Sung by me and played on my classical guitar and my good friend Harley's electric guitar. If you want to hear more cool tunes from Harley, check out his SoundCloud at https://soundcloud.com/harley-spring-112020278 . It's worth noting that his solo at the end is entirely improvised, and performed expertly on the first take.

This song is dedicated to my fierce and loyal cat Sadie, who died on September 20th 2018.

But either way, it's a song. Enjoy!

Lyrics:

Home. When you woke, you were alone, you were alone
Home. When I woke, I was alone, I was alone
Home, home is a beast, that we must feed, when we’re in need
Oh, flee the peace, the rope that we weave, oh why do we weave.

I laid your foundation over rising waves,
Then I smiled and hid my head beneath your sand,
There’s no drug greater than the joy of now,
The joy of touch, the joy of warmth, the joy of reaching hands

Row, Through the ghosts, my old ship goes, my old ship goes,
Know, who we fight, hide the light of our foes
Only at night, hold me tight, till you tire,
Warmth doesn’t hold, die in cold, or in fire.

I laid your foundation over rising waves,
Then I smiled and hid my head beneath your sand,
There’s no drug greater than the joy of now,
The joy of touch, the joy of warmth, the joy of reaching hands

Frayed wires always spark the nearest thing, they do not breathe
Frayed ropes, dark and tattered: they will scratch anything
Rogue waves heed no man, they drag their victims out mercilessly
And every ship someday will sink into the sea

But you were my atoll, you kept me above the sea
You were underwater but you still had my feet
You always were my atoll, you kept me whole, you kept me afloat
And now I’m drifting away as you sink beneath the waves

Atoll Ft. Harley Spring (Magic Finger)

Sung by me and played on my classical guitar, recorded with my onboard computer mic and mixed using Audacity recording software.

This is the first song I wrote that I liked and didn't throw out before finishing it. I wrote it for an open mic at my college, Hofstra University, in the spring before I got my Soundcloud, so that's why you haven't seen it before. It's a quite satisfying lullaby, although the main focus of it is insomnia :P . As always, enjoy! Or don't, whatevs!

Lyrics:

The streets are dead, the windows shut, the world begins to gather dust,
Like the inside of a snow-globe that someone shook awhile ago,

Outside dark cars sit back to back,The mural on the roof is black.
The actors haven’t returned yet.To this abandoned movie set.

And I slip out of the world, As if I were a ghost.

The curtains close: I’m headlining a vaudeville show, my friends look on as I lead off the stage
Into a hole. The monsters in my head died long ago. A prozac tombstone marks their grave
Above my home, my father makes me oatmeal for the road, it’s bland but I don’t mind the taste.

The bus arrives, I don my uniform and pack a lighter and a joint to while away
The time: it flies so far away like blinking satellites that I once thought were stars. That’s my mistake.
“So run. Don’t FIght. Don’t let them touch your heart: you’ll be alright.” Their adult voices punctuate the summer haze.

Back when we were young we dreamt of worlds so weird and wild.
Monstrous beings and grand machines were playthings to a child.
I once saw a golden army make its final stand
Beneath the armor everyone I loved stood hand to hand.

But the Autumn my eyes were turned to ice.
We built our homes but we still paid the price
It’s empty where the army stood before,
I guess we won the fight but lost the war

There is a mountain, it’s looming over me. It’s all I see.
The gate is locked shut, but I will forge the key, I will be free.
Your face is soft but it’s burrowed into me. It’s all I see.
And I have locked myself in, but I will forge my      key. I will be free.

Your face it fades, the mountain falls, the gate: it breaks. My head begins to whir
As drones of cars replace the whispers in my mind. The world begins to stir
And end the dark. The light creeps 
in as I sit on my bed, Awake, And alone.

First Quarter Lullaby

Sung by me and played on my guitar, recorded on my PC using Audacity recording software.

So this isn't quite a re-master, but it is a recording which fixes a lot of the thumps and buzzes in the original song, and I'm personally happy about the improvement. I will be recording a version with my studio mic when I return to college in about a month.

As always, enjoy:

When I had less time on my hands I thought their grasp would hold forever,
Back then the world was lighter.
My buddy cracked his smile, he joked about pushing the bastards on the floor
Smiles were live or die then.
And his friends that weren’t mine joked about loving girls and leaving 
While I just stood 
On the outside looking at their communion and seeing a locked door
Another boy who built himself a cage

We’re all products of our age.
Let the feeling slip away.
People come and go like waves,
Feel the breeze upon your face.
X2

Back then when people held my hand
 I’d try to put on manacles.
And when people laughed 
I’d put it in a jar beneath my pillow.

