WEEK 38: The Holiday Song

Happy Holidays you little devils you!

This week was a no-brainer -- one of the first songs I ever wrote, EVER, was a holiday song. I must have been around 17 when I wrote this thing!!

The demo is a little embarrassing, but this live version is way better. It's a relaxed and casual performance from December 15th, 2005, recorded at Niagara Bar in Manhattan.

Here are the lyrics:

Merry Christmas, Hanukah
Hope you had a fun year
Happy new years everyone
Look back and laugh and cry your tears

For the next few years will be much more fun
Hugs and chocolates for everyone
Songs and sorbets get in line
ONE AT A TIME IN AN ORDERLY FASHION

Happy holidays my friends
Hope you like your presents
If you don't, I'll try again
Next year things will be different

For the next few years will be more organized
Time to relax and think about our lives
Chances to take and cakes to bake
And a holiday song with no mistakes

Merry xmas, hanukah
Hope you liked my little song thing
More to come if you wanna
Hear me proudly badly sing


The first handful of songs I wrote always contained some lyric about the fact that I am singing a song. It was just so bizarre and strange to me that I wrote songs, I had to point it out!

Download it here.


Or preview it here:





-Jordan

WEEK 37: My Eyes In My Hands

Hey Mp3 of the Week-o's!

This week's entry is a weird demo of a weird song I wrote years ago called "My Eyes In My Hands." It was based on an instrumental I made, which I may put up in the coming weeks!

This demo is unfinished, I rewrote the song a bit after recording. I always forget that this song exists. But I think it could be pretty cool with a full band. IT JUST. MIGHT. WORK.

Here are the lyrics.

My eyes in my hands
Not part of my plan
My hands in your hands
My eyes in your hands

My eyes in your hands, ahhh ahhh ahhhhhhhh
My eyes my. My eyes my.

You think you know me?
Well you don't know me!
Just cause you have got
My eyes in your hands!
My eyes in your hands, ahhh ahhh ahhhhhhhh
My eyes my. My eyes my.

Give me another try.

My eyes in my hands
So glad to have them
My eyes in my hands
A birthday present

Happy birthday for me!
My eyes my. My eyes my.


The recording was done very late at night, so it's another quiet subdued demo. In actuality this song would have to be played very intense and loud.

Download it HERE!!


Or preview it here:





- Jordan

WEEK 36: Diagonal Crossing (live)

Hey everyone!

I took a bit of a Thanksgiving/Birthday break from MP3-OF-THE-WEEK (OK you got me, I forgot to update this), but I have a fun treat for y'all now.

This is a live performance of a weird fun song I wrote called "Diagonal Crossing." It's about crossing the street diagonally (duh) and how you feel like a total bad ass doing it.

Here are the lyrics.

Never mind the traffic laws
I don't buy them at all
I'm on top and everything is pushing to get out

Diagonal crossing

People think that I'm insane
They're just way too tame
Spitting on the face of death with every single step

Diagonal crossing

Old lady waiting for the walk signal grimaces in the sun
Her diagonal days are over
But mine have just begun!

Up and down and left and right
Cross the street, hope to die
Agony to me is walking 90 degrees

Diagonal crossing!


I'm pretty happy with the dia-agony pun there.

This performance is from a live party I played in 2004. This was a damn fun show with a lot of short songs and energy and no mic.

Here it is!

Download it here!

Or preview it:





-Jordan

WEEK 35: Funky Frankfurters by Special Friends (live)

Still no luck on the tooth front. Oh well. On to other things:

This week's mp3 is fucking crazy!

Basically, me and my friend Matt, as our weird on again off again comedy band "Special Friends", played the Sidewalk Cafe open mic in 2002. It was packed. I went on stage and said I found a man named "Mr. Supper" to play a song with me, and we did our amazing song "Funky Frankfurters." Matt Koff on lead vocals, and me on guitar. These are the lyrics:

Hey bitch, don't touch my franks
They're mine, not yours
Hey bitch if you touch my franks
I'll show you the door

DON'T TOUCH MY FRANKS (FUNK FUNK FUNKY FRANKFURTERS)
DON'T TOUCH MY FRANKS (FUNK FUNK FUNKY FRANKFURTERS)



You get the idea. Matt went up there with a big wooden spoon and banged in a pot. It was pretty fun, and you could hear how much fun we were having up there. The audience seemed to HATE US. And we weren't sure why. Our main goal was to be as energetic and fun as possible at a really low key and slow open mic. Everyone sitting there looked angry at us.

