Posts Tagged ‘ Everyone’s Invited Track List ’

Naked Time

November 9, 2008
By

Play the song here!

[tab:Lyrics]
Well, got to have a get-up to express just what I’m feeling myself
No goin’ through the closet full of hand-me-downs from somebody else
And I’m not goin’ shopping to indulge in any new fashion trend
They just come and go
But, indeed, I know
On what I can always depend

It’s naked time!
Take it all off and dance
It’s naked time!
Even your underpants
It’s naked time!

There’s nothing less expensive and it never ever goes out of style
And it’ll always fit me even if I don’t wear it for a while
Yeah, it’s with me forever and there’s nothing in which I look more cute
It’s my outfit prime
Don’t you know that I’m
Talking about my birthday suit

It’s naked time!
Take it all off and dance
It’s naked time!
Even your underpants
It’s naked time!

When you’ve got all your clothes off you’ll be lettin’ loose and feelin’ so free
Some do it all the time but even sometimes is a nice way to be
And if you really can’t, well, you can still pretend when you’re in the mood
Every gal and gent
And the President!
We can have a nude attitude

It’s naked time!
Take it all off and dance
It’s naked time!
Even your underpants

It’s naked time!
Take it all off and dance
It’s naked time!
Even your underpants
It’s naked time!
It’s naked time!
[tab:Story]
This song and the album it comes from were written using Appreciative Inquiry and Internal Family Systems. With IFS, we can talk about different parts of ourselves as if they are separate people. Hopefully that clarifies why these stories at times refer to he, she and we!

Years ago, I’d seen Dana Carvey talk about “naked time” in one of his stand-up routines. His little kids liked to be naked all day long, so they bargained with the kids, letting them have naked time for a bit of each evening. When that time would roll around, the kids would ask if it was time, and when it was, they’d strip down and cheer, “It’s naked time!” And he noted that it was wonderful how free they were.

Carvey’s routine stuck with me. Before I’d started any real work on the album, I’d had only one idea at all for it: naked time. I’d wanted the album to get across ideas about being who we really are, and I wanted to do that in a fun way, but I also knew that some of the ideas I’d wanted to get across in the album might be seen as a little provocative. I thought it would be good to combine the fun and the edginess, to sort of poke fun at the edginess itself and make it as innocent and safe as it really should be. A song about naked time seemed to fit the bill nicely.

Part of the goal for the album was to make songs that wouldn’t sound like typical kids’ songs but, instead, would sound like “regular” rock and pop songs. This is what would really help all ages to enjoy the songs together. With the baudy and fun notion of naked time, it seemed like a natural to set it to an upbeat rhythm and blues tune. Well before writing anything else for the album, I’d doodled on the piano and come up with the main horn riff that first appears at the very beginning of the song. So to the tiny little lyrical seed I had, the naked time idea itself, I now added a tiny little musical one.

When the first couple of songs were done, I felt like it was the moment to finally get down to naked time. I did an Appreciative Inquiry, and lots of fun lyrical ideas came out of it. For the music, I thought especially about classic, rock-y sorts of R&B sounds like Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, and the revivals given to their kinds of songs by The Blues Brothers and The Commitments. I remembered in particular the version of “Shake Your Tailfeather” done by Ray Charles with The Blues Brothers, thinking it had just the right upbeat kind of feel, not to mention that it had its own bit of edgy bodily fun in being about shaking one’s behind. Soon enough, the tune was fleshed out (no pun intended!) as well.

This would be the first of four songs in a row where the AI and writing weren’t consciously done with a particular part of me, but I had a sense that different parts were stepping up to the plate, so to speak, focusing on different and appropriate topics. Later, when it became clear that each part should have its own song, a part of me that’s very interested in taking care of business “claimed” this song. His appreciation of bold leadership went with the edginess of the song. It also resonated with him because of how the main idea of being who one really is was the main driving force behind the album project as a whole and tied very much to the choice to invest so much of myself in the album — and because it was something that he himself wanted to bring more of to his own seemingly opposite priority of getting down to business.

The next song written for Everyone's Invited was Whaddaya Say? (The Saga of Sam).

Share your own stories — of art or other things that have inspired you, of how you came to do something artistic or creative, of how the OHB’s songs have impacted you, whatever you like — at the Fan Clan.
[tab:Credits]
Written by and Circle P - Phonorecord Copyright&© 2008 Mark S. Meritt (BMI). All rights reserved.

Dianne Mucci – Vocals
MSM – Instruments

Produced, arranged, recorded and mixed by MSM in the basement in the village, Red Hook, NY, using a MacBook Pro, MOTU Digital Performer 5.13, Native Instruments Kontakt 3, Quantum Leap Colossus, and an M-Audio Keystation Pro 88.

Vocals recorded in the garage on the mountain, Bloomingburg, NY.

Release Date: November 11, 2008
Album: Everyone's Invited
Track Number: 1
Length: 2:55

Written: 3rd of the 12 songs for the album, starting January 18, 2008
Key: A
Arranged: 3rd, starting March 11, 2008
Vocals recorded 2nd, July 22, 2008
Mixed: 1st, starting September 8, 2008
[tab:Buy]

Naked Time — MP3 Single

Last modified on 1970-03-17 15:58:13 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

From the album Everyone's Invited

The OHB loves: CD Baby
Also available at these stores and more:

NapsterRhapsody

[tab:Donate]
I work hard on the songs and the site, giving away a lot of stuff for free. If I could make a living by making art, I could make — and give away — even more. That could actually happen if everyone who listened contributed just a little bit. If you’ve enjoyed some of my free music or other content — on the site, through downloads, however — why not take a second and make a contribution to support me in making more? Just click on the Donate button in the right sidebar. Thanks!

If you’d rather buy some music, that’s great, too! Click on the Buy tab above, or visit the Shop.

Either way, I really appreciate your support.
[tab:END]

That’s the Key

November 9, 2008
By

Play the song here!

[tab:Lyrics]
In the Melodious Ocean
On the island of G Flat Key
Lived many musical notes
Spending their days singing, yes, you guessed it, songs in G-flat together

Viola was a C-flat note
And though everyone thought that she
Fit in with everyone else
She felt that she didn’t harmonize with her home island’s endeavor

She knew deep inside
C-flat was not what she ought
She felt much more like B-natural
And every single day she thought

“Where I am factually free
To actually be
naturally me
That’s the key”

One day she finally tried it
But they all said, “No way, that’s wrong!
The only naturals here
Are all the Fs, and they’re fine at times, but followed best by a flat note”

So, though they all thought her perfect
Knowing that she did not belong
She chose to leave them behind
Visit the Musical Keys nearby on her old family sailboat

And though she was scared
Off-key, at last, this was it
Perhaps this key change would help her find
A place where she could finally fit

“Where I am factually free
To actually be
naturally me
That’s the key”

Each island was smaller and stranger
With even more naturals than previously
And she even heard tell of a place with only natural tone
Though the Key of B-flat was clearly not where it’s at
She soon found her first natural key
But at the Key of F, near the entryway clef, the only flat was B alone

Seemed to Viola the next key
Had to be the all-natural one
So she was shocked to find out
All of the other keys long ago were swallowed up by the ocean

About to give up and go home
Several notes said, “It could be fun
to have a B-natural around
Compared to the flatter keys, you’d be fine here, at least consider the notion”

And though she was scared
A smile grew on her face
They made new songs weird and wonderful
Viola finally found her place

“Where I am factually free
To actually be
naturally me
That’s the key”

“Where I am factually free
To actually be
naturally me
That’s the key”
[tab:Story]
This song and the album it comes from were written using Appreciative Inquiry and Internal Family Systems. With IFS, we can talk about different parts of ourselves as if they are separate people. Hopefully that clarifies why these stories at times refer to he, she and we!

One part of me was hesitant to even write a song. He was afraid of what people would think of it. That was a general concern for him, always concerned what others think, wishing that others might actually be interested in what he thought, but always afraid they wouldn’t be. Just like with the first song written for the album, where a part was standing in the way of writing the album at all, through Appreciative Inquiry we were able to take those very concerns and channel them constructively in a way that actually contributed to the album. That’s how this eighth song came about.

Through the AI, he started talking about times when people, in fact, had expressed interest and valued his/our contributions. What he most appreciated about others expressing interest was that it took away his feeling of hesitation. Instead of always wondering when and how to express himself, always putting it off because of never having a good enough answer to when or how to say something, people sometimes gave a clear opening. Then it would be easy to contribute. Maybe they’d dislike or disagree with what I might say, but this part could be okay with that — it was more important that they wanted to hear from us in the first place.