The grass grew taller then
 but it fell beneath my workman’s hand,
I chopped down so carefully:
 the baby leaves, the evergreens, the maple, oak and willow.

I turned their leafs to stone
The stones flew away in the breeze

Now you and I collide 
I can feel your gravity
Your voice is fire, I’d be the witness,
But I can’t see

We’ve had a great night but
I can’t believe
Our flame’s been out since day broke
You’re drifting away from me
x2

Ooooooooooooooh,
Ooooooooooooooooooh,
Ooooooooooooooh,
Oooooooooh.
Will you and I survive
To die together happily
Well if you run I’d shout you down,
But I can’t breathe

We’ve had a good run but
I can’t believe the flame we shared 
is just hot air
We’re drifting in the breeze

Will you and I survive
To die together happily
Well if you run I’d shout you down,
But I can’t breathe

We’ve had a good run but
I can’t believe the flame we cared for
was just hot air

We’re all products of our age.
Let the feeling slip away.
People come and go like waves,
Feel the breeze upon your face

We’re all products of our age.
Let the feeling slip away.
People come and go like waves,
Feel the breeze upon your face, it blows you away
It blows you away
It blows you away

The Breeze

Sung by me and played on my classical, recorded using my AT2020 mic and mixed using Audacity recording software. This may be my favorite song to date.

As always, enjoy!

Lyrics:

When you came into my world you were so thin
I put my roof above you so the cold wouldn’t get in

We made paper cranes, well mostly you did
I watched over but you didn’t see me

In past I looked a father though I acted like a ghost
And now I look a ghost, though looks can be deceiving,

I watched you sliding down the icy road in winter
You didn’t mind the bruises or the cold

I feared you’d slip away just like the one before
But I’ll stand my post as you keep growing older and older and

Now it’s time for you to go into the world
I’m just a wisp, go find a better life my girl

And I wish you could see me
I don’t want you to go

All that I’ve loved is on the other side
Walk through that door before I change my mind

You’re alright, forgive the ghost in your small soul, let it go, it’ll make you whole

I never thought that I’d be called to you again, 40 years down the line
Weathered like a stone, but as thin as when you met me, hooked up to a hospital dripline

Even though you’re sleeping now surrounded by your gains,
I can almost see those older says

The doctor tells your family that they should let you go
But the grand machine beside you makes you stay

I know you're smart, if there's a lock, you'll turn the key
But until then it seems your stuck in here like me

And I wish that you could see me
I don't want you to go
All that I’ve loved is on the other side
Walk through that door before I change my mind

You’re alright, forgive the ghost in your small soul, let it go, it’ll make you whole
It’ll make you whole

All that I’ve loved is on the other side
Walk through that door before I change my mind

You’re alright, forgive the ghost in your small soul, let it go, it’ll make you whole

Your small soul

Sung by me and played on my classical guitar, recorded using my AT2020 and mixed in Audacity. I seem to have regained the mojo I had this summer because new tunes have been coming to me almost every day this week. I wrote this one as two songs initially but the guitar bit in the middle tied the two together while being (for me) the highlight of the song. I also discovered the incredible envelope tool, which allowed me to mix the audio much more cleanly than I usually do (in the past I've just used the Amplify tool on specific sections to mix the sounds). I'm amazed that there's so much more to learn in Audacity, and I'm definitely going to try to experiment more with the effects in my future songs. I'll also try to add more instruments like synth and percussion in future tracks. 

Enjoy!

Lyrics:

Hey murph
How’s it feel, living on a bell curve
Scared of a cave of sulfur
Getting up each day just to see her, hear her but you never touch her

Hey dave
Did you get caught up in the new wave
Trying to lose yourself in soundwaves
Trying to find love in this place, no face, come and join the rat race

Guitar

Alice
Living in your own glass palace
Think your friends have superpowers
Whispering your dreams to the flowers
Alice, they don’t care about ya

And it goes on
And it goes on
And it keeps going on till the end of it all

Your on your own now
So keep your head tall
There are no seatbelts in this car
And you may fall

Well I dropped my eyes yesterday
On a wet road
And that same annoying song kept
Radiating from my phone

I clawed tooth and nail through the hail to put them on again
I’ve been seeing that white light since 2010

And insurance never covers death by the unknown
So let’s dive in deep and maybe meet some secrets of our own
-

Living on a Bell Curve

Recorded on my AT2020, played on my classical guitar, sung by me and mixed in Audacity. This was a fun one, mainly because I wanted to try out an odd time signature, which you'll see in the main body of the song, which is written in what I believe would be called 10/8. I've tried earlier songs in 5/4 and 5/8 but I found it near impossible to find a good melody to go with the 5/4 time signature. Eventually I was inspired by the band Parquet Courts' style of semi-talking over a simple energetic guitar track, and decided to to a rap song. Evidently this is the closest I can get to a rap song. Anyways, enjoy!

