Name: The Stranger Song (Leonard Cohen) by Aaron J. Shay
Duration: 5 min 24 s
Description: This is one of my favorite Leonard Cohen songs. I wanted to get this done by his birthday, but it was not to be. I'm glad to present it now.

Prince discussing Chappelle Show / Charlie Murphy skit (2004.04.19)

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"A MOTHER’S CONFESSION": a song with footnotes
by Amanda Palmer
 "A MOTHER’S CONFESSION": a song with footnotes cover art
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Staifany Oh my, oh my, oh my ! I'm a new mom too, and I couldn't stop crying while listening to this... I feel so alone these days... But now I feel better thanks to you... <3
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READ ALL 69 FOOTNOTES TO THIS SONG (plus see the gallery) AT: bit.ly/amothersconfession 


written by amanda palmer with input from jason webley, who didn’t know what “publix” meant. 

amanda palmer - piano and vocals 
 jason webley - accordion, glockenspiel, bass drum, choral conducting, engineering, mixing, canoe. 
 the floating drum collective - choral optimism   
anthony or ash for short - himself 

recorded in jason webley’s houseboat, february 12, the day after it was written, which was the 11th. 

this song is able to be free/pay-what-you-want because it was paid for by the 7,000 people supporting my patreon. 
join the community (it is awesome) and help me make more Things at: www.patreon.com/amandapalmer

"A MOTHER’S CONFESSION": a song with footnotes (Demo)

DOWNLOAD THE SONG FOR FREE/PAY WHAT YOU CAN at bandcamp: https://amandapalmer.bandcamp.com/track/machete

this song was written in memory of anthony: best friend, cancer victim, weapons enthusiast, life-saver and….it’s a long story. but a good one. 
read it here: bit.ly/AFPMachete

PLEASE LISTEN WITH HEADPHONES IF POSSIBLE.
this recording was able to come into being created because of my incredible patreon community.
if you want to support more making of Things, please consider joining us: https://www.patreon.com/amandapalmer

the band:
amanda palmer - piano and vocals
jherek bischoff - electric bass, string arrangement, mixing & mastering engineer, bad-ass
ben folds - drums, spiritual editor
ryan lerman - electric guitar 
aniela marie perry -  cello
lauren elizabeth baba -  viola
crystal brooke alforque -  violin

sound engineers: 
chris kahn at eastwest studio LA (band)
jaron luksa at the rattle room (vocals and strings)

thanks to mayumi heider for cat-herding, and to mayumi, risa luksa, and gracie folds for childcare.


lyrics:
MACHETE. 

i have never liked the box of knives 
you said was a paradox because you’re kind 
but withstood a childhood that robbed you blind 
of love that was safe and so you learned to fight 
x3 

what do i do with this stuff? 
it seems like yesterday i called you up 
i had a terrible case of the past 
i didn’t know how to get it off 
i didn’t know how to get it off 

and you took 
your machete 
and you sliced through the vines that wrapped around me 
and you said 
i don’t know what i’m doing 
so i’ll just keep on cutting 
it’s worth a little blood to get your arms free 

i have never liked the box of knives 
you said was a paradox because you’re kind 
but withstood a childhood that robbed you blind 
of love that was safe and so you learned to fight 
x2 

what do i do with this stuff? 
it seems like yesterday i was in love 
i kept of covering the soft parts up 
i didn’t know how to get them off 
i didn’t know how to get them off 

and you took your machete 
and you hacked through the woods in the surrounding 
and you said 
i don’t know where i’m going 
i just know that i’m heading from 
the dead things piling up behind me 

and you took 
your machete 
and you carved out a path to my chest and you said see 
there’s nothing not worth keeping 
you’ve felt so many beatings 
but 
nothing’s going to work if you believe me 
nothing’s going to work if you believe me 

i have never liked the box of knives 
you said was a paradox because you’re kind 
but withstood a childhood that robbed you blind 
of love that was safe and so you learned to fight 
x2 

i have never liked the box of knives 
i took it to the oceanside the day you died 
i stood out on the dock 
no matter how hard i tried 
i couldn’t drop them in 
and i collapsed and cried: 

what do i do with this stuff? 
it seems like yesterday you were alive 
and it’s as if you never really died 
and it’s as if you never really died. 

and you took 
your machete 
and you said boo guess who 
but seriously, beauty 
you said 
see ? 
you get the drill now don’t you 
it’s not a will or won’t 
you can’t keep making symbols out of nothing 

so i took your machete 
and i sliced off your head and you laughed 
and you said see 
it’s just like anti matter 
it’s dumbo’s magic feather 
you don’t need me here to cut you 
you don’t need me here to cut you 
you don’t need me here to cut you 
you don’t need me here to cut you 

free.