He started realizing that it would be great to have a song that was a real story, nothing obviously philosophizing or giving advice. The story would be about someone who felt he wasn’t getting to be who he really was, who was conforming in order to get approval, to feel accepted. But because conformed, he was only accepted as something he really wasn’t. So he somehow develops the courage to try to be himself and find others who wanted to know the real him. In a way, it was like a classic tale of someone with a dream, at first put down by those around him, but he never gives up and eventually finds his way.

Thinking about metaphors, we thought about shapes — how some people are considered “square” when they are different from the rest, and how when things aren’t quite right we can feel “bent out of shape.” The other metaphor that came up was musical notes, and the classic punny phrase, “Don’t B sharp, don’t B flat, just B natural.”

That musical metaphor busted things wide open. The entire story of this song practically wrote itself in an instant after that point. There was the notion of there being musical keys, where some notes fit better than others. And some note might see itself as fitting better in some other key. The classic punny phrase gave the idea that some note would want to “be natural” — and that, of course, it should be a B-natural note that it wants to be.

Thinking about the different keys, there were suddenly lots of happy coincidences. In the keys based on flat notes, B is always flat — so a B-natural would feel particular out of place. The note we usually call B-natural does finally reappear in a flat key, but it’s one of the “flattest” keys, G-flat, and that note isn’t even referred to as B anymore but, instead C-flat. So there was suddenly this notion of a C-flat note really wishing to “B-natural” in a very flat, “unnatural” environment. This immediately suggested a journey far away, to find a key where it could fit as it wanted to. Several other A few other other ideas from music popped up as relevant for the story — “home key,” “key change,” “harmonizing” with others, “perfect” intervals, the journey being toward more and more “natural” environments.

From there, the leap was made to keys also referring to bunches of islands together, like the Florida Keys. Suddenly, there was a whole fantasy world where musical notes lived on “keys,” on different islands in an ocean, very separate from each other, and where if one note wanted to find a different key, there’d have to be a heroic journey across the sea. This not only suggested another musical detail — “off key,” as in off the island — but solidified a title. The title phrase popped up as yet another meaning of the word key, simply being the most important thing, the thing that unlocks everything else. We were surprised at how short the chorus ended up, and at just how much got packed in such a small space — a triple four-syllable rhyme, not to mention secretly hiding the phrase “be natural” itself. Can you find it? :)

The islands suggested musical influences as well. The nature of the heroic journey, though, seemed to need something bigger than the average calypso/reggae. Yet it couldn’t be anywhere as serious as something like Bob Marley’s song “Exodus” either. I then thought of the song “Kokomo” by The Beach Boys, itself about a bunch of islands, “off the Florida Keys” no less, and the one special place “we wanna go.” Despite its subject and obvious Caribbean musical touches, the music was really mostly like a Phil Spector “Wall of Sound” song, like “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes. Those songs were themselves noted for incorporating maracas, castanets and other sounds often heard in “island” music, and yet they had their own very particular pop sound, not island music at all. I read up on Wall of Sound arrangements, and I also thought about Billy Joel’s “Say Goodbye to Hollywood,” a Wall of Sound tribute with conspicuous castanets, but also having a more rock-oriented middle section thrown in.

Looking for music-related names for the main character, Viola showed up as a recognizable first name. So the hero became female in the story. With orchestral string instruments often playing a part in Wall of Sound arrangements, I decided to use only violas for those parts.

From there, the words and music mostly took care of themselves. It was obvious that the song had to start in the key of G-flat, but also just as obvious that it had to switch keys as Viola took her journey. Most of the physical journey itself is packed into the Billy-Joel-inspired bridge in the middle, where the chord changes closely reflect key changes from G-flat through keys with fewer and fewer flats, until Viola finally arrives, as the song says, in the key of F. Unusual for songs to move down with a key change — usually they move up, but going down somewhere worked here.

There seemed to be something poignant about her finding this key. It was the first on her journey named for a natural note instead of a flat one. It was also in a way the exact opposite of her home key — Gb had only one natural note and all the rest were flat, but the notes in the key of F are all natural except for one. And that one was, of all things, B-flat. Here, she could feel like she’d come so far and gotten so close only to feel as much an outcast as ever. If only she could go one key farther, it would be the “all-natural” one she’d heard of, the key of C where there are no flats or sharps at all. But letting her get there seemed to be a bit too pat an ending to the story.

Have all the other keys just not be there, just not be options, seemed to add a nice bit of drama to the story, and it opened the way to a less predictable and more satisfying ending. The notes in the key of F decide to stretch themselves a bit to accommodate Viola. They convince her not to give up, to stay, figuring that even if it might not be truly what she was looking for, they would welcome her, and she should at least feel far more at home with them than she would anywhere else. Having others meet her partway seemed a strong way to show that Viola had really found a place where others accepted her for who she was, a place she belonged and could call home.

Sometimes I think about how it might have been global warming that caused the other keys to be swallowed up by the ocean! I wonder, then, if there’s some kind of sequel to write for this story, where enough notes living a more “natural” life somehow leads to the other lost keys resurfacing. This makes me think of a bunch of other ways that musical ideas could work into the story. Perhaps the world is saved and Viola finds that she can eventually come to feel at home even on her original island. After all, G-flat is also F-sharp, a key that itself already has B-naturals — everyone there would come to see themselves differently, and nobody would have to go anywhere else to feel at home. We’ll see… :)

The next song written for Everyone's Invited was Aggie and Timmy.

Share your own stories — of art or other things that have inspired you, of how you came to do something artistic or creative, of how the OHB’s songs have impacted you, whatever you like — at the Fan Clan.
[tab:Credits]
Written by and Circle P - Phonorecord Copyright&© 2008 Mark S. Meritt (BMI). All rights reserved.

Dianne Mucci – Vocals
MSM – Instruments

Produced, arranged, recorded and mixed by MSM in the basement in the village, Red Hook, NY, using a MacBook Pro, MOTU Digital Performer 5.13, Native Instruments Kontakt 3, EastWest/Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra Gold Complete, Quantum Leap Colossus, EastWest/PMI Bösendorfer 290 Grand Piano, and an M-Audio Keystation Pro 88.

Vocals recorded in the garage on the mountain, Bloomingburg, NY.

Release Date: November 11, 2008
Album: Everyone's Invited
Track Number: 2
Length: 4:18

Written: 8th of the 12 songs for the album, February 2008
Key: Gb
Arranged: 1st, starting March 6, 2008
Vocals recorded 5th, July 22, 2008
Mixed: 2nd, starting September 10, 2008
[tab:Buy]

That’s the Key — MP3 Single

Last modified on 1970-03-17 15:57:16 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

From the album Everyone's Invited

The OHB loves: CD Baby
Also available at these stores and more:

NapsterRhapsody

[tab:Donate]
I work hard on the songs and the site, giving away a lot of stuff for free. If I could make a living by making art, I could make — and give away — even more. That could actually happen if everyone who listened contributed just a little bit. If you’ve enjoyed some of my free music or other content — on the site, through downloads, however — why not take a second and make a contribution to support me in making more? Just click on the Donate button in the right sidebar. Thanks!

If you’d rather buy some music, that’s great, too! Click on the Buy tab above, or visit the Shop.

Either way, I really appreciate your support.
[tab:END]

Let It Out

November 9, 2008
By

Play the song here!

[tab:Lyrics]
Like a balloon with too much air
An apple pie, lots of steam in there
A subway train with no room to spare

Jack in the box, snakes in a can
Fruit in a peel, shell-wrapped pecan
Bird in a cage, well, what’s the plan?

Do like the seeds from a flower
And clouds about to shower
The geyser at the geysering hour
Oh

Let it out
Let it out
It’s so much better if you get it out now
Let it out
Let it out
Save it for later and there’ll be a kapow
Let it out

You’ve got some loose and dangly teeth
Some CO2 every time you breath
About to cough, hiccup or sneeze

Some sweaty socks with your feet in
Whatever else you’re secretin’
And a while after drinking or eatin’
Oh

Let it out
Let it out
It’s so much better if you get it out now
Let it out
Let it out
Save it for later and there’ll be a kapow
Let it out

And when you’ve got something you feel
And you’re not sure just what is real
And you don’t know how you can deal

Just let it fly like a rocket
Reaching escape velocity
Then finally nothing will stop it
Yeah

Let it out
Let it out
It’s so much better if you get it out now
Let it out
Let it out
Keep it inside and one day you’ll have a cow

Let it out
Let it out
It’s so much better if you get it out now
Let it out
Let it out
Save it for later and there’ll be a kapow
Let it out
Let it out
[tab:Story]
This song and the album it comes from were written using Appreciative Inquiry and Internal Family Systems. With IFS, we can talk about different parts of ourselves as if they are separate people. Hopefully that clarifies why these stories at times refer to he, she and we!