PS: I didn't want to record the three stanzas separately, but when I initially recorded the song they were just impossible to sing well in a single breath, and there is no place to breath in the entire section. I encourage you to try to sing it in one go :P
Lyrics:


Step around the glass into the building
Room by room it’s dark and often chilly

Wear your scarf and climb into the steeple
Smooth progression, stairs of little people

Grass is greener just behind the third door,
Just step lightly don’t shatter the glass floor

We can’t agree on the past anymore
One more stutter-step and I’ll be done for

Waiting for the angel who will save us
Throwing stones at unbelieving strangers

Lock us in a box for misbehavior
Napalm and a match in one container

Splinter!
Fracture!
Shatter!

It’s human nature!

Splinter!
Fracture!
Scatter!

They all could hate us!

Splinter!
Fracture!
Shatter!

What are we made of?

Splinter!
Fracture!
Scatter!

How do we make up?

It’s in our nature to be lost

It’s in our nature to want love

Towers we made they drug us up

I won’t climb up if you won’t climb up
I won’t climb up if you won’t climb up
I won’t climb up if you won’t climb up

Rock Splinter Waltz

i'm back baby

Created using classical guitar, voice, and improvised percussion. Recorded on my AT2020 mic, using Audacity software for recording, mixing, and uploading.
Lyrics:

Hey can I crash on your couch for the weekend
I’m too drunk to sleep and
My friends are too sober to drive

Browsing for life dreams, my eyes they’ve been drowning since high school
Now they open to your eyes I thank god I’ve found you this time

Don’t talk about the news, novelty never changes
The next generation’s always been ruining our old way of life

Tell me a secret you know; what your favorite embrace is,
Tell me about your grandparents before they die

Well I heard an out of town friend slipped you a stash of the good stuff.
A bag of powder with the power to make Christians and criminals fight

Hey it’s not that bad we’re either sad or we’re addicted to something
Meaning is the godless drug that keeps us all addicted to life

So let’s just take the drugs
And see the sun come up
Let’s just take the drugs
God knows they’re hard enough

Well life’s just one great fucked up mess
It’s a miracle we’re even here at all
So let’s just take the drugs
And I will be your song

I’m naked
I’m soaking in their clothes

I fake it
And only god knows

Desire it, and you are my toll
But one day, oh, we’ll show them all

Admire him, because he’s making it out,
He’ll tell us what it’s about
What it’s about
What is it about?

What it’s about
What is it about?
I don’t know

So let’s just take the drugs
And see the sun come up
Let’s just take the drugs
God knows they’re hard enough

Well life’s just one great fucked up mess
It’s a miracle we’re even here at all
So let’s just take the drugs
And I will be your song

The Drugs

Trying for one this week and the next folks!

Written and sung by me and played on my classical guitar. Recorded on my AT2020 mic and recorded and mixed using Audacity Recording software. As always, enjoy! Or don't, if it's not your thing!

Lyrics:

The lights are all off in my oxygenated box
As this tinfoil fish dives through the deep

The radio it crackles off and on and did something go wrong,
I’m like a bug on a windshield



While I was born in the winter of 43
My mother wouldn’t name me 
Until either my dad got home or he died on the front

It started when the schoolboys went out to smoke some reef
At night, and my eyes did see for the first time
the sky from an abandoned parking lot

I was laying low in army school when his procession came,
The old man in a pale white face and it wasn’t till Kruschev took his place 
That I got what I want.

Our leader feared old Sam was working on ICBMs
So he decided to take the fight to them
I volunteered to work on the aerospace front

The chief comrades took me up to their pool
Tsiolkovsky and Korolev were so damn cool
They showed satellite 1, said that together we’d prove we’re on top

We watched that little ball escape from the ground,
Carried by enormous rockets with a thunderous sound
They told me I got a chance to get out of these lands and take off

I went through the Soviets’ best aerospace training,
And out of 1500, they chose me
And now I gotta represent my country on launch

They made my mouth a microphone to make my country proud,
And I posed for pictures and kissed clowns,
But when I’m in this aluminum raft I can do what I want.