Machete (Demo)

Closer To Closure is a song from Jherek Bischoff's forthcoming album Cistern, out July 15th on The Leaf Label. 
Cistern is an album inspired by time Bischoff spent improvising in an empty, two-million-gallon, underground water tank, with a 45-second reverb decay. The unique acoustics of the space forced Bischoff to slow down and adapt his compositional approach - something which, unexpectedly, brought him back to his childhood, and the slow-pace of life he experienced growing up on a sailboat.

Pre-order now: bit.ly/CisternBC

CREDITS
Composed, Produced, Mixed & Mastered by Jherek Bischoff
Recorded by Patrick Higgins at Future-­Past Studios, NY
Photography by Alex Stoddard
Art Direction by Jan Lankisch

MUSICIANS
Jherek Bischoff - Percussion 
Contemporaneous 
David Bloom - Conductor 
Vicente Alexim - Clarinet 
John Gattis - Horn 
Evan Honse - Flugelhorn 
Daniel Linden - Trombone 
Matt Evans - Percussion 
Kate Dreyfuss - Violin 
Marina Kifferstein - Violin 
Josh Henderson - Violin 
Nikita Morozov - Violin 
Nicole Parks - Violin 
Finnegan Shanahan - Violin 
Kallie Chieckhomski - Viola 
Sarah Haines - Viola 
Dylan Mattingly - Cello 
Matthew Smith - Cello 
Pat Swoboda - Contrabass 
Additional Musicians 
Serena McKinney - Violin 
Lauren Baba - Viola 
Aniela Marie Perry - Cello 

(c) 2014 Jherek Bischoff, worldwide administration by Nettwerk One Music (Canada) limited, on behalf of Brassland Projects Inc (BMI) 
(p) 2016 Jherek Bischoff under licence to The Leaf Label Ltd 
(c) 2016 The Leaf Label Ltd

Cistern

Closer To Closure

For the Patrons: this is the full, uncut 25-minute live version of The Sound of People Dancing, the "sonic postcard" written and recorded at Le Poisson Rouge on July 20th with my touring partners Thor & Friends. a cleaned-up, shortened version will be mastered later for public download here and for bandcamp, youtube, itunes etc.  If you're a member of the public and you've stumbled upon this, no problem. we're working on it - join the patreon to join the discussion and support the art: https://www.patreon.com/amandapalmer

Meanwhile: Patrons....enjoy and hit me with feedback on the discussion page about cuts & ideas. 

CREDITS:
Amanda Palmer - words, piano, vocals
Thor Harris - xylophone and clarinet 
Sarah Gautier - vibraphone
Peggy Ghorbani - marimba
Brockett Hamilton - pedal steel
Elizabeth Warren - Viola
Penny Buentello - clarinet

Crew at Le Poisson Rouge:
Jay Eigenmann - Engineer, mixing, mastering
Bernard Girman - Asst. Engineer
Francesca Cecala - Asst. Engineer
Recorded live at (le) poisson rouge

LYRICS:

there’s so much sorrow in the water now
it’s hard to tell what’s natural tasting
is your reservoir infected?
is your heart no longer working?

did you drink it?
from which faucet, ma’am?

i don’t know….who’s asking?

last night my friend’s mother died of cancer...
drowned in a fountain of blood from her own mouth
and since she didn’t have insurance
well, it was a sad thing 
she went…not right.
a budget passing.

get it?

three days ago we drove through DC 
and we saw the flags at half mast
flying - well, more like hanging - in the heat, like they’d given up on being flags

and there's so much bad news lately that we found ourselves remarking 
that we had no clue which tragedy or which deaths their state was marking...

and who do you ask that, anyway?
is there a number you can call?
is there an app?
is there a hotline?

