WEEK 99: Fool With Bookbag On (Demo)

Hey kids!

I'm never sure if the title of this should be "Fool With Bookbag On" or "Fool With A Bookbag On"

ANYWAY...This is one of my favorite (unheard) songs of mine, a very sad (funny though, to me) song about a kid waiting to be picked up from elementary school and thinking (correctly?) that no one is ever coming. This was a pretty common fear after school back in the day for me, and I think for others as well. 

I'm considering putting a version of this song similar to this on my first album, but I'm not sure if it will slow things down too much. I really do like it though. I am also not sure whether to repeat the chorus at the end or not. I mean, usually you do in a song, but I really like the song ending suddenly with that last scary line. WHAT TO DO?!?

Here are the lyrics:

No one is here to pick me up today
And no one, no one ever will
Every boy and girl is being taken away
With loving arms and big cars

Stood like a fool with bookbag on
The afternoon is almost gone

Everyone is double, triple parked
A honk let's them know which one
I will be here forever
I will be the last one

Stood like a fool with bookbag on
The afternoon is almost gone

The streets are starting to clear out
The fuss is giving way to calm
Crying, I'm going to give up
I'll get in the next car that stops


DOWNLOAD THE SONG BY RIGHT-CLICKING THIS SENTENCE!


Or preview it:

 


-Jordan

WEEK 95: I See A Mountain (Demo)

Hey again!

This is kind of an embarrassing demo from 2007, but it's one of my favorite songs I've written. It's a touch sentimental, kind of purposefully and blatantly so, but it's not bad to have a few songs like that, to contrast with your 100 coldhearted cynical songs.

This song is based on a road trip I took with my friend Matt, when we went to see The Rheostatics in Canada. It's just about the freeing feeling of getting the hell out of New York City, and the "joke" is that it was really only like 45 minutes of driving till we were upstate and saw a mountain. It's so close yet so far. I also threw in some allusions to being at a stuffy office job, to help hammer the contrast home.

The bridge is meant to have a somewhat sexual double meaning, hopefully it's not too gross. I think a possible other interpretation for this song could also be about finding...love....Yep I told you it's sentimental. When I wrote this I was painfully single and basically no matter what kind of song I was writing, those feelings would creep in without me knowing it. Anyway, I'm really proud of the line "3 day weekend, forever smile." I feel like that could be a state motto or a slogan for a tourist destination. But it's really sincere, I still smile about that 3 day weekend.

OH one more thing about the lyrics, the first line refers to stolen food. It's cause I did steal a bunch of food for the trip. At a temp job I was working at that week, I grabbed tons of snacks and threw them in my car. Hehehe.

As for the recording, it's an ultra late night low quality awkward demo. It's the first time I ever tried singing the song so my timing is off and I don't quite know the melody yet. So please listen with that in mind. Or don't listen. I think this song would rock with a full band.  Imagine it more confident, with electric guitars and organ and stuff. The problem is it's very similar rhythmically to another song of mine, more than I'm comfortable with.

Here are the lyrics:

We've got all our stolen food stowed away
Stashed in the dash and crushed by our feet
Get some gas but not too much
Just enough for a running start

I see a mountain once the traffic is gone
I see a mountain with shuffle mode on
I see a mountain
So let's climb on

This ain't a joke I've never seen one before
Just in posters hanging on the office door
Just on TV where some character escapes
Just in dreams when I can barely stay awake

Now all you mountains, better open wide
Cause I'm comin' right inside
I'm thinkin' I might stay awhile
3 day weekend, forever smile

Hills on the highway make the road fade in
Such a strange image, like special effects
I'm so enthusiastic, you can't even tell
Never been able to express these feelings well

I see a mountain, I see a mountain
It was only 45 minutes away


Download the song by right-clicking here!

Or preview it:

 


See you soon!

-Jordan

WEEK 90: Puddle Struggle

Hey! 

I'm going to try to update this more regularly.

This MP3 is an instrumental from April 9th, 2007. It's a dark somber piece and based on the title I kind of imagine someone falling in a puddle and thrashing around in slow motion melodramatically, trying to get back up.

I really, really love the music swell that happens starting at around 15 seconds. I think if this was a real orchestra and real cellos it would be quite beautiful.

Hope you enjoy!

DOWNLOAD IT BY CLICKING 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 3: Czar (live May 2007)

Hello again! So after talking to some friends, I have decided to have both the "preview" of the mp3, and the downloadable link available. THIS will start next week, because the flash player, for some reason, does not like this mp3. I have discussed this with DIVshare. They have not helped me.

This week's mp3 is a live cover of "Czar" by Frank Black (off of his self titled debut solo album.) Frank Black songs can be incredibly hard to cover, due to his INTENSE vocal range and mind boggling chord progressions. And I also forgot the lyrics at 46 seconds. Oopsies. This was from a very, very, very small show I had at at a lesbian bar. It was a very relaxed show, which is why I ventured out on a limb to do a cover of a song I wasn't sure I knew how to play. The show took place on May 29th, 2007.

Download it here! (right click Save As, ya know?)

Come back next week! Who knoooows what the song will be!

-Jordan

WEEK 2: Already A Baby

Week 2!! This is exciting!

This week's mp3 is "Already A Baby." A short, cute (but strange) instrumental written March 13th, 2007. I don't remember what I was thinking when I made it, but I probably felt like I was being a baby. I still feel that way, often.

Download it here!

Come back next week! Hope you enjoyed it! Don't be a stranger! See ya in St.Louie, Screwy!

Also: Do you people also want the flash clickable thingy? I prefer to just have a file that you can save (and put on your ipod, etc), but let me know if you want me to ALSO have the flash player!

-Jordan