After writing the first song for the album, the artist/creator part of me stepped up, naturally wanting to get involved. He was concerned that so many other projects over the years hadn’t succeeded as he’d hoped, and so over time he’d become a bit reluctant to keep creating and expressing himself. But these days he was feeling like he could express himself simply because it was what he wanted to do. In fact, he felt a little dumbfounded, because in some ways writing this song would be the first time he could really feel free to say whatever he truly wanted.

As we did our Appreciative Inquiry on his song, he started thinking about that freedom, freedom of self-expression. Just getting out what’s inside because it wants to come out, instead of putting it off and wondering if or when the opportunity might be right. Once it’s out, it’s where it needs to be, and then he’d have fulfilled his purpose in life, and everything else would be gravy, bonus. Just the fact that he’d been that free even one time would be enough. It seemed to him like escape velocity — it doesn’t matter whether a rocket hits that speed early or late in its journey, and it doesn’t have to keep going that fast. As long as it gets there for any particular moment, it ends up free of Earth’s gravity, and it can’t be pulled back down.

He also really valued that the song itself was an expression of this idea, and could be so even musically. He wanted the song to be moving, but real, maybe even a bit intense, showing the strength of that feeling of freedom.

Immediately, the title occurred to him, and he thought about the song “Walk On” by U2, which was both strong and emotional. Soon, he was thinking about all sorts of things that need to be let out — how air may need to be let out of a balloon so it doesn’t pop, an appendix needing to come out because it’s going to burst, cancer and bullets needing to come out of bodies to get them healthy. But not only things that don’t belong somewhere. The seeds of a flower, the sun from behind the clouds. Even sweating and going to the bathroom. With so these and many other things, it’s perfectly normal that they show up in those places, but they still then need to be let out also. When something is pent up inside, it has to be let out so that we can become or stay healthy.

From there, the song more or less wrote itself. He was a bit surprised that his song wasn’t more directly about creativity, but he realized that, in a sense, there is no creativity at all without the freedom of expressing who you really are, so the song rang really true for him.

The next song written for Everyone's Invited was Naked Time.

Share your own stories — of art or other things that have inspired you, of how you came to do something artistic or creative, of how the OHB’s songs have impacted you, whatever you like — at the Fan Clan.
[tab:Credits]
Written by and Circle P - Phonorecord Copyright&© 2008 Mark S. Meritt (BMI). All rights reserved.

Dianne Mucci – Vocals
MSM – Instruments

Produced, arranged, recorded and mixed by MSM in the basement in the village, Red Hook, NY, using a MacBook Pro, MOTU Digital Performer 5.13, Native Instruments Kontakt 3, Quantum Leap Colossus, EastWest/PMI Bösendorfer 290 Grand Piano, and an M-Audio Keystation Pro 88.

Vocals recorded in the garage on the mountain, Bloomingburg, NY.

Release Date: November 11, 2008
Album: Everyone's Invited
Track Number: 3
Length: 4:15

Written: 2nd of the 12 songs for the album, starting January 10, 2008
Key: D
Arranged: 2nd, starting March 10, 2008
Vocals recorded 3rd, July 22, 2008
Mixed: 3rd, starting September 11, 2008
[tab:Buy]

Let It Out — MP3 Single

Last modified on 1970-03-17 15:56:04 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

From the album Everyone's Invited

The OHB loves: CD Baby
Also available at these stores and more:

NapsterRhapsody

[tab:Donate]
I work hard on the songs and the site, giving away a lot of stuff for free. If I could make a living by making art, I could make — and give away — even more. That could actually happen if everyone who listened contributed just a little bit. If you’ve enjoyed some of my free music or other content — on the site, through downloads, however — why not take a second and make a contribution to support me in making more? Just click on the Donate button in the right sidebar. Thanks!

If you’d rather buy some music, that’s great, too! Click on the Buy tab above, or visit the Shop.

Either way, I really appreciate your support.
[tab:END]

Getting Somewhere

November 9, 2008
By

Play the song here!

[tab:Lyrics]
To the land of amazing things we’d come
Where there’s something amazing for everyone
Chris carried climbing boots, Robin brought rope
A flashlight from Fran, and I took a telescope

So we got to the jungle and in we dived
To have the adventure of our lives
No worry what might be left behind
Dreaming of what we’d find

(Searchin’) Lookin’ around
(Searchin’) Up and down
(Searchin’) Wonderin’ how
We’ll be gettin’ somewhere

Wherever we looked, we felt chagrined
For all we found was a voice in the wind
“Stop, come back!” it would protest
But we just couldn’t stop our quest

(Searchin’) Lookin’ around
(Searchin’) Up and down
(Searchin’) Wonderin’ how
We’ll be gettin’ somewhere

Never finding a thing, our luck was out
So we went to see what that voice was about
We’d forgotten just what would save the day
Our friend Morgan with a map, hooray!

(Searchin’) Lookin’ around
(Searchin’) Up and down
(Searchin’) Knowin’ that now
We’ll be gettin’ somewhere

(Searchin’) Lookin’ around
(Searchin’) Up and down
(Searchin’) Knowin’ that now
We’ll be gettin’ somewhere
[tab:Story]
This song and the album it comes from were written using Appreciative Inquiry and Internal Family Systems. With IFS, we can talk about different parts of ourselves as if they are separate people. Hopefully that clarifies why these stories at times refer to he, she and we!

This turned out to be the first song written for the album. When it came time to write the album, I found I was having a lot of trouble starting. I was really nervous somehow. Was it because it had been so long since I’d started a project of this size, or because this was the first time I was ever making an album and looking to actually see something through from writing to sellable product?

It turned out that a part of me was really concerned about something else entirely. She’s very interested in caring for others but has often felt that other parts of me haven’t let her do that. The album was supposed to help do good things for people, but how could it do that if caring was left out? When it occurred to me that maybe she’d be reassured about her participation if she could contribute to the first song for the album, she jumped at the idea. She wanted to write something about what she herself was feeling, not about caring, but about feeling left out. If that happened to her, she was afraid she’d just keep holding everyone else back, which isn’t at all what she wanted. But if she were included and even allowed to get things started, she thought her contributions would help make sure that nobody would have anything to fear.

As we did an Appreciative Inquiry on her song, she talked about how important it is that everyone be included as part of a team, how even the smallest part can often make the biggest difference. She hoped her song would help people see that there’s so much more to them than meets the eye, just as she’d often felt overlooked but was now being seen. And she wanted the song to help people feel as joyful as she did now that she was getting this opportunity to be heard.

All of this led her to think about a bouncy but not too bright song about something that keeps bumping into things because it had a part missing. Find the part and put it in, and it would be able to get where it wanted to go, smoothly instead of having such a hard time. Like a toy or machine getting a little navigation system. That made her think of people having an internal compass that tells us which way to go. She started exploring the basic idea of finally making progress, of getting somewhere. The song could start off wishing about getting somewhere and end by saying, hey, now we’re getting somewhere.

The idea of a compass and navigation led to maps and the notion of a wonderful destination and an amazing journey. Soon, we were thinking about different kinds of things to pack along with a map for an adventurous trip. The idea came up that each person could bring one thing, and most of the group could be so excited to go ahead that they’d leave someone behind, the one with the map, in fact. They’d have to eventually realize what had happened in order to get everyone together to complete the journey.

The idea of a journey in a bouncy but not too bright song made us think of the song “Ride Captain Ride” by Blues Image, so that served as the model for the music.

In a way, this song is really about the making of the album as a whole. The very notion of everyone needing to be invited was right there from the start, so it’s no surprise that it came back after the songs were done to become the album’s title.

The next song written for Everyone's Invited was Let It Out.

Share your own stories — of art or other things that have inspired you, of how you came to do something artistic or creative, of how the OHB’s songs have impacted you, whatever you like — at the Fan Clan.
[tab:Credits]
Written by and Circle P - Phonorecord Copyright&© 2008 Mark S. Meritt (BMI). All rights reserved.

Dianne Mucci – Vocals
MSM – Instruments

Produced, arranged, recorded and mixed by MSM in the basement in the village, Red Hook, NY, using a MacBook Pro, MOTU Digital Performer 5.13, Native Instruments Kontakt 3, Quantum Leap Colossus, and an M-Audio Keystation Pro 88.

Vocals recorded in the garage on the mountain, Bloomingburg, NY.

