Hey! This is a crazy super rare thing that nobody has ever heard. This is a demo of an old song of mine called "Bowtie Guy", about an annoying guy me and my friends saw at a party one time. There are a lot of different versions of this song, including a really, really rough and early demo that I am too embarrassed to put up. But... This demo was made around 2005 to show a drummer and bassist what they should be playing for the song. So this is a very stripped down recording - just acoustic guitar, fake bass, fake drums., with the rhythm section cranked way up in volume. Unfortunately, there WAS a ton of other stuff originally on this recording, tons of electric guitars, accordion, keyboard, even 4 guitar solos by my friend and bassist Dave Fox...but all of it got lost when my old computer crashed years ago. So the only thing that exists from that incredibly time consuming demo is this early, stripped down version. As you can hear the bass part is really elaborate and the drums are really specific. I had big plans for this song. But I must have had second thoughts and I don't think I even ever let them hear this MP3. But now you can! Preview the song here:
This week's/month's/year's MP3 is a really wacky song from 2005 that I made for my friend Matt Koff's old comedy blog, Word Du Jour (sadly no longer existing on the internet.)
On the blog he taught you a new word every day and then used them in funny sentences. I offered to do some musical word lessons for him. I ended up doing 3 in total. Here's one of them!
I think I shocked him because he thought he was going to get a 10 second thing and this is basically a complete song, with a full band arrangement and even singing back up girls (which are all me.)
"Bombinate" means to hum, so knowing that, here are the surprisingly dark lyrics:
BOMBINATE, BABY!
I bombinate on the way to work (ooh, I bombinate) I bombinate in the bathroom stall (ooh, I bombinate) I bombinate in the journey home (ooh, I bombinate) THEN I BOMBINATE ALL NIGHT LONG! (wow!)
(humming)
I bombinate in the dentist chair (ooh, I bombinate) I bombinate on the garage floor (ooh, I bombinate) I bombinate inside a plastic bag (ooh, I bombinate) LET ME BOMBINATE JUST ONCE MORE! (WOW!!!)
Where did I go all month? Sorry, music things got very very busy, which is a good thing.
This is one of my favorite demos, and it's a song that I have never (? I think) played live. I have no idea if anything will ever become of this song. I can never remember all the lyrics so performing it live stresses me out.
I really like it though...it's way fun. It just needs a real chorus. The demo production is pretty simple...acoustic guitar, fake electric guitars, a bouncy fake bass line (that basically makes the whole song) and obviously fake guitars. The drum beat messes up and loses time once in a while but hopefully that isn't too noticeable. The entire song was based on a little instrumental I made once, which may be interesting to put up some time to compare it to!
The song is based in part on the X-Files episode "Home."
Can't you read the brown paper sign? No one is allowed inside All these years and still they hide Giving up but doing fine
You make money you do alright But you must be very bored tonight Walk away back to your life Don't ignore the paper sign
Whenever will they go People wanna know
Neighbors come and neighbors go But these folk haven't left their home If you go near they disappear Ring the bell they run like Hell
From the window they peak at you A cracked broken and dusty view Wandering around their yard Wondering what left them scarred
In your car you'll drive away Maybe visit some other day The radio blaring loud As they watch you pulling out
Everyone dropping by all the time No wonder they'd rather stay inside That must be the reason why They put up the brown paper sign.
This week's song is a real rarity. I've only played it live...twice? And like 5 years ago.
In early 2005, I had a subconscious sense that my girlfriend of 2 years was about to break up with me. I didn't even want to realize it, but it was coming out in all of the songs I was writing.
In February 2005 I debuted "I Know How To Cry", with her in the audience. A week later she dumped me. And right on Valentines Day too, isn't that nice? Here is a version from later that year, in December (keep listening to the MP3 to hear a joke at the end about the whole debacle.)
Technically this is a really complicated song, and I'm pretty damn proud of my vocal range and performance in this MP3. So hey!
The song is pretty clear. It's about being able to withstand so much pain because you've done it 100 times before. Unfortunately this song just keeps getting more and more relevant. Here are the lyrics. I think the line that tears me up the most is the last verse. Love is when you're smiling and for a brief second you're not thinking about WHY.
Where once you said you love me Now you say "that's enough" Where once we'd go to celebrate Now we walk by and let out a cough
A million things were said that never meant not a thing
A lot has changed But that's OK If another one gets away I'm fine this time Cause I know how to cry I know how to cry
There's a lot of real anxieties Just hanging out by your side And they may make you nervous They may make you wonder why
A girl once through the haze of love would ever want to stay
chorus
Cry all night And then again in the morning In between yawning
For a long time I would smile And I wouldn't even know why For a long time you'd be smiling and you wouldn't even know why
This week's MP3 is a song I wrote called "April Fools (Was Yesterday)", and sung by the lovely Yoko Kikuchi. It is part of an ongoing project called Sally, where a female vocalist sings my sad or happy love songs. I play guitar and sing back ups ("oh no.") This recording is from 2005.
This song, and all the Sally songs, are fairly direct: It's a break up song. Here are the happy lyrics! My favorite line is "Let me down gently, but it's still gonna kill me." Ouch.
