Josie
I got out to see the car's steering box, but the engine was nothing I'd ever seen.
Low, flat, and encased in aluminum --how it worked was beyond me.
The driver was someone's kid sister. We were at the gate of an estate road.
This song came on the radio --"Josie, let me tell you 'bout the world."
I remembered the song when I woke up. Fixing the car meant I was preparing the girl
to enter the world. I was about to tell her it was no piece of cake.
The estate was heaven and beyond it was the world.
So I finished the song.
Piyanut I wrote this some time ago, and added String Sizzler and Instant Steel Drum tracks, (on Silvertone guitar), looking for a bubbly sound I went with Irish bodhran -- a tuneable drum. Piyanut is a girl's name in Thailand. I bet Jane sounds strange to them.
Holdup-Lemonade These two songs are 'joined at the tape'. 'Holdup' is an outlaw justifying his career, sung to the Oahu lap steel guitar a friend of mine found while driving her 18-wheeler across Washington State. The Hawaiian Slack key guitarists were musical outlaws --they had no rules.
I composed 'Lemonade' while an old 'friend' and alcoholic was running me down. When I played it for another old friend she said, "Oh, you made lemonade!" Title and the lyrics, right there. John D'Albergeria plays drums.
Robin Hood Robin Hood fascinated me when I was growing up. He was a grown-up who lived in the woods and did have not drive to the city to go to work.
Fading Away I was being being shoved around so I tried to fade into another scene. I'd heard you could do this. I doubted it, but I was desperate. My tormentors caught on and tried to 'awaken' me. I bounced back and forth several times, Finally I imagined a hill of wavy grass, with the sea beyond, and boats --the scene filled in around me, and I was in it --just like that! Then I woke up and wrote about it. The chords are like nothing I usually pull out of my hat. Joe 'Klem' Klimek plays sax.
Leaving Wickford The Hussey Bridge claims to be the smallest suspension bridge in the world. I was invited to a church service in the village. Everyone had to donate lettuce upon entering-- I had none.
There was no service, only a picnic. When I tried to sit at a table, someone would say 'no there's an incomplete table setting' or some other excuse. At last I found a table where others milled about. They had been shooed from other tables. Our table was not perfect, either. But not everyone likes onions, and not everyone uses a fork.
I Wrote This Song Life in another small town was interrupted by drunks. It was no dream. . This song is for their king. I played it for No Shamus at practice and this is what we did.
Tsunami is the working title of this tune. I wrote it after seeing the videos of the waves. The haunting thing about the waves was they came out of nowhere in the middle of a clear blue sky. Most waves I know come with storms, where New Englanders dream of a tropical paradise.