Release Date: November 11, 2008
Album: Everyone's Invited
Track Number: 4
Length: 2:21

Written: 1st of the 12 songs for the album, starting January 4, 2008
Key: Bb
Arranged: 7th, starting March 24, 2008
Vocals recorded 6th, July 25, 2008
Mixed: 4th, starting September 11, 2008
[tab:Buy]

Getting Somewhere — MP3 Single

Last modified on 1970-03-17 15:55:53 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

From the album Everyone's Invited

The OHB loves: CD Baby
Also available at these stores and more:

NapsterRhapsody

[tab:Donate]
I work hard on the songs and the site, giving away a lot of stuff for free. If I could make a living by making art, I could make — and give away — even more. That could actually happen if everyone who listened contributed just a little bit. If you’ve enjoyed some of my free music or other content — on the site, through downloads, however — why not take a second and make a contribution to support me in making more? Just click on the Donate button in the right sidebar. Thanks!

If you’d rather buy some music, that’s great, too! Click on the Buy tab above, or visit the Shop.

Either way, I really appreciate your support.
[tab:END]

Go Get It

November 9, 2008
By

Play the song here!

[tab:Lyrics]
The movie in my mind
It’s playing all the time
And mostly showing scenes from way back when
I didn’t get my way
But in my mind today
I get to do them all over again

Just like a restaurant
I order what I want
And so I make things come out differently
At first it satisfies
But then I realize
The rewrite urge is still right there in me

If there’s something that you want go get it
If it slips away because you let it
Then you’ll never forget it
And you’ll always regret it
Don’t let it
Go
Get it

It isn’t just a lack
That keeps me going back
It’s that I didn’t do all that I could
If I had only tried
With all I had inside
I wouldn’t need a rewrite to feel good

If there’s something that you want go get it
If it slips away because you let it
Then you’ll never forget it
And you’ll always regret it
Don’t let it
Go
Get it

So now I vow to bring
This movie-making thing
To look ahead instead of back behind
When there’s a want I’ve got
I’ll give it my best shot
And maybe then I’ll get what’s on my mind

Perhaps I won’t succeed
In getting what I need
But now at least I’ll know I tried my best
And then I won’t regret
The things that I don’t get
I’ll just begin whatever movie’s next

If there’s something that you want go get it
If it slips away because you let it
Then you’ll never forget it
And you’ll always regret it
Don’t let it
Go
Get it

If there’s something that you want go get it
If it slips away because you let it
Then you’ll never forget it
And you’ll always regret it
Don’t let it
Go
Get it
[tab:Story]
This song and the album it comes from were written using Appreciative Inquiry and Internal Family Systems. With IFS, we can talk about different parts of ourselves as if they are separate people. Hopefully that clarifies why these stories at times refer to he, she and we!

As I was pondering different song ideas before I actually started writing the album, thinking about the kinds of things I’d want to get across to kids, one notion that became obvious to talk about was satisfaction and regret. After all, what could be more worth sharing with kids than helping them to learn earlier on than ourselves the kinds of things that can help them avoid regret and live their lives with as much satisfaction as possible.

One of the things — well, one of the kinds of things — that I’ve most regretted was not always really going after things I really wanted. I thought about how I couldn’t get them if I didn’t try, and how, in not trying, either enough or even at all, I was really letting them slip away. Any regret I felt was a result of my own inaction. Often I’d continue to think about things from long ago, knowing that my mental energy would be better spent on other things, and yet here I was, compelled to keep thinking about those older things. I couldn’t forget them. They kept coming back, almost as if to remind me to not make the same mistakes again with other things I wanted.

At some point, I noticed that a number of words involved in these thoughts happened to rhyme — get, let, regret, forget. Playing with those words, I stumbled on the phrases “let it go” and “go get it” and I thought it would be neat to combine them, so that the word “go” could sound like it went with both phrases at the same time. Next thing I knew, I’d worked out a chorus.

Even after the chorus, this song continued to be particularly odd in that it really sort of wrote itself on its own, at times when I wasn’t even sitting down to write. Half or more of the lyrics wrote themselves while I was sitting in bed waiting to fall asleep. Maybe it’s a little poetic that a song about imagining things would come about close to my own dreaming at night. Its timing for volunteering itself made it the sixth song written for the album.

With the lyrics done, the rhythm of the words in the chorus suggested to me a sort of funky groove. I found myself reminded of “The Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu,” written by Huey “Piano” Smith but maybe most generally known through the Johnny Rivers version. I ended up playing with similar New Orleans types of sounds and came up with the tune.

This was the last of four songs in a row where the writing wasn’t consciously done with a particular part of me, but I had a sense that different parts were stepping up to the plate, so to speak, focusing on different and appropriate topics. Later, when it became clear that each part should have its own song, I didn’t even need to do an Appreciative Inquiry for this. There’s a part of me that’s always imagining different ways things will play out — and different way past events could have played out. This song resonated very strongly with him, and he took it on as his. He even believes he wrote it “while I wasn’t looking.” Indeed, with his inclination to imagine at all times, it’s easier to believe this would happen with him than any other part of me!

The next song written for Everyone's Invited was I Know Everything.

Share your own stories — of art or other things that have inspired you, of how you came to do something artistic or creative, of how the OHB’s songs have impacted you, whatever you like — at the Fan Clan.
[tab:Credits]
Written by and Circle P - Phonorecord Copyright&© 2008 Mark S. Meritt (BMI). All rights reserved.

Dianne Mucci – Vocals
MSM – Instruments, additional vocals

Produced, arranged, recorded and mixed by MSM in the basement in the village, Red Hook, NY, using a MacBook Pro, MOTU Digital Performer 5.13, Native Instruments Kontakt 3, Quantum Leap Colossus, and an M-Audio Keystation Pro 88.

Vocals recorded in the garage on the mountain, Bloomingburg, NY.

Release Date: November 11, 2008
Album: Everyone's Invited
Track Number: 5
Length: 2:52

Written: 6th of the 12 songs for the album, starting February 3, 2008
Key: F
Arranged: 6th, starting March 21, 2008
Vocals recorded 8th, July 25, 2008
Mixed: 5th, starting September 16, 2008
[tab:Buy]

Go Get It — MP3 Single

Last modified on 1970-03-17 15:54:44 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

From the album Everyone's Invited

The OHB loves: CD Baby
Also available at these stores and more:

NapsterRhapsody

[tab:Donate]
I work hard on the songs and the site, giving away a lot of stuff for free. If I could make a living by making art, I could make — and give away — even more. That could actually happen if everyone who listened contributed just a little bit. If you’ve enjoyed some of my free music or other content — on the site, through downloads, however — why not take a second and make a contribution to support me in making more? Just click on the Donate button in the right sidebar. Thanks!

If you’d rather buy some music, that’s great, too! Click on the Buy tab above, or visit the Shop.

Either way, I really appreciate your support.
[tab:END]

Rock Paper and Scissors

November 9, 2008
By

Play the song here!

[tab:Lyrics]
In the land of Rochambeau lived lots of paper and scissors
And they all enjoyed cuttin’ lots of interesting shapes all day
Then one time some scissors cut themselves into quite a frenzy
Whippin’ such a strong wind that lots of papers were blown away

Soon the flyin’ papers covered up a pile of boulders
But those rocks enjoyed nothin’ more than bein’ seen standin’ tall
So the great big rocks became so unbelievably angry
That they rolled themselves into town with this rockin’ rally call

We’re gonna rock paper and scissors
We’re gonna make ‘em scream and shout
We’re gonna rock paper and scissors
They’re gonna see what rock’s about
We’re gonna rock paper and scissors
Yeah, we’re rockin’ out

So the rocks smashed lots of scissors, makin’ everything mangle
And let’s face it, those rocks could shred the paper with just a scrape
Every little thing they bullied made ‘em feel even stronger
All the monster rocks loved to leave most everything in real bad shape

We’re gonna rock paper and scissors
We’re gonna make ‘em scream and shout
We’re gonna rock paper and scissors
They’re gonna see what rock’s about
We’re gonna rock paper and scissors
Yeah, we’re rockin’ out

Soon enough all the papers were hidin’, all the scissors were broken
And a little one lay down scared she’d get bent again
But to everyone’s surprise, when a rock came down upon her
Both her blades were now sharp
And flat as a tarp
She felt better than she’d ever been

Feeling oh so happy, she cut up her very own frenzy
Only this time no papers flew away with those rocks on top
And the rock that fixed her noticed just how good he was feelin’
And he shouted out, “All the smashin’ better come to a stop!”

