it.

OPP Week 3

Adam, I anticipate you winning pretty regularly. That said, I offer on this first of what will surely be your many wins, a haiku, which form of poetry I know you are particularly fond of...

Is there one so rad
as Adam, Lord of the Rhyme?
Methinks it not so.

If I was an honest man I would stop writing songs... Music is a tough thing to be passionate about. You long to be able to express truth in words and notes, and you rarely capture it with the magic that makes it a good song. I can't count the times I've given up on something I'd started feeling like it ain't nothin but a confusing mess.

I'd make a conscious effort to live instead
of trying to kill the monsters that reside underneath the bed. I legitimately believe that if we would just be able to get past our issues with our dads (or what-hav-you) and really forget our past mistakes and difficulties, we would all be happier people. I'd find a way to put my faith into a woman that could take me from today. Still looking.

And if I was Santa Claus, I'd fight for the cause,
wouldn't expect nothing in return.
I'd give you everything you want, I'd be everything you need,
you could take my hand and I could take the lead.

Here's a super easy one to kick off a new year:

So everybody put your best suit or dress on.
Let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once,
lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn,
as 30 dialogues bleed into one.
I wish the world was flat like the old days,
then I could travel just by folding the map.
No more airplanes or speed trains or freeways,
there'd be no distance that could hold us back...

Remember the Artist, Title, Album, and the songwriter's name.

OPP Week 2

Mary, Mary, not a touch contrary...
unless fun at her you poke.
Then she'll chew off your face,
with style and grace,
whilst downing her diet coke.
Of ladies, I'm aware
of none who compare,
with talent and wit replete.
Mary, I feel, is the very real deal;
a stunner, a woman complete.

Congrats again Mary. Seriously, you rock. The Winds That Blow was the first song on Phantom Moon that floored me. The imagery of the moon as a window for the stars was assaultingly beautiful alone, but followed with such a haunting phrase as "to some Summer noon, where our Ghosts still move" it was downright arresting. The second part reminds me of my mission and my feelings about the very real, working relationship with the Holy Ghost I experienced in that effort. I can relate every word to that feeling.

You were my soul in my silence. I remember distinctly feeling the Holy Ghost working through me when I wasn't speaking. It was almost always in quiet moments that I recieved inspiration. You were my hope, my likeness. The Lord was my anchor. The hope of my salvation and that of every person I was teaching. The Spirit did more to transform me into His likeness than anything I could have done. The more we let that influence permeate our lives the more we will recieve his image in our countenances. You were the sword at my side through all the winds that blow. This reflects a very real feeling I had about the Spirit as my defense in difficulty. I was not only protected, but able to stave off the advesary when worthy to walk with the Holy Ghost. "The sword of the Spirit" as it were.

OK, a new week and a new verse. In honor of Christmas... (Adam should get this in seconds)

If I was an honest man, I would stop writing songs
I'd break for a nervous breakdown for breakfast,
tell everyone I knew to stay away from making music;
ain't nothing but a confusing mess.
And if I was you, I wouldn't hear a word I said.
Wouldn't trust nothing to start it up inside my head.
I'd make a conscious effort to live instead
of trying to kill the monsters that reside underneath the bed
And if I was a hurt man, I'd find a way to put my faith
into a woman that could take me from today.
Maybe I need somebody that could save me
from the parts of myself that keep making me crazy

And if I was Santa Claus, I'd fight for the cause,
wouldn't expect nothing in return.
I'd give you everything you want, I'd be everything you need,
you could take my hand and I could take the lead.