...is there a woman in a basement keeping track of what all of these things are costing?

there’s so much sorrow in the water now 
we don’t know if we’re coming 
or we’re going
or who’s shooting who
or who’s grieving 
or who’s watching
or if we’re helping
or we’re harming 
or if we’re catching
or releasing….

but last night after the show i girl i’d never met held me in her arms
and she told me that her father had been shot
by a policeman

we’re holding our breath in this nightclub, in the bathroom
we’ve been trapped in here for a couple of weeks
we’re not sure what’s going on out there
but we heard there was a gunman
it might just be 
the sound of people dancing

boom….boom…boom…boom…
it might just be the sound of people dancing

i’m with my family right now, in new york
we’re among the living
they’re from oklahoma, and iran, and new orleans 
and from austin

and the people 
we keep trying 
to keep trusting
they keep failing 
but its ’s hard to cross them off lists
so we cross them like priests
as if we can absolve them
with the delusion that people can change
on a dime 
in an instant

is it you?
is it me?
or is it the world that isn’t changing?

there’s so much sorrow in the water now that we’re no longer
dying of aging, we’re dying of worse things….
we’re dying of hatred.

we threw all the guns in the ocean
but there were too many
and the sea couldn’t hold them
and the coastal plains flooded
and that 
wall
they 
built?

it busted.

and the waters rushed in
and the heartland started rusting.

i don't know.

it might just be the sound of people dancing.
it might just be the sound of people dancing.


on the way to the venue today, to record this, i walked by two girls in washington square park
and i caught one line of their conversation  
she said
"i’ll avoid conflict at all costs”
but the question is:

what is it costing?

…it might just be…the sound…of people dancing….



The Sound of People Dancing (w/ Thor & Friends) - Live Uncut Version

demo

In Your Hall (demo)

This is one of my favorite Leonard Cohen songs. I wanted to get this done by his birthday, but it was not to be. I'm glad to present it now.

The Stranger Song (Leonard Cohen)

I was recently commissioned to write a song about the client's girlfriend's Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic. I don't read or write fic and I'm not at all familiar with the Sonic fandom, so this was definitely a challenge, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. A lot of people were interested in hearing the outcome, so here it is!

Here's the artist in question's original character art and such. Be nice! http://sonar15.deviantart.com

For more information on my commissions, check out my site! http://sarahshay.com/commissions

Commissions

Sonar's Song (or "The Healer's Melody") [commission]

"Everybody Knows" by the late and great Leonard Cohen, sung and played on piano by Amanda Palmer with additional arrangement for string quartet by Jherek Bischoff. 

This project was funded by 9,408 people on http://patreon.com/amandapalmer

Limited prints of this original artwork by Vladimir Zimakov, with *all proceeds* benefitting PEN america (an organization that defends and protects the rights writers and journalists, sorely needed in the upcoming era of Trump) available here: http://shop.amandapalmer.net/collections/featured/products/limited-edition-cohen-print

Credits:

artwork by vladimir zimakov (http://www.vladimirzimakov.com/)

written by leonard cohen and sharon robinson

amanda palmer - piano and vocals
recorded at akashic studio in boulder, colorado, engineered by prasanna bishop

etienne abelin - violin
ola sendecki - violin
david schnee - viola
lukas raaflaub - cello

recorded by benjamin gut at idee und klang studio in basel, switzerland
arranged, mixed and mastered by jherek bischoff

Amanda Palmer - “Everybody Knows” / “Democracy”  (Leonard Cohen)

Amanda Palmer & Jherek Bischoff - "Everybody Knows" (Leonard Cohen)

"Democracy" by the late and great Leonard Cohen, played on piano by Amanda Palmer, words by Neil Gaiman.

Watch the video by David Mack and Olga Nunes here: https://pen.org/donate-democracy

This project was funded by 9,408 people on http://patreon.com/amandapalmer

Limited prints of this original artwork by Vladimir Zimakov, with *all proceeds* benefitting PEN america (an organization that defends and protects the rights writers and journalists, sorely needed in the upcoming era of Trump) available here: http://shop.amandapalmer.net/collections/featured/products/limited-edition-cohen-print

Credits:

artwork by vladimir zimakov (http://www.vladimirzimakov.com/)

written by leonard cohen

neil gaiman - vocals
recorded by patrick o'leary at john marshall media studio in new york city.

amanda palmer - piano
recorded by prasanna bishop at akashic studio in boulder, colorado

etienne abelin - violin
ola sendecki - violin
david schnee - viola
lukas raaflaub - cello

recorded by benjamin gut at idee und klang studio in basel, switzerland
arranged, mixed and mastered by jherek bischoff

Amanda Palmer & Neil Gaiman - "Democracy" (Leonard Cohen)

Cosmology

A writer & performer from Seattle who composes catchy songs for ukulele and banjo. This is where he posts some songs-in-progress and demos.

The Stranger Song (Leonard Cohen)

Aaron J. Shay

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