He told all the rocks that sharpenin’ and paperweighin’
When compared to the smashin’ made him feel so good and just as strong
So they fixed all of the scissors and brought back all the paper
And made interesting shapes together now they all got along

We’re gonna rock paper and scissors
We’re gonna make ‘em scream and shout
We’re gonna rock paper and scissors
They’re gonna see what rock’s about
We’re gonna rock paper and scissors
Yeah, we’re rockin’ out

We’re gonna rock paper and scissors
We’re gonna make ‘em scream and shout
We’re gonna rock paper and scissors
They’re gonna see what rock’s about
We’re gonna rock paper and scissors
Yeah, we’re rockin’ out
[tab:Story]
This song and the album it comes from were written using Appreciative Inquiry and Internal Family Systems. With IFS, we can talk about different parts of ourselves as if they are separate people. Hopefully that clarifies why these stories at times refer to he, she and we!

One part of me is very interested in feeling capable and empowered. At times when she didn’t feel these things in positive ways, she’d be vulnerable to hurt and disappointment and need to find other ways of feeling as powerful as she wanted to. In these situations, she’d do any number of mischievous or even harmful things, including putting down, criticizing or even bullying others, just so she could feel that she had some ability to make an impact on the world around us. These are the thoughts that came up right away when we began our Appreciative Inquiry on her song, so she knew that the song must have something to do with how we all want to feel strong and able, how it’s so easy for that to get put toward destructive things, and as a result how important it is that we find positive ways of discovering, building and using our abilities. Her song would be about power with a purpose instead of power corrupting itself when it’s for its own sake.

One of the first things that popped into mind was the song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by the Charlie Daniels Band, a story about talent wrapped up with power and danger, and it made her think that her song should have a similar edge, but in a more friendly, less threatening way. She imagined it would be a straightforward, upbeat rock and roll song.

Thinking more about the ideas, she thought about stories like “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and “Frankenstein,” stories where someone wanted to feel powerful, but things ended up being perverted, even monstrous, as a result. She thought about other monster stories. Vampires. Zombies. Witches — which she’d often thought of herself as, like a sorcerer or wizard. Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde — which she could relate to really well, having that side of her that would come up and wreak havoc on others. She thought about how all these monsters are seen as threatening to others. Vampires and zombies even literally suck the life out of others. Power with a purpose was starting to become clear — it was, at least, power that makes you feel strong inside yourself without draining anyone else, and at best it would flow power back out to others without draining you either. Corrupting power made monsters and enemies. Power with a purpose would make friends, cooperation.

With all these notion of monster stories, she felt that hers should be a story song. A picturesque monster story. A monster is on the loose, and it sees itself as big and strong, a threat to those who are small and weak, and it feeds off of that, feels stronger each time it makes someone else feel weaker. But the monster needs a change of diet. Instead of feeding off others for its own gain, it can feed off something else for everybody’s benefit. And through some happy accident, it starts to feed off something else, and it realizes it can feel strong not only without making others feel weak, but strong in a way that others actually appreciate. And everyone would live happily ever after.

Because she’d imagined the song would be a rock song, she started with a working title: “The Monster Rock.” This led to two things that would color the rest of the song, lyrically and musically. First, it made her imagine that the monster might actually be a rock, some kind of strange monstrous boulder. Next, recalling the song “Monster Mash,” it pointed to a more traditional 1950s/1960s rock and roll sound. “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis became a main reference point — maybe a subconscious choice because of boulders being like “great balls” and fire certainly being something dangerous to play with? “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry was also an influence, as well as “Fun, Fun, Fun” by The Beach Boys, which brought a bit more melody to this style of song.

From that idea, there was the sudden inspiration. What’s a situation in which rocks do harm to other things? The game rock-paper-scissors. If we were going to have a fantastical story about a rock monster, why not also have paper and scissors as other characters? Two things seemed particularly interesting about this. The first was that rock-paper-scissors is a competitive game — a game about enemies, about winner and losers, so there was inherently an extra opportunity to draw out the theme of enemies learning to cooperate. The second was that paper and scissors have something very obviously to do with each other. Because of that, it was easy to imagine that scissors cutting paper into nice shapes might actually be something that they both would like, as opposed to “scissors cut paper” making them enemies like in rock-paper-scissors.

At that point, it was just a question of thinking about how — and why — the rocks could hurt the paper and scissors, and what would be the twist that got them all working together. Thinking about the rock-paper-scissors game, it’s when “paper covers rock” that the rocks lose. The AI started with the very notion about how disappointment can sometimes lead us to get mad and act out, so this was something to build on. The rocks get mad because, covered up, they don’t appear as big and strong as they like to. They need to bully others in order to feel big and strong again. At this point, “rock breaks scissors” — and it also had to hurt the paper in this particular story, so it seemed obvious that rocks stomping on paper would just rip it to shreds. But stones are also used in the actual making of blades, as well as in their sharpening. So the happy accident could be the rock landing on an already crushed pair of scissors and actually straightening and sharpening them.

The title and its use in the chorus were nice opportunities to both show the tweak we made on the usual rock-paper-scissors competitive game and to show how the rocks change over the course of the story. The title sounds like it just refers to the game, but the “and” in there makes a subtle distinction. In the story, the rocks are on one side, the paper and scissors together on the other. When the rocks decide to go on their rampage, they decide to rock — to use themselves to trample on — the paper and scissors. Later, the chorus remains the same, but the words take on new meaning after the rocks find a new way to feel strong, a new way rock — to take action with — the paper and scissors. They’ve found their power with a purpose.

While researching rock-paper-scissors, we were reminded that it goes by other much more colorful names, too, including Rochambeau. For fun, we gave this name to the fantasy world of the story.

The next song written for Everyone's Invited was On the Way.

Share your own stories — of art or other things that have inspired you, of how you came to do something artistic or creative, of how the OHB’s songs have impacted you, whatever you like — at the Fan Clan.
[tab:Credits]
Written by and Circle P - Phonorecord Copyright&© 2008 Mark S. Meritt (BMI). All rights reserved.

Dianne Mucci – Vocals
MSM – Instruments

Produced, arranged, recorded and mixed by MSM in the basement in the village, Red Hook, NY, using a MacBook Pro, MOTU Digital Performer 5.13, Native Instruments Kontakt 3, Quantum Leap Colossus, EastWest/PMI Bösendorfer 290 Grand Piano, and an M-Audio Keystation Pro 88.

Vocals recorded in the garage on the mountain, Bloomingburg, NY.

Release Date: November 11, 2008
Album: Everyone's Invited
Track Number: 6
Length: 3:21

Written: 11th of the 12 songs for the album, February 2008
Key: E
Arranged: 4th, starting March 14, 2008
Vocals recorded 11th, October 7, 2008
Mixed: 11th, starting October 8, 2008
[tab:Buy]

Rock Paper and Scissors — MP3 Single

Last modified on 1970-03-17 15:53:39 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

From the album Everyone's Invited

The OHB loves: CD Baby
Also available at these stores and more:

NapsterRhapsody

[tab:Donate]
I work hard on the songs and the site, giving away a lot of stuff for free. If I could make a living by making art, I could make — and give away — even more. That could actually happen if everyone who listened contributed just a little bit. If you’ve enjoyed some of my free music or other content — on the site, through downloads, however — why not take a second and make a contribution to support me in making more? Just click on the Donate button in the right sidebar. Thanks!

If you’d rather buy some music, that’s great, too! Click on the Buy tab above, or visit the Shop.

Either way, I really appreciate your support.
[tab:END]

I Know Everything

November 9, 2008
By

Play the song here!

[tab:Lyrics]
Some people think they know all there is to know
And they tell everyone everywhere they go
But when there’s so much to see
And so much to be
More than we can do
We simply can’t know it all
Or even recall
All we ever knew

I know everything
Can’t be known by anyone
If you try to know everything
It may as well be none
I know a little, and that’s enough, and it had better be
Because a little for each of us is all we’ll ever see

And still some people try learning ever more
As if somebody somewhere were keeping score
When there’s a question at hand
Right up they will stand
Putting on a show
Even if they’re not so sure
They just can’t endure
Saying, “I don’t know”

But I know everything
Can’t be known by anyone
If you try to know everything
It may as well be none
I know a little, and that’s enough, and it had better be
Because a little for each of us is all we’ll ever see

The more I learn, the more I see more to know
And I’m just fine with what I know even so
And when I’m feeling a yearn
And wanting to learn
That’s alright with me
I start by taking it slow
And say, “I don’t know”
That’s the starting key

‘ Cause I know everything
Can’t be known by anyone
If you try to know everything
It may as well be none
I know a little, and that’s enough, and it had better be
Because a little for each of us is all we’ll ever see

Yes, I know everything
Can’t be known by anyone
If you try to know everything
It may as well be none
I know a little, and that’s enough, and it had better be
Because a little for each of us is all we’ll ever see
[tab:Story]
This song and the album it comes from were written using Appreciative Inquiry and Internal Family Systems. With IFS, we can talk about different parts of ourselves as if they are separate people. Hopefully that clarifies why these stories at times refer to he, she and we!

