WEEK 23: A.M. (Demo)

Hey Guise.

This Mp3 of the Week may be of interest to some. It's a long lost song called "A.M." I really don't think there's any human being on this planet who has heard this song. I wrote it in maybe 1999, or 2000, though this demo is from June, 2001 (the info I put in at the time says "old song, new recording.")

This was definitely one of the first songs I ever wrote, not just in general, but on guitar. The chords are all made up -- I didn't know what I was playing, I just put my fingers on strings to get interesting sounds, inspired by XTC's methods, probably. I'm still kinda proud of that, it's something I don't do much anymore.

This (EVERY PARAGRAPH STARTS WITH "THIS" AUGHH) is also one of my late night songs about late night stuff. It's basically describing (as poetic as my 17 year old brain could muster) the sounds I hear when I'm up late at night and can't fall asleep. I had sleep problems for a while in high school. Here are the lyrics, which I'm a bit embarrassed by:

It's yellow out the window, and out in the hall
The neon from the clock shines it on the wall
I think I'll let my arm drops, I think my hands will fall

The rain pellets on the roof, the toilet flushing next door
The squeek of the lock, to the footsteps towards their door
The footsteps of the rain, hear the clouds snore

The heartbeat of the pillow, the subtle movements in the mirror
The longer I can focus the shapes become clearer
The farther away the day goes, the more it gets nearer

I wish you were here to sing me to sleep
If I knew who you were I might be put at ease
I promise to dream of you, if you promise to dream of me.


That last verse was probably about my high school crush, or maybe I just threw it in there to make the song about something other than sights and sounds of my room, which seems to dominate a lot of my songs.

SHITTY STUFF: The track skips at one point. The singing is bad because I had big fat tonsils, and I also didn't know how to sing quiet, and I also wasn't sure what melody to sing over certain chords. That last verse makes me cringe a bit.

NICE STUFF: It's kind of a nice, atmospheric little tune, ain't it folks?


Download it here!!!


Or preview it:




-Jordan

WEEK 20: Don't Watch Too Much TV

Happy Sunday.

My 3 year old niece Scarlett has been visiting from Australia this week. She goes back in a few days. When she was born, I made an album for her called Scarlett Songs: Music For Babies, because I am a nice song uncle. There is a very small crappy webpage for it here: http://jordancooperlalala.com/scarlet.html



Album cover by James Jajac!

Three of the songs are available there, and here's another! "Don't Watch Too Much T.V.", a lesson song that I am a complete hypocrite for writing. The song actually existed years ago, around 2001, in a version titled "CPU", which I think I'm too embarrassed to put up, at least for the moment (requests?). The lyrics were kind of awkward and about spending too much time in front of the computer ("pale skin, square death." Blegh.) I played it live once in 2002 and forgot about it. But I always liked the riff and the bass notes under it changing the feel.

This NEW version is a pretty nifty recording, and with slightly less awkward lyrics. Basically trying to describe what T.V. must look like to a baby ("Bright light, square friend, zigs zag, shapes bend. People, places, pretty faces.") I try not to make my influences TOO obvious, but even I can admit the arrangement and sound of this song has a very They Might Be Giants feel. SO THERE IT IS. I SAID IT. I'm still proud of the arrangement though. Epic.

Download it heeeeeeere.


Or preview it hereeeeee:




- JAWDEN

WEEK 17: Prufrock's Theme

This mp3 is special to me. Special in the sense that there is a lengthy and complicated explanation behind it's existence! So buckle up, assholes!

My 2nd year student video project was a loose (emphasis on LOOSE) adaptation of the poem "The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot. It starred Sam Brown (of Whitest Kids U Know fame) in a quasi-serious role, the sensitive J. Alfred Prufrock, but mainly he was playing me. The movie was basically him and a friend going to a party, feeling ignored, lusting after a girl, having a bad time and leaving frustrated. Essentially what every party I ever went to was like for me. And a sort of dumb literal interpretation of the sequence of events that occur in the poem. I think. I haven't read it in a while.

The only music in the video was this, the opening theme as Sam/Prufrock put his tie on, shaved his unibrow and washed his face, preparing for the party.

Now where the music comes from is another story. In 1999, the high school days, I wrote a 27 MINUTE LONG SONG. A song about a girl I had a huge crush on, who had basically crushed my soul after going on a date (my first date ever) and then rejecting me.

Yes. 27 minutes. I didn't have it exactly down, it wasn't some epic masterpiece or anything, but I had pages and pages of lyrics and one night pressed "record" as I played a piano riff and sang the lyrics on top. To my shock and horror the resulting recording was 27 minutes long. I had no idea. I thought it was going to be 5 minutes at the most.

I threw out 26 minutes and kept 30 seconds for the Prufrock theme! The topic of the original high school song made it all the more emotional for me, as this music played under Prufrock/Sam/Me getting ready to have a bad time at a party. Everything came together.

I still may turn this into a real song one day. And I may put the movie online one day too. Enjoy the accordion and the odd percussion. Enjoy enjoy enjoy!


Download it heeeeere.


Or preview it:





-Jordan