You say you love me But you're breaking up with me (oh no) You look so happy But you're breaking up with me (oh no)
I don't know what to say except that April Fools was yesterday
I made you happy Now you can't even stand me (oh no) Let me down gently But it's still gonna kill me (oh no)
I don't know what to say except that April Fools was yesterday Unless I'm wrong and it's today Let me be wrong, don't go away Let me be wrong And please say that we're OK
Holding you tightly But I'm feeling you squirming (oh no) Missing you nightly God my stomach is hurting (oh no)
I am honestly quite shocked that I haven't put this up yet as an MP3 of the Week.
A few years ago I started a fake soundtrack to an imaginary videogame I made up called "Crime Streets."
The game would be a Double Dragon-type beat-em-up. Nintendo. Or an arcade. Whatever. I've made a small handful of MP3s to cover the first few levels, the start menu, the Big Boss battle, etc. The concept is that as you listen to the music, it makes you REALLY want to play this game. Visualize it in your head. Smile.
Although it may sound quaint and funny, I am so incredibly proud of these pieces of music. They are some of my best arrangements and I've worked as hard on these as anything else I've done. I plan on putting a lot more Crime Streets score on this blog, so keep checking back!
Anyway, enough of the talking. Let's play some CRIME STREETS! Level 1: CRIME IN THE STREETS.
This week's MP3 is a full length rocking instrumental from 2005 called "No Show."
I called it that because for the first time ever I had to cancel a show because I got sick. I stayed home that night and made this.
I've always liked this a lot, it's just really fun and and I'm definitely outside of my comfort zone with the guitar soloing. The ending wasn't really figured out, but hey, whateva woiks?
This week's MP3 is a live recording of a rare piano song, called "Honest Guy." It may be better if I don't ramble on about what it's about. Here are the lyrics:
The thing to know Is I won't go I've been mean I've been obscene
I'd like to say How I've done wrong But you won't let Me on your lawn
I've carried so so much pain I let it out It looks insane
Well I've lived here All my life I've always been an honest guy
I've never been an honest guy So of course I was put on trial
The thing to know Is I won't go This is my home This is my home.
I really like this song. I should make a nice recording of it one day. But until then, this is from a 2005 performance at the Sidewalk Cafe on Avenue A.
This week's MP3 is a cool ambient-like instrumental from 2005 called "We Dream."
Now I don't exactly remember MAKING it, but these are things I like about it as a listener:
I like the dissolving drum beat echo that pans the stereo field and gets more and more lo-fi.
Since I can make a lot of music that is hyper, tense, and upbeat, I like that I have the ability to do some dreamy atmospheric "chill" music. As in, music to totally "chill" to.
I like things that are about late at night and sound like they were made late at night.
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.
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.
Hello! This is the first mp3 of the week from MY NEW HOUSE THAT I LIVE IN. I moved two neighborhoods over to Rego Park. First time I've ever moved in my life. FREAKY.
I had a nightmare about stepping on baby turtles and squashing them (a friend of mine was doing it, not me, and I was screaming for him to stop), and outdoor toilets flooding everywhere. It was awful and disgusting!
On to the, ahem, Mp3 of the Week: This week I think it would be apropos to put up "All I Ever Wanted", a song I wrote about my fear of never moving out. I'm not super crazy about some of the lyrics, but the focus is more on the ROCK and the ROLL if ya know what I'm saying, kids. Here are the lyrics anyway. Note: The old lyrics were about a town flooding ("my block is flooded and drowned", but then Katrina happened, and I changed it ("My block is shakin' around"), but still kept the flooding motif at the end ("my block is drying out.") Whatever.
My block is shakin' around Ringed out, upside down Everyone but me falls out Halfway through that last song I felt so BAD and that's cause I...can't be trusted
When I was 9, and then when I was 15 and then when I was 18, and then when I was 19, and well
All I ever wanted was a chance, chance to get out of here
All I know comes through the phone All I own is this moan All I know is my home That's the doorknob that I hate That's the floor that hurts my feet When it's COLD. When it's COLD. When it's dusty and cold.
Back in the day when things wouldn't go my way I'd temporarily stay inside my room all day and well
All I ever wanted was a chance, chance to get out of here
AhhhhhAhhhhhh
My block is drying out Wrinkled up and flattened down Everyone but me feels proud
It's bigger than you and it's bigger than me (x4) And that's what they say when you can't speak up for yourself
There is a full band version on my website, www.jordancooperlalala.com (check it out!!!!!!!!), but here it is in all of it's solo show glory, possibly it's very first performance (which I'm basing on the fact of how slow I'm playing it), from a show at the Sidewalk Cafe on 2/2/05 :
At the end of the mp3 you can hear me tell the audience "I don't have too many moody songs like that, so that's my one moody song," then my friend Yoko proclaims with enthusiasm, "I liked that one." This whole show was very moody, as my girlfriend (who was in the audience) was slowly breaking up with me at the time (three cheers for that!) Just like last week's was clearly They Might Be Giants inspired, I feel like this one is obviously Violent Femmes inspired.
Maybe next week I'll put up the instrumental I made that inspired the song! Ah? AH?!? WOULD YA LIKE THAT BOYS AND GIRLS??