With the seventh song written for the album, I started an Appreciative Inquiry with a part of me that feels that it knows some worthwhile things but that it’s knowledge mostly boils down to common sense and good judgment, and it often felt that other parts of me kept him quiet because they thought they knew better. As a result, he often felt unsure about what he knew or believed, even feeling like he was stupid and didn’t have anything worth contributing. It would often turn out that the knowledge the other parts thought they had would backfire in some way, but that just made him sad, not confident.

He recognizes that there’s much he doesn’t know, and he doesn’t want to pretend that he does know and have that lead to trouble the way he’s seen happen with others. For him, being okay admitting he doesn’t know something is itself what’s needed in order to be open to learning and to receiving contributions from others. That’s what he’d wanted from the other parts that often kept him quiet — if only they’d admitted that they didn’t know, he might have had openings to contribute something valuable from what bit he knew, helping make some situations go better than they actually did.

The way he saw it, knowledge only makes people knowledgeable, not smart. Someone with a lot of knowledge but not open to taking in more is likely to do misguided things. For all their knowledge, they’re really not very smart. Instead of feeling stupid for not knowing more than we know, we can actually be easier on ourselves, realizing that there’s so much knowledge out there that nobody else can really know all that much anyway. We can appreciate what we do know, recognize what we don’t, and free ourselves up to keep learning whatever we may need to. Through this, he realized that the most important thing he knew was the importance of not knowing things — which really surprised him!

Because this idea was both simple to say but difficult to really own, he wanted the song to be fairly straightforward, simple, and sort of comforting to people. Lyrically, we came up with the twist of the song being called “I Know Everything” but as part of a phrase that actually meant something totally different from these few words on their own. Just like there’s always more out there to know, you have to hear more than just the title to understand the title.

Musically, he wanted something basic, like a simple piano pop ballad, comforting and maybe even sentimental. As we explored ideas, we were drawn to some poignant harmonies, reflecting the varied emotions he’s had about these things over time. A sort of Burt Bacharach feel was developing, and soon enough we were focused on 1970s-style pop ballads, like those of The Carpenters and Barry Manilow. A bit of Billy Joel’s “Leave a Tender Moment Alone” seemed to creep in, too, but even though that song was from 1983, it was itself tribute to similar older songs, so it seemed appropriate. Some songs I’d heard on Sesame Street as a child had a similar feel, and I remembered flutes being used as prominent melody instruments in a number of those songs, so that came in, too. To give the song some direction, Manilow’s “Can’t Smile Without You” gave the idea of adding orchestral uplifts, hand claps and key changes toward the end of the song.

Before recording the vocals, I had imagined certain words being sung with a sort of melodic twist that Karen Carpenter at times did. Even before I had a chance to mention that to Dianne, I heard her doing exactly what I’d imagined. Either it was either kismet, or the writing was so obviously a Carpenters rip-off that no other vocal performance was possible!

The next song written for Everyone's Invited was That's the Key.

Share your own stories — of art or other things that have inspired you, of how you came to do something artistic or creative, of how the OHB’s songs have impacted you, whatever you like — at the Fan Clan.
[tab:Credits]
Written by and Circle P - Phonorecord Copyright&© 2008 Mark S. Meritt (BMI). All rights reserved.

Dianne Mucci – Vocals
MSM – Instruments

Produced, arranged, recorded and mixed by MSM in the basement in the village, Red Hook, NY, using a MacBook Pro, MOTU Digital Performer 5.13, Native Instruments Kontakt 3, EastWest/Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra Gold Complete, Quantum Leap Colossus, EastWest/PMI Bösendorfer 290 Grand Piano, and an M-Audio Keystation Pro 88.

Vocals recorded in the garage on the mountain, Bloomingburg, NY.

Release Date: November 11, 2008
Album: Everyone's Invited
Track Number: 7
Length: 4:34

Written: 7th of the 12 songs for the album, February 2008
Key: Written in Eb, transposed to Ab for recording
Arranged: 5th, starting March 20, 2008
Vocals recorded 4th, July 22, 2008
Mixed: 6th, starting September 19, 2008
[tab:Buy]

I Know Everything — MP3 Single

Last modified on 1970-03-17 15:52:15 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

From the album Everyone's Invited

The OHB loves: CD Baby
Also available at these stores and more:

NapsterRhapsody

[tab:Donate]
I work hard on the songs and the site, giving away a lot of stuff for free. If I could make a living by making art, I could make — and give away — even more. That could actually happen if everyone who listened contributed just a little bit. If you’ve enjoyed some of my free music or other content — on the site, through downloads, however — why not take a second and make a contribution to support me in making more? Just click on the Donate button in the right sidebar. Thanks!

If you’d rather buy some music, that’s great, too! Click on the Buy tab above, or visit the Shop.

Either way, I really appreciate your support.
[tab:END]

Aggie and Timmy

November 9, 2008
By

Play the song here!

[tab:Lyrics]
Aggie and Timmy had an idea
They thought it was really winning
They would spin round and round and around
And then they would keep on spinning

After her sixty-third time around
She started to lose her smile
She was so dazed she figured she’d spin ’round
Only once in a while

He was told it wouldn’t be good
So he moved like he thought he should
And so from that day Timmy would
Fidget and wiggle whenever he could

Aggie and Timmy liked all the same stuff
The only difference was how much was enough

Aggie and Timmy had an idea
They thought it was a real winner
They would each have a gallon of ice cream
And nothing else for dinner

After her seventh chocolate scoop
She started to lose her smile
She was so sick she figured she’d eat it
Only once in a while

He was told it wouldn’t be good
So he ate what he thought he should
And so from that day Timmy would
Gobble and gorge whenever he could

Aggie and Timmy liked all the same stuff
The only difference was how much was enough

Aggie and Timmy had an idea
That even in lovely weather
They would stay inside everyday watching
Television forever

After nine days glued to the boob tube
She started to lose her smile
She was so bored she figured she’d watch it
Only once in a while

He was told it wouldn’t be good
So he did what he thought he should
And so from that day Timmy would
Couch potato whenever he could

Aggie and Timmy liked all the same stuff
The only difference was how much was enough

Aggie and Timmy liked all the same stuff
The only difference was how much was enough
[tab:Story]
This song and the album it comes from were written using Appreciative Inquiry and Internal Family Systems. With IFS, we can talk about different parts of ourselves as if they are separate people. Hopefully that clarifies why these stories at times refer to he, she and we!

There’s a part of me that just likes to feel good, to be happy. Through doing an Appreciative Inquiry for her song, the ninth written for the album, she recognized that sometimes that desire can lead to unhealthy things, but that’s not her fault. It’s really just that our circumstances make available to us — and encourage us to pursue — so many things that feel good in the moment but happen to be unhealthy. She knows that it’s possible to feel good and be happy while being healthy at the same time. She wanted to write a song about how if we stay in touch with our feelings from the start, it can be easier to trust ourselves when good feelings make us want more of something and bad feelings make us want less.

Because she’s into feeling good, she didn’t want this song about the difference between good things and bad things to be serious, she wanted it to be fun and funny, so that people would enjoy listening to it. Thinking more about the song, she wanted it to show someone learning how to follow their feelings toward good things, even when at first it doesn’t seem like that’s where it’s leading them.

She then remembered an earlier idea for a song, about ice cream and television and other things that people often feel aren’t good for us, and so limits get imposed. Only eat a little ice cream, only watch so much television. From things we’d learned about learning, though, people learn to limit those things for themselves better if they’re allowed to experience what it’s like to have too much of it, to really experience it. To get full and sick on ice cream, to get bored with irritated eyes from too much TV. Things like that. It seems like when these things are allowed to happen early, the lesson can be learned. But when limits are imposed early, the lesson is never learned, and the longing for these things never goes away, so later on we just keep wanting more of them, even when having more of them makes us feel bad. In a way, it was an idea very much related to the one behind the song Whaddaya Say? (The Saga of Sam) — another song about the importance of letting people — including or especially kids — learn for themselves, instead of imposing rules that not only fail to alter people’s own internal motivations but teach them not to trust their own feelings. As in that song, she wasn’t against rules or limits, only those that fail to bring about what they hope to achieve.

