Make It a Dime

A song of doubt and lack of confidence. Every time I would move, this would happen:

Two, four, six, ten
it's Brian's back again

The pain in this is so true. Originally titled "Worst Things First" but I thought better of using such a turn of phrase for the title, lest I appear to proud of my cleverness.

When you don't know what you're doing
Things seem much worse
The only way to do it
Is to put worst things first

(Coming up next, some stray tracks and the lead in to the 2005 landmark (for the band and I), Inventory, a "radio and friends of BMR only release" called Pre-Inventory...oh my I am clever.)

In and Of Itself

Not a fan of this phrase. I will say nothing, stare blankly, pick my teeth or just walk away - rather than say it.

In and of itself, means: NO MEANING

What I do like is how just writing this song turned this into a pet peeve. It was not a big deal before, but after writing it...well I had to stick my poetic guns. So big joke is that "In and Of Itself" the song means no meaning. There are specks of truth in here though, which are to small in size but too large in consequence to go into.

Can I help you Brian Michael?
I reply, as if insightful, "In and of itself!"

Rocks and Minerals

This is kind of confusing. In a couple of days I will post the song "Make it a Dime". The chorus of this song was taken from one of the original choruses of that song. The weird thing (to me), is that this chorus was actually only one of the choruses being sung during the original chorus of that song...I mean there were two being sung at once. Oh wait, it get's weirder. Turns out there is actually no chorus at all on the "Make it a Dime" that wound up on this record!

I found this one lying covered in static and hiss on a tape full of mostly throw away song sketches that I recorded on a little Realistic hand-held tape recorder. I recorded that sketch before the war in Iraq started, so the line referring to the military was proven particularly prescient by the time I got around to recording it for real. Sometimes there is gold on those type of tapes. Sometimes there is just an embarrassing plastic bottle of glitter.

This song wound up being a band and crowd favorite. Crowds (I use the term very loosely - as there are rarely true "crowds" at my shows) respond to the end:

Shrug your shoulders, you're inside
Shrug your shoulders, it's applied
Oh! The balance there has been
Old embarrassments begin
Feeling like rock and minerals

The New Me

When I was 17 my friends all started getting cars. This one kid, John, got a vintage VW Beetle. At that age, it is all about pushing limits and trying to find out where your boundaries are. It is an awkward way to live. And at this time you can also set a lifelong course. Will I be the type who seeks out truth and information, even if it does not bring joy? So one night, I pushed the limits on that VW Beetle, riding on the rails while John drove around in circles, in the parking lot of a closed McDonald's. John shifted gears, my hand slipped and off I tumbled. My head could have been under that narrow tire - but I just ended up with a torn up right arm.

Want something that instantly forgives,
Not a mark on my arm, a fading scar...

Blissful ignorance ceased at that moment.

Emergency

I wrote this during a time when I was listening to a lot of Phil Ochs. I'd never written a song with a sing-a-long chorus before and that was the idea for this one. A protest song like "I Ain't Marching Anymore" has so much power to rally. I may have said it before but I will say it again, I am no activist folkie. What came out here turns out to be nothing like what inspired me, but isn't that better? So the emergency is, as expected, inside me. The rest is another tale of sour characters and places, mostly invented and revolving around the fictitious Camp Benjamin Franklin. Where we cursed Thomas Edison for his light bulbs that chase away the animals and worse yet reminds us where we are.

Initially the lyric was something where I took far too much poetic license:

Edison, invents light. Thomas E. wasn't right

Yikes! I am glad I did not keep that line. But really, when I first wrote this the lyrics to the verses were less important than the "emergency" chorus. But as it was reworked for this release the verses got less frivolous, and the whole feel gets a little more cryptic.

Now I'm not counting your fortune, but I saw your money clip through your pants.
Those rooks were taking Liberty out for a dance - and swing she did.

Admittedly, by the time this song was recorded, I was under the influence of M. Ward, which is clearly evident to my ears.

The Neverending Cause of Everything

I want to make an honest sound
I want the sound to be the truth
I want the truth a sudden sense
Like nothing sensible before it

This is kind of like my anthem. This wraps me up in a fit bag. Not sure if I always achieve this but it is always in my head - make it honest and true. I think the truth when expressed right can hit and hurt. But when you fall over, there is realization.

The gift of an accordion from Tim was obviously a big influence on this recording - if he had only gifted me lessons.....

In the Analog Woods (2004 CD-EP)

I lived in the analog woods. Well actually, among the analog trees. The original name of this was "In the Analog Trees", but then I found some references that made me believe that tape traders and jam bands already took possession of that term (although now it is strangely absent from Google). Anyway, I wound up liking the name I chose better. The idea of this EP was to dust off some old tracks I had written but never recorded a good version of (if at all). I was longing for the days of the Tascam 4-track aesthetic, loose and more restrictive and a grittier sound than I was getting using digital recording. So I got to work, in the analog woods, in a minor studio in the attic of an 18th century ice house turned gardeners cottage I had the honor of living in.

There were also some rules I came up with. Conceptual art had been a pursuit of mine since I first heard about it at art school and specifically using a system to create art by faithfully adhering to rules, regardless of outcome. Now my rules were pretty loose for this project but I still felt obliged to abide by them.

Rule 1: Use only 4 tracks
Rule 2: Use only acoustic instruments
Rule 3: Use any combination of banjo, acoustic guitar, accordion, and voice

For better or worse, that was how it went. I also had goals. I did not want to self release this one. I saw this label Keep Recordings (now defunct...I don't think I had anything to do with that) that was doing great limited edition discs with excellent packaging. We chatted, we agreed to the release in an edition of 100. And what do you know, it sold out! What an exciting time for BMR.