We found out later there was some mix up, and Moldy Peaches' girl Kimya Dawson was announced to go on, but for some reason we went up instead (we don't know if it was our mix up or someone else's mix up), and I think people were angry they had to wait 3 minutes to see Kimya Dawson. You can hear in the mp3, the open mic MC says, "right now let's welcome Kimya, FINALLY, to the stage." Some people in the audience gave us a good cheer but if you were there you would have felt the bad vibes.

I left some of her performance on the mp3 to show what people wanted to hear instead of us.

On another note, a guy came up to us after and said he thought it would have been a funnier song if we sang "hey bitch don't touch my FRIENDS, they're mine, not yours." But that's completely missing the whole point. We think it is a lot funnier for a weird character to be angry and overprotective of his frankfurters, rather than a dumb misogynist song about some girl fucking your friends.



Enjoy!!!


Download it here!!!



Or preview the madness here:




-Jordan

WEEK 34: My Fillings Hurt

Ouch. Having a lot of dental issues lately. Just had a root canal. Awful.

This is an instrumental I made in 2005 when I got fillings put in. It's called "My Fillings Hurt." I haven't listened to this in years but it seems pretty appropriate right now.


CLICK HERE to download.


Or preview it here:





-Jordan

WEEK 33: Halloween

Heeeeey!

So it's Halloween. SAY WHAT. My band Trouble's Afoot does a song called "Halloween."

I think you see where this is going.

Our version of that song is over at my website jordancooperlalala.com, but for your enjoyment I am going to post the embarrassing and crappy demo I made for the song many, many years ago. Another pre-tonsillectomy vocal performance where I sound all stuffed up.

Here are the lyrics:
Halloween's my favorite holiday
Everyone listens to what I have to say
Everything seems to go my way
On Halloween

When I see a Halloween cupcake
I get a jack-o-lantern smile across my face
Even though I don't like the taste
The very idea is just so great.

I can't recognize my best friend
I don't know what room he's in
He's not acting like he usually is

He's smiling under his skin
Halloween feelings may not last long
Before Thanksgiving they're already gone.


Download the demo here!


Or preview it:





-Jordan

WEEK 32: RISK! Theme - Country

Hi everyone!

So this week's mp3 is one of the theme songs I did for the podcast RISK!, hosted by Kevin Allison (The State.) They used this song in the 2nd episode, along with some other instrumentals of mine. This is very awesome of them. I am excited. I've made 4 theme songs so far.

Check out the RISK website here: www.risk-show.com

This was actually one of the first recordings I've made with my new mac. I haven't made any music in a really long time due to changing computers, moving, etc, etc. I really like how nice my acoustic guitar sounds in this.


So here it is, RISK!, the country theme song:

DOWNLOAD IT!


Or preview it:

WEEK 31: Punch in the Mouth (Demo)

Heeey!



Boy am I late for this week's mp3. I'll have to add another one in only a couple of days to get back on track.

This MP3 is one of my favorites, a demo of a song called "Punch in the Mouth." I have very few fully worked out song demos, because they're very hard to make. They take me forever. This one came out pretty cool, though.

The song is entirely based on the first time I had to break up with somebody. The lyrics are basically putting across the guilty feelings I had. These are definitely some of my favorite lyrics. I really nailed the essence of the guilty feelings without being too specific or pitiful in the lyrics, I think.. Here ya go.

You lent me everything that belonged to you
Now it's all smashed and broken
Can I make it up to you?

When the sun comes out it's a punch in the mouth
If you don't believe me, stay still so I can punch your mouth

Falling in love's the worst thing anyone can do
You might as well just kill yourself before it happens to you

When the sun comes out it's a punch in the mouth
Just to prove my point let me punch you in the mouth

Hahahahahahahaha
Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey
No no no no no no no

After you left the room we made fun of you
I would feel better knowing that you made fun of me to

When the sun comes out it's a punch in the mouth
If you don't believe me stay still so I can punch your mouth
When the sun comes out it's a punch in the mouth
If you don't believe me...
Stay still.