Woah, i’ll be riding a beam of light,
A little man so high and then he’s out of sight
I’ll be the freest, I’m a cosmonaut.

Who knows even where I’ll land,
It could be in the US, Hong Kong or Japan,
Or maybe I will fly forever from this little rock.


T minus 5, I'm feeling alive, I'm a cosmonaut

Woah, i’m riding a beam of light,
A little man so high and then he’s out of sight
I’ll be the freest, I’m a cosmonaut.

Who knows even where I’ll land,
It could be in the US, Hong Kong, or Japan
Or maybe I will fly forever from this little rock.

The lights are all off in my oxygenated box
s 
as this tinfoil fish dives through the deep

The radio it crackles off and on and did something go wrong,
I’m like a bug on a windshield

Now I’m falling through a black so free
That one here has wings to spread for me

I was running from a life so bleak
That just one push was all it took for me to believe

Edit 2022: Listening to this song sparked a bit of creative juice in me, and now I'm thinking I might want to give the recording another go, with revamped guitar and lyrics. We'll see if it comes to that.

Cosmonaut

Written by me, sung by me and played on my classical guitar. Recorded by me using my AT20-20 and mixed using Audacity recording software. 

Some of my song ideas seem to hit me all at once, while others take a long time to grow from a lyrical stump into a full-fledged song. This song was certainly one of the latter. I wrote what I consider to be the chorus ("in the violent blue there is no sound") in the beginning of this year. It's disingenuous to say that I was merely inspired by Electric President's "The Violent Blue" : I use the lyric and title in this song. I believe that I've done enough of my own to differentiate my music from their song, but I absolutely love the phrase and had to use it for this. I fully recommend that you check it out and judge for yourself; if you're listening to my music then I bet you'll like his :D .  For that reason, and others, I couldn't figure out what melody and lyrics should go with the chorus. The secondary chorus ("in the middle of an ocean of hydrocodone memories") was inspired by an amazing song of the late Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit, 'Die like a rich boy' . I was and am continuing to listen to his songs when I am inevitably drained by all the fuckery in my life. The real question is why I wrote this rant in the first place. I'm pretty sure less than 5% of Soundcloud listeners actually read the description of SC songs, but if you're out there, hey, have a great day!

Lyrics:


They say that after the first one the old fear goes away,
It’s been here all my life so who am I to say

An unfamiliar space, give me that pretty face
If it’s not an escape, at least it’s a delay,

It’s dangerous enough for me to forget all the days
That I’ve wasted away, or those that still remain

And who am I to say when my mom will pass away
Or if the ancient magic binding us will keep

And in the end the cracks will grow, inside them bells will ring
As our bosses old schemes all come crashing down

You still have soft hands, oh will you lift my drunken head to listen
But in the violent blue there is no sound, in the air no sound.

I’m sinking in the middle of an ocean of 
Hydrocodone memories, watching them fade away 
and my children are going down with me

I’m dancing in the eye of a hurricane of
alcoholic feelings and I’m gonna get swept away
And I’m taking you out with me

And maybe in a century when my father’s rusted truck
Has gone a hundred thousand miles I’ll come around

They say that your first mattress is the worst and most comforting
But stand yourself on up and don’t look down

(Now I’m a stone, I’m broken and buried in the cold, cold ground I’m a stone
So please don’t walk away, please don’t leave me I just wanted to leave you first)
3x

Now I’m a stone I’m broken and buried in the cold, cold ground I’m a stone,
So please don’t walk away, please don’t walk away, I just, I just

I’ll see you in an elevator when my demons come around
And for the greater good I’ll hold them down

I’ll keep running that relay race in a winding spiral helix
Out of reach of the storytellers and the hounds

And in the end the cracks will grow, inside them bells will ring
As our bosses old schemes all come crashing down

You still have soft hands, oh will you lift my drunken head to listen
But in the violent blue there is no sound, in the air no sound.

I’m dancing in the eye of a storm of
alcoholic feelings and I’m gonna get swept away
And I’m taking you out with me

I’m sinking in the middle of an ocean of 
Hydrocodone memories, watching them fade away 
and my children are going down with me

I’m sinking in the middle of an ocean of 
Hydrocodone memories, so get out of my bed
Or else you’ll be going down with me

Lyrics:

The Violent Blue

Not a good one but I'm kinda sad over a petty problem and I had to make this song as an outlet. Sorry about the lack of songs I've been real busy lately.