From there, she saw the story of two kids. One would go one way, one the other, so we could really see the contrast between them, with ice cream, TV, whatever else — toys, video games, shopping, who knows what else. Just for fun, we looked up names in a baby name book, trying to find names whose original meanings might have something to do with the story and the difference between the kids. After looking at a lot of possibilities, we settled on Agatha and Timothy. Agatha means good — and this part felt like having a female role model in this song! Timothy means fear of God, which seemed appropriate for the other character, always concerned about breaking rules. Having Timothy be a boy helped make for more contrast between the kids. It was also nice that their names had the same rhythm, both in full and in their nicknames. They also both happened to be Greek names, and though there was nothing special about that fact for this song, she liked that the two names came from the same language.

Musically, it seemed to her at first like a moderate-tempo Broadway pop song, happy and enjoyable, maybe even more typically “children’s music”-like than the rest of the album. Maybe she was thinking of “Anything You Can Do” from the musical Annie Get Your Gun, since it’s also a light-hearted look at two people “competing” to see who comes out best. The notion of a simple song led her to think that maybe it should sound like a campfire song, something simple and memorable and very easy to learn, especially since the song is about how to make things easier to learn. We started with a basic acoustic guitar shuffle with very simple chords and melody. As more was written, it seemed to take on a sort of country feel.

Since she’d wanted the song to be fun and funny, the song evolved toward a sound like “King of the Road” by Roger Miller. From there, we felt like playing with a more upbeat version, and it came out sounding like rockabilly and some Elvis Presley songs. For no profound reason, we went that direction for the last part of the song, since it seemed like it fit with the style and would be a fun way to end.

The next song written for Everyone's Invited was Just a Feeling.

Share your own stories — of art or other things that have inspired you, of how you came to do something artistic or creative, of how the OHB’s songs have impacted you, whatever you like — at the Fan Clan.
[tab:Credits]
Written by and Circle P - Phonorecord Copyright&© 2008 Mark S. Meritt (BMI). All rights reserved.

Dianne Mucci – Vocals
MSM – Instruments

Produced, arranged, recorded and mixed by MSM in the basement in the village, Red Hook, NY, using a MacBook Pro, MOTU Digital Performer 5.13, Native Instruments Kontakt 3, Quantum Leap Colossus, EastWest/PMI Bösendorfer 290 Grand Piano, and an M-Audio Keystation Pro 88.

Vocals recorded in the garage on the mountain, Bloomingburg, NY.

Release Date: November 11, 2008
Album: Everyone's Invited
Track Number: 8
Length: 2:58

Written: 9th of the 12 songs for the album, February 2008
Key: B
Arranged: 8th, starting April 3, 2008
Vocals recorded 10th, October 7, 2008
Mixed: 10th, starting October 8, 2008
[tab:Buy]

Aggie and Timmy — MP3 Single

Last modified on 1970-03-17 15:51:07 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

From the album Everyone's Invited

The OHB loves: CD Baby
Also available at these stores and more:

NapsterRhapsody

[tab:Donate]
I work hard on the songs and the site, giving away a lot of stuff for free. If I could make a living by making art, I could make — and give away — even more. That could actually happen if everyone who listened contributed just a little bit. If you’ve enjoyed some of my free music or other content — on the site, through downloads, however — why not take a second and make a contribution to support me in making more? Just click on the Donate button in the right sidebar. Thanks!

If you’d rather buy some music, that’s great, too! Click on the Buy tab above, or visit the Shop.

Either way, I really appreciate your support.
[tab:END]

Just a Feeling

November 9, 2008
By

Play the song here!

[tab:Lyrics]
When you’re afraid or angry, hurt or sad
Some say, “Don’t cry, calm down, it’s not so bad”
Away perhaps they send you
The only thing they know to
No thought of the impatience that they had

Sometimes it feels like there’s too much rainfall
We try to force the storm from big to small
And yet whatever we try
The clouds stay up in the sky
They only go away once they’ve rained all

It seems that it’s here to stay
But see what it’s trying to say

Just a feeling, coming from part of you
Just a feeling, take a walk in that shoe
Step right in, but also aside
Close up shot, but also a wide angle view
And you’ll be feeling, you’ve a clue what to do

You’re full of happiness, love, hope and pride
It all seems right, you’re smile’s oh so wide
Everyone says it’s so great
They wish that they had your fate
And even you don’t want to turn that tide

A hot fudge sundae sets your taste aflame
But if it’s all you eat, then you’ll feel lame
Even when we take to it
We still can overdo it
It goes for things like broccoli just the same

It seems that it’s here to stay
But see what it’s trying to say

Just a feeling, coming from part of you
Just a feeling, take a walk in that shoe
Step right in, but also aside
Close up shot, but also a wide angle view
And you’ll be feeling, you’ve a clue what to do

Sometimes we bottle up, sometimes explode
Yet always something new comes down that road
So whether sure or in doubt
With one part in and one out
You just may be surprised where things will flow

Just a feeling, coming from part of you
Just a feeling, take a walk in that shoe
Step right in, but also aside
Close up shot, but also a wide angle view
And you’ll be feeling, you’ve a clue what to do
[tab:Story]
This song and the album it comes from were written using Appreciative Inquiry and Internal Family Systems. With IFS, we can talk about different parts of ourselves as if they are separate people. Hopefully that clarifies why these stories at times refer to he, she and we!

Part of me likes to keep things calm and controlled. Originally after finishing the song written before this one, another part was going to have a turn at writing a song for the album. But I’d just had a couple of really difficult days, one thing after another coming up. At one point I’d expressed some feelings in a pretty unconstructive way and knew that it wasn’t helping, so this part stepped in to help head that off. But keeping things bottled inside wasn’t working either. So instead I let myself just feel the feeling and be with it for a while. And that seemed to help quite a lot.

This part then wanted to jump ahead and have his turn for writing a song, since he felt he had something worthwhile to offer. The moment we started an Appreciative Inquiry for his song, he said it would have to be about expressing feelings, and how important it is to always express them but to also be careful about how. That was really the main thing, not whether, but how to express them, letting them be felt while at the same time keeping enough presence of mind to step back from them as they’re happening and channel them toward positive ends.

What he really liked about this topic was how level-headed it was. That it was about acknowledging that we all have so many different things inside. Even when one emotion or aspect of us might seem more obvious, the rest are always still there, too, and they all need to be recognized. All different feelings and aspects of ourselves need to come into play, and that’s what would help keep things level, keep things balanced. And the way to do that was to always have some part of you staying level-headed and calm, able to let the other feelings happen without being taken over by them, so that it could help see the feelings through without either acting them out destructively or pushing them down and ignoring them.

Thinking about the music, he really liked that music could create a sense of serenity and calmness, just like the calmness he felt a part of us should keep at all times even while other feelings go on. This made him think of peaceful songs, like the theme in the William Tell Overture — not the fast and busy “Lone Ranger” theme that’s most famous from that piece, but the part right before that one, where flutes quietly play a calm melody. The part often used in old cartoons when the sun would just be coming up over a quiet new day. He also thought of Hawaiian music, with its mellow, jangly guitars. That made him think of Jack Johnson, himself from Hawaii but doing his own contemporary brand of mellow, jangly guitar music. He felt that this direction would help his song serve as a sort of companion piece to Let It Out, showing the other side of the importance of emotion — not just the importance of feeling it to the fullest and letting it out, but the importance of having part of you stay in control while other parts experience strong feelings. This is what actually allows you to feel your feelings to the fullest without letting them take over.

From there, the song more or less wrote itself. It would talk about different feelings, and show how that’s all they are, feelings, different feelings we all have. Letting ourselves feel them, we could get through them. Unpleasant feelings could help us instead of being something to push away, and sometimes we might even need to stop ourselves from acting on pleasant feelings, since they could sometimes lead us to things that weren’t good for us. We just had to always hear what our feelings were trying to tell us in each situation, and we could only hear that if we stepped back and listened. Musically, it would take after Jack Johnson’s songs, since not only were they an inspiration for calm, but his songs for the movie Curious George were a nice example of the kind of all-ages appeal this album was trying to go for.

The next song written for Everyone's Invited was Rock Paper and Scissors.

Share your own stories — of art or other things that have inspired you, of how you came to do something artistic or creative, of how the OHB’s songs have impacted you, whatever you like — at the Fan Clan.
[tab:Credits]
Written by and Circle P - Phonorecord Copyright&© 2008 Mark S. Meritt (BMI). All rights reserved.

Dianne Mucci – Vocals
MSM – Instruments

Produced, arranged, recorded and mixed by MSM in the basement in the village, Red Hook, NY, using a MacBook Pro, MOTU Digital Performer 5.13, Native Instruments Kontakt 3, Quantum Leap Colossus, and an M-Audio Keystation Pro 88.

Vocals recorded in the garage on the mountain, Bloomingburg, NY.

