I don't want to think about my life I just want the world to disappear around the time I close my eyes and when I open them there won't be anyone to stop me from eating cookies and smoking cigarettes all day

I don't really care about anything nothing seems to peak my less than interesting interest in anything but sleep despite the best attempts of my Hasidic neighbor's best attempts at keeping me awake.  

Shitty Beatles (Less Blown Out)

Remember: Life's a bitch and it won't always fit into some carefully constructed but entirely unrealistic projection of your future, k?

The Hologram Is Dissipating Cassette Recording Mp3

Untitled Mk III

Tiniest Seed

Chet Atkins Diet

Written as an writng assignment for a songwriting workshop hosted by School of Song and Adrianne Lenker from Big Thief.

Lyrics:

midnight in tall grass
near the trees down by the lake
with august in our wake
hidden from the wind
sharing knowing grins
in summer's shedding skin

the din of the highway
and the light off the strip mall
cast shadows on your face
and reflections on the lake
here in autumn's womb
with grass stains on our jeans
with summer at our backs
howling at the moon

C G D G G D Tuning

August In Our Wake

We used to work on songs
At our place downtown
The walk to the loft was always a slog
In the cold february fog

The wind blew unopposed
Through our old winter coats
We’d take the shortcut by the tracks
With guitars on our backs
No hiding from the snow
But it was worth it for the view
Of the factories at night

We used to work on songs
But mostly we got drunk
We spent our time laying traps
For the dreams we wanted to catch
It was worth it just to know
That we made something true

That place was always cold
Because the goddamn heater broke
When we needed it the most
for a runaway like me
It almost felt like home

We used to work on songs
At our place downtown
The walk to the loft was always a slog
But it was worth it at the time
Because it felt like pushing back
From the all encroaching black
Where everything is light
And you never need to look back
Like another crashing wave
Returning to the sea
And for a heretic like me
It was what I needed to behold

The Shortcut By The Tracks

Written as an assignment for songwriting workshop hosted by Adrianne Lenker at School of Song. This assignment focussed on using open tunings and fingerpicking patterns to create drones that allow for a less structured and rational approach to songwriting and lyric writing.

Tuning D A D F# A 

D
Grasping at straws
Let it all go
Be like the wind
Precious and thin
Close to the well
Close to the deep
Fragments of grief 
You’re half asleep

Walls are breaking

Fork in the road 
Sound of the cars
Head over heels 
Head in the stars
Close to the well
Close to the breach
Close to the thing we all used to be

Walls are racing 

Longing to hold you

Closer To The Well

This song was written as part of a Songwriting Workshop taught by Phil Elverum. 

The assignment was to write a Haibun inspired by writing after daily meditation practices. What follows are the observations made during a visit to the dental surgeon. 

A Trip To The Dental Surgeon Inspires Unexpected Revelations

The woman in the seat facing me at the back of the bus keeps coughing.
Echoes of a more paranoid time. 
A large man near the front of the bus is muttering to himself ominously while he fidgets with the emergency handle on the side of the window
Avoid sustained eye contact. 
A cute tattoo on the knee of the person next to me
Someone gets on the bus and I am suddenly aware of the smell of Oregano, Flowers, and Sunscreen.

The Woman-Who-Coughs looks ready for the beach
When I google the name printed on her tote bag, it leads me to a designer glasses brand whose copy includes the words “Saint-Tropez” several times on the first page
The passengers are getting older the closer to downtown we get
There are two middle aged men wearing almost, but not quite identica,l short sleeve green plaid button ups and matching gray backpacks, they are not looking at each other

I transfer busses and take the same seat
A blue electric bicycle runs a red light, and the bus almost hits them
They were wearing a helmet
False sense of security
Double monk strap shoes, love to see it
Unibrow, love to see it
An out of breath older woman thanks the driver as she boards
This is my stop


I enter the lobby and board the elevator. With me is a doctor wearing scrubs in his mid forties, a janitor in his late fifties, and two women, one of whom is wearing a vibrant dress, and holding a cup of coffee and a pack of cigarettes.
The doctor complains that his office is too cold, and asks the janitor if anything can be done about it. He says that the temperature difference has to do with room size and tut-tuts the doctor's rebuttal.
The woman in the dress asks the Janitor if he remembers Jeff, the guy who stood her up. The bell chimes and they both get off the elevator.
The other woman tells the doctor that her office is too warm
The door chimes and on his way out, the doctor says sarcastically, “well stop by my office if you want to cool off”

When I get to the office, there are impossible orchids in the waiting room
Epoxy water
Fake plastic trees

Good news: I don't have to go under
Bad news: insurance won't cover it


My therapist has been encouraging me to do something nice for myself when I overcome my anxiety. Positive reinforcement. I decide to go to a diner nearby for breakfast.

The waitress at Chez Nick tells the client in his late twenties sitting next to me at the bar that she's from Greece.
“Kalamata, like the olives. In the south”
She asks him if he's Egyptian. Confused, he asks her if he looks Egyptian. She tells him her daughter married an Egyptian. 
She asks where he's from and he says he and his friend next to him are from Syria, but that they grew up here.
The waitress says that she's sorry about the war. He thanks her and says “as long as my parents are ok, I'm ok”. The restaurant is filling up and I get the feeling that she has other tables that need her attention. Another waitress brings them their breakfasts and she says Bon Appetit before hurrying in the direction of her other tables.

His order is unhinged:
A grilled cheese sandwich,
Three scrambled eggs and a cappuccino milkshake
He tells the waitress that he wants to go “full diner” today
Love to see it

As I return to my own meal, I flip over a piece of perfectly brown toast and see that the other side is black. I chuckle, and think about my own time hiding imperfections while plating breakfast at a more corporate version of this diner when I first moved to the city.

