Extra drowsy Formula

One day, years ago, I was sad and I wrote a sad song at three in the morning. It was one of those times where you write a song while bathing in self-pity at, as I said, three in the morning, and you’re all i’m really pouring my heart out and this is so meaningful and then in the cold light of the next day you look at it and you’re all wow, this is so awful and embarrassing.

(Stephen Merritt says, “Never try to write a song when you’re actually feeling the emotion.”)

Anyway, this is not that song.

That day — the day after, that is — after looking at and listening to and being horrified by what I had done the night before, I decided to write another sad song, but this time I made it as upbeat and happy as I could. That’s this song.

Now, years later, I’ve finally gotten around to making a halfway-decent recording, so, um, here you are.  It’s called “My Favorite Sunbeam’s Gone Away.”

Tech specs: Autoharp, Alesis Micron, Boss DR-202 Dr. Groove & HC-2 clap machine, and a couple of cheap cymbals. The tremoloa and a small plastic harmonica make cameo appearances.

“The Ghost of Christmas Subjunctive Pluperfect” is a Christmas song — well, actually, it’s a post-Christmas song and should be listened to in January, exclusively.

This was my entry into the Metafilter “Holiday Song” challenge and is my first seasonal song ever.

I tried to sort of make everything into a big fuzzy mess this time, rather that have everthing really seperate and clear.  There’s two autoharp tracks, one flanged and one thrumming steady quarter-notes on the bass strings. There’s marimba, of course, along with some other percussion, including a Kinder egg shell filled with rice, (briefly) sleigh bells, and a match being lit.

There’s the Mopho synth, some Micron organ, and, on the chorus, my “new” Piano Mandolette, which stays in tune for minutes at a time. Oh, and a harmonica!

“Slide Your Left Hand to the Right (A Little)” features bgm playing the ukelele and my wife singing.  I play the Casio SK-5, melodica, and some percussion (vibraslap!).  My wife is not happy with her vocals so we may try replacing them in the future.

Oh, it’s been awhile since I’ve remembered to post.  Here is a song called “Say When” which is a nice sort of summery song.  It’s hardly bitter at all, which is a nice change!  If I was releasing singles, this might be the first one.

The Autoharp has masking tape across the strings. The drum machine is the “hip hop” StreetBoxx, which is a very poor drum machine — it does not seem to be sync-able — but it’s okay as a sound source if something else is running it. I think all the keys are the Alesis Micron, except for the piano, which is a piano. My wife supplies the oohs and uh-huhs.