I really did feel horrible about it, and the memories of the long and painful break up talk still bother me.

Anyway, the demo: I love the bass line, which is probably the 10th one I tried. It's really fun and bouncy and melodic. My friend Daniel helped me a lot in mixing the song, making sure things didn't clash into each other. The fake electric guitars, harmonies, all that stuff. It's maybe a little too tinny sounding. The acoustic guitar is EQ'd so thin that it sounds more like an egg shaker or something. But ANYWAY, I like it.


DOWNLOAD IT HERE!


Or preview it:




- Jordan

WEEK 30: Crashing the Ball (live)

This is a really crazy song. It's probably my most complex musically...so complex I haven't played it in years because I worry I'll screw up. And it's very, very hard to sing! No home recording of this song exists, so here is a live version, from a party I played on September 25th, 2004.

The lyrics aren't my best or anything...it's basically about a homeless guy crashing a fancy ball. Yay? Here they are.

Millions of you reflected in a chandelier
And every mind will wonder what you're doing here
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

Crashing the ball you wanted to go but you're not invited
So you'll just drop in and drop to the floor

What a disgrace to have such a dirty face
Bring in a can of air freshener and a can of mace

chorus

You've got a beard so you don't need a mask
Pouring champagne into your silver flask

Crashing the ball you wanted to go but you're not invited
So you'll just drop in and drop to the floor
You'll stain the floor
You'll break the floor.


So yes. I love this song, mainly for the melody and music (OK, and the beard line.) But damn it's tough, especially that bridge. Hope you enjoy it. Who knows what the future holds for this one.

Download it here!

Or:

Preview it here!


-Jordan

WEEK 29: In The Dumps (live)

Keeping the theme of songs-I've-only-played-live-once going, and keeping with the theme of life being horrible, here is an mp3 of a song I wrote called "In The Dumps."

This is definitely a rare one...I only played it once, and at this show (Sidewalk Cafe, 2005) only 4 of my friends showed up. Something you'll hear at this legendary show is that there was a big group of people talking really loud, right under the stage. They were destroying my self esteem for the first half of the set, and you can hear in my voice how blown away I was by people being so rude, most notably in the beginning of the mp3 :
"Next song is called 'In The Dumps'....yeah....GRRRRR"

I sound so exhausted and defeated because of those people. And the "GRRRR" was directed at them. Maybe next week I'll post the song I made up on the spot about them.

So anyway, this song is pretty simple and basically from the point of view of someone dumping someone. Like many of my songs, it's inspired by stomach sickness and nervousness. Here are the lyrics, which in my opinion are just...OK. The song is more about the rhythm and intensity in the music and singing, that's for sure.

Hey hey, I don't know what
They say, but I know that
You and I are out of luck
For once I'm not stupid
You must not believe it
I know how these things end up

In the dumps, out the door
Under carpets on the floor
Don't think we're growing we've stopped.
And I'm not going to pick you up.

Last time that we met up
Got sick, almost threw up
I lied, said it was the food
I just get so nervous
Don't know how to do this
Don't know how to say we're through

(Chorus)

Sorry sorry sorry I can't give advice
Sorry sorry sorry I can't paint it nice
Sorry sorry sorry I'm sorry sorry sorry tonight

Next time you'll do better
Meet someone who's nicer
You'll have oh so much to say
Tell me now you're happy
Tell me you were crazy
To be with someone like me
OH YOU KNOW RIGHT NOW WE'RE

(chorus)

And I'm not going to pick you up from work.

That's a lot of "sorry"s in one song.

My relationship was doing OK when I wrote that song, but I think I was picking up on signals from my girlfriend and maybe wrote this song from her point of view. I wrote a lot of songs about her breaking up with me in the last few months of our relationship, yet if you were to ask me I would have honestly said we were doing great. Very subconscious, all of this stuff.


DOWNLOAD IT HERE!



Or preview it:





Hope ya like it,

Jordan