Release Date: November 11, 2008
Album: Everyone's Invited
Track Number: 9
Length: 4:35

Written: 10th of the 12 songs for the album, February 2008
Key: Written in Db, transposed to G for recording
Arranged: 9th, starting April 6, 2008
Vocals recorded 9th, October 7, 2008
Mixed: 9th, starting October 8, 2008
[tab:Buy]

Just a Feeling — MP3 Single

Last modified on 1970-03-17 15:50:42 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

From the album Everyone's Invited

The OHB loves: CD Baby
Also available at these stores and more:

NapsterRhapsody

[tab:Donate]
I work hard on the songs and the site, giving away a lot of stuff for free. If I could make a living by making art, I could make — and give away — even more. That could actually happen if everyone who listened contributed just a little bit. If you’ve enjoyed some of my free music or other content — on the site, through downloads, however — why not take a second and make a contribution to support me in making more? Just click on the Donate button in the right sidebar. Thanks!

If you’d rather buy some music, that’s great, too! Click on the Buy tab above, or visit the Shop.

Either way, I really appreciate your support.
[tab:END]

The Animal School

November 9, 2008
By

Play the song here!

[tab:Lyrics]

At the Animal School, at the Animal School
Everybody learns, indeed
Running, climbing
Swimming, flying
Everything that everyone needs

The duck was excellent at swimming, good at flying, too
But with running and climbing he showed little hope
So they kept him after school to do some extra work
Running ’round the track and climbing up a rope

As his webbed feet and feathered wings became so badly worn
He was now only average when he’d fly and swim
And he heard the teachers say
“Average gets you through the day”
They all thought it was okay — except him

At the Animal School, at the Animal School
Everybody learns, indeed
Running, climbing
Swimming, flying
Everything that everyone needs

No-one could climb a tree as quickly as the little squirrel
And her flying was fine when starting treetop down
But her climbing suffered when her legs got sore because
The flying teacher made her take off from the ground

As for the eagle, he beat everybody to the top
But it’s cheating to fly in climbing class, and how
So they kept him after school
Sitting on a little stool
Writing, “I will follow rules, I vow”

At the Animal School, at the Animal School
Everybody learns, indeed
Running, climbing
Swimming, flying
Everything that everyone needs

The kangaroo could outrun everyone until the day
That the teacher said, “Use four legs like all the rest”
They said bear was dumb and lazy, but when school was closed
In the summer there was much that he did best

And when the gophers saw that no-one taught their kids to dig
They began a new private school to call their own
And though testing proved the bee’s
Wings were far too small, well, she
Just kept flying fancy free, even so

At the Animal School, at the Animal School
Everybody learns, indeed
Running, climbing
Swimming, flying
Everything that everyone needs

At the Animal School, at the Animal School
Everybody learns, indeed
It’s okay if we’re all middling
If we all learn every little thing
Yes, everything that everyone needs
[tab:Story]
This song and the album it comes from were written using Appreciative Inquiry and Internal Family Systems. With IFS, we can talk about different parts of ourselves as if they are separate people. Hopefully that clarifies why these stories at times refer to he, she and we!

Over time, different stories I’ve come across have really resonated with the kinds of things I wanted to get across in this album. One of those stories is “The Animal School.”

I first heard this story at the Northeast U.S. Daniel Quinn Meetup event which I organized. My old friend Bill Giruzzi, who first introduced me to both Daniel Quinn’s work and Appreciative Inquiry, and his wife Lisa Giruzzi were on hand to demonstrate AI. During a break, Bill told us the story of the school for animals, noting how, like AI, it had a lot to do with acknowledging different strengths instead of expecting the same things from everyone. I vividly remember smiling and even laughing in recognition of the story’s message.

I later found out that the story was originally written — some say in the 1940s, at least one reference I saw says it appeared as early as 1937 — by George H. Reavis while he was Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Cincinnati, OH. The original story is now in the public domain and has been told and retold with many variations. It’s become very popular among many different crowds — not only those involved in AI and strengths theory but people interested in education, positive psychology, emotional intelligence, multiple intelligences, personality types, individual differences, teacher education, professional development, personal growth, unschooling/homeschooling, unconditional parenting and much more.

The story has gained additional popularity as a result of the movie version at RaisingSmallSouls.com. It was Bill Giruzzi who, once again, let me know about this. He’d found it on the website of Marcus Buckingham, one of the leaders in strengths-based management. When I watched the video, I was really moved and found it extremely powerful. I quickly sent the link to a number of people.

At the same time, I noticed how different a reaction I had to it compared to the first time I’d heard the story, where the story’s insights seemed to be filled with humor instead of sentiment. When the time came to work on the album, I thought it would be nice to have amidst all the original songs something that some people might recognize. The notion of a “college fight song” occurred to me as a nice, relevant way to set this school-based story to music, making for a very obviously comic take on the tale. I took this on for the fifth song I’d write for the album. Since the story was already so solid, I didn’t really feel I needed to do an AI. Lyrically, it was mostly about editing and rhyming.

Music was another story. In a way, it was the most ambitious of all the songs on the album, needing something very different from the rock/pop arrangements of the other songs. I thought about some college fight songs and listened to a number of marches by John Philip Sousa. I then rememberd Edward Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance,” a slow march so many of us know from graduation ceremonies — another school connection. Beyond listening to these pieces, I actually studied up on how march pieces typically get arranged. One thing I discovered was that typical marches have a number of sections that are ordered in particular ways, making them very different from the kinds of songs people typically sing. I then remembered “Seventy-Six Trombones,” from the musical The Music Man. It’s very much a march but gives up the typical march structure to make a more typical verse/chorus song. Actually, it starts with the chorus, which some songs do. Either way, it was better for singing than the more complex standard marches. After some exploration, I came up with the basic themes for a chorus/verse march, sticking in some overt musical references to a couple of Sousa pieces as well as “Pomp and Circumstance” just for fun. Can you find them? :) I arranged the march as best I could with my limited knowledge of both orchestration and how to use the orchestral instruments in my software instrument libraries, and there you have it.

This was the third of four songs in a row where the writing wasn’t consciously done with a particular part of me, but I had a sense that different parts were stepping up to the plate, so to speak, focusing on different and appropriate topics. Later, when it became clear that each part should have its own song, I started doing an AI with a part of me that’s very interested in knowledge and efficiency. He talked about how he valued that we all have things that come naturally to us that we share, and how we also have things that come naturally to each of us but not everyone else, and how only when we really recognize what’s in us can we best build our knowledge and use it efficiently and effectively, doing our best learning. With such a potentially dry or serious topic, he wanted to make sure that the song about it would be fun. Quickly, he realized that this song about the animals in school pretty well reflected what he was after, and he claimed it as his own.

The next song written for Everyone's Invited was Go Get It.

Share your own stories — of art or other things that have inspired you, of how you came to do something artistic or creative, of how the OHB’s songs have impacted you, whatever you like — at the Fan Clan.
[tab:Credits]
Written by and Circle P - Phonorecord Copyright&© 2008 Mark S. Meritt (BMI). All rights reserved.

Lyrics based on the story published by ArtScroll / Mesorah Publications, Ltd., in turn based on the original story by George H. Reavis, now in the public domain.

Dianne Mucci – Vocals
MSM – Instruments

Produced, arranged, recorded and mixed by MSM in the basement in the village, Red Hook, NY, using a MacBook Pro, MOTU Digital Performer 5.13, EastWest/Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra Gold Complete, and an M-Audio Keystation Pro 88.

Vocals recorded in the garage on the mountain, Bloomingburg, NY.

Release Date: November 11, 2008
Album: Everyone's Invited
Track Number: 10
Length: 3:16

Written: 5th of the 12 songs for the album, starting January 30, 2008
Key: C
Arranged: 10th, starting April 7, 2008
Vocals recorded 7th, July 25, 2008
Mixed: 7th, starting September 22, 2008
[tab:Buy]
Here’s a bit of a secret: the form at the top-right of this page lets you get the MP3 of The Animal School for free! But if you really want to buy it, here’s the information:

The Animal School — MP3 Single

Last modified on 1970-03-17 15:49:18 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

From the album Everyone's Invited

The OHB loves: CD Baby
Also available at these stores and more:

NapsterRhapsody

[tab:Donate]
I work hard on the songs and the site, giving away a lot of stuff for free. If I could make a living by making art, I could make — and give away — even more. That could actually happen if everyone who listened contributed just a little bit. If you’ve enjoyed some of my free music or other content — on the site, through downloads, however — why not take a second and make a contribution to support me in making more? Just click on the Donate button in the right sidebar. Thanks!

If you’d rather buy some music, that’s great, too! Click on the Buy tab above, or visit the Shop.

Either way, I really appreciate your support.
[tab:END]