Bittersweet Symphony plays on the radio and the beauty of the moment almost brings me to tears.

Relinquish control
The world is breathing stories
Waves return to the sea

A Trip To The Dental Surgeon Inspires Unexpected Revelations

I Left You Near The Golden Square Mile

The sun was low
When I left you 
That evening near the Golden Square Mile

At odds with myself
But with our friend's help
We moved out the last of my things

Half awake, half dead
I can barely recall
In truth I was somebody else

What does come to mind
Is how the sun felt
Sweeter in the evening that fall 

One step at a time
Walking the line
Avoiding my own reflection

No one said a word
I remember the birds
Singing in bushes nearby

Now ten years on
I hear your voice
Safe in my new apartment

You whispered to me 
“Don't leave”
And part of me never left

I Left You Near The Golden Square Mile

Writing Assignment for Phil Elverum's School Of Song Songwriting Workshop.

Tuning: DADF#AD

Standing on your balcony
you light another smoke
In the hazy air you see 
the future getting close
With confidence you say that we'll
both live a hundred years
No room it seems for irony
on summer's downward slope

5am at seventeen
the sunrise on the dash
Headed home the breeze was warm
I couldn't wait to leave
Free from what I couldn't say
the list was getting long
All I heard was future's song
ringing in my ears

Are you reeling in the years?
Are you stowing away the time?
Have you lost sight of all the stars
that guide you home?
Heed the call
Do not resolve
The Ocean's endless song

The night you left won't soon forget
My mother at the door
Knew before she said a word 
that you weren't coming back
Death it seems is just like dreams
it opens closing doors
Wishes running down our cheeks
end what came before

Refrain

Stowing Away The Time

This piece was written as a songwriting assignment during a workshop with Brian Eno in January 2025. 

The writing prompt involved three steps:
Getting outside of the studio and observing the environment
Writing down my observations
Creating a song that takes inspiration from the experience of observing the environment

I've always been interested in the relationship between listener and creator. How the listener's interpretation of a song can be wildly different from the creator's. Sometimes finding out the creator's inspiration for the song can change the listener's perspective of the song, and change the way they listen to it moving forward.

This piece explores that relationship and offers both listener and creator to explore how our perspective and interpretation changes upon hearing the other's perspective. 

You'll start by listening to the music own
You'll read the observations that were used to create the music
You'll be asked to share your experience of listening to the piece after reading my observations

If you'd like to take part you can fill out this Google Form to see my observations and share your experience:

https://forms.gle/BFMtHzvzeXRvRA26A

Brian Eno Week 1 Where Are You Now?

Inspired by one of the phrases from an exercise in Brian Eno's copy of "Spanish In 3 Months". 

Specifically the phrase "The window overlooks a very busy street"

I had to use an uneven time signature, and had to flip a coin to decide the chord sequences between G and D chords

Using only phrases from the exercise, I created an impressionistic narrative:

The window overlooks a very busy street
I was dreaming of all the places I have visited
Don’t go near the edge
He doesn’t want to think of all the problems
You know you can count on me
The success of the play depends on the actors
They don’t doubt my good will
He leaned out of the car window
Don’t go near the edge
The window overlooks a very busy street
I didn’t notice what she was wearing
I have to say goodbye to my colleagues
I was dreaming of all the places I have visited

I had a lot of fun experimenting with this one and finding the music in it. Let me know what you think!

Week 2 - The Window Overlooks A Very Busy Street

The prompt for this song was to write a song of revolution and write based around a free-writing exercise answering the question:

what future do I want for the world?

When I'm feeling hopeless, the act of making time to un-critically imagine a better future can feel like an act of rebellion. I started there, and ended up writing a children's song aimed as much at the parents listening as the children I'm singing to.

Before I started the exercise I came up with a few limitations for the song:

1. Keep it SO simple
2. Anyone should be able to play and sing it (only a few chords, and make them the first chords people learn on guitar) - ended up being Amaj / Dmaj and occasionally Gmaj
3. It should be written and played in standard tuning
4. Keep the language simple
5. Keep to very simple rhymes
6. Have a catchy refrain and include invitations to sing along
7. Record it on my phone 

Everbody Gets To Eat Lyrics:

everybody gets to eat, everybody gets a place to sleep
it's that simple, can't we all agree?
these things ought to be guaranteed

speaking of rest, starting today:
we get unlimited paid vay-cay
we all want purpose, but not at the tip of a spear
we all long for meaning

so many people, other than you
who's to blame? what could you possibly do?
keep it simple, silly, keep these words close to you
don't let em tell ya, it's too hard to do

Sing it with me now! (Refrain)

everybody gets to pray
everybody gets a part in the play
it's that simple, or don't you believe?
we all long for answers

speaking of questions, we all get a choice
no more commands, we all get a voice
no more coercion, looking down the barrel of a gun
we all long to live free

no means no, and yes means yes,
that's as simple as it gets folks!
surely, even you can sympathize?

so many people other than you, 
who's to blame? what could you possibly do?
keep it simple, keep these words close to you,

Now let's sing it together, loud enough for em to hear it through the walls!

Refrain x 2

Everybody Gets To Eat

Old Punks//New Dogs

Autotelic

Live @ 5893

Spring Will Always Wait For You

Tripping On The Flowers Woven In The Carpet

Apostasy (A Spacetime Odessey)

You Can Live Forever (In Paradise On Earth)

"It's the way home should be, the way the windows frame the trees."

Mal

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