Edit: Listening to this around a year from when I made it, I'm surprised at the pretty nice lyrics and melody. I made it out of petty frustration after getting rejected by a girl I knew and those emotions carried over to every aspect of the song. I didn't like the emotions being expressed in the song so I had no desire to refine the music. I just wanted it out of my head. But looking back, this is not a bad song. Maybe in the future I'll try to clean it up.

Lyrics:

I know it’s not that nice, and I know it’s not alright
But I caught you in my head and now I’m keeping you inside

I hope that when you hear this, I hope it has some weight
I hope that what I’m feeling doesn’t run out in a day like it did the other time

Please stop acting alright, you’re making me feel it too
I want to be pissed at you and the reasons you’re giving me just don’t do

Thanks for being a good friend to me but I wanted more
So thanks for nothing, well it’s time for me to not say that anymore

I know it’s not that nice and I know it’s not alright
But I hope that you stub your toe

It’s not a big deal but you’re a good person,
Just wanted you to know

That I know I’m being a fucking dick
So fuck you anyways

I like the way you did your hair
Thank god the wind blew it sideways

And when I see you I think fuck you, hey let’s meet at the mall and see a movie,
Where villain gets it all but they don’t make those films anymore

I get you want the same things I do just from someone else. I want from you what I don’t have and you don’t have and I’m just numb so I’m overreacting just this once

I know it’s not that nice and I know it’s not alright
But I hope that you stub your toe

It’s not a big deal but you’re a good person,
Just wanted you to know

That I know I’m being a fucking dick
So fuck you anyways

I like the way you did your hair
Thank god the wind blew it sideways

Thank god the wind blew it sideways
I’ll be a good person in a few days
Thank god the wind blew it sideways
I’ll be a good person in a few days
But I will not be with you

Petty Song

Another year, another break-up song I guess. This time I had the good graces to actually be in the relationship in question. I felt bitter about it, which I thought was odd since the relationship was never serious. I realized that a part of me remembered our relationship at its best, and stubbornly ignored the relationship as it was: okay, but we could both do better XD. I hated breaking up because I felt like I was losing that ideal relationship. I realized I often stubbornly hold onto relationships I wouldn't enjoy if I started them today, because I'm afraid of losing the relationship as it was at its best, months or even years ago.

On the plus side, for the first time in a long time I'm emotionally galvanized enough to complete an entire, focused song. I have a backlog of 8 or 9 songs in various states of decomposition: lyrics on google docs, chord progressions in my head, or recordings on Audacity.  Usually my problem is that I have no pressing message or idea that I really want to convey. This time I had that driving feeling, so I didn't settle for just a few lyrics (and even in this case, they came out over the course of a few days).

Here are the lyrics:

Opening Verse:(A,D) *For this chord progression, I switch between A/Asus2 and D/Dsus2, and for the 2nd D it's Dsus2 muting the B string and bending the G string for the wobble sound.

A I miss the feeling when we take off, D
A grass and leaves like pine trees far below, D
A I feel like bleeding when you think of D
A Going to those places that we used to go, D oh there 

2nd Verse:(bm, f#m, A, E)

bm ain’t nothing dumber than a f#m long distance runner that’s
A patching his shoes with the E soles of another, and there 
bm ain't nothing dumber than f#m giving another your 
A arms and your shoulder but E holding out hope, and there
 
bm ain’t nothing dumber than a f#m big jazz drummer that’s 
A fixing his beat to the E heart of another, and there 
bm ain't nothing dumber than f#m picking a lover that's 
A made of the same stubborn mold, E but

3rd Verse:(A, D)

A I told myself
D I didn’t care about you, though I
A did, oh if you 
D wanted me to but 

A you’d never want me to 
D try and make you 
A stay, and I didn’t 
D anyway,

A I’m not a 
D fool for you, though I
A could have been if you 
D wanted me to but 

f#m But there’s nothing dumber than 
E giving another your 
D heart to make them change
D and anyways
 
CHORUS (E,bm,D,c#m)
E I’m in bm love with a part of my 
D mind, Stowaway, c#m Stowaway

E You snuck bm inside me in the 
D night, from her c#m lips, Stowaway

E Why pretend bm the person 
D outside is the c#m person in my mind

E When I’ve loved a bm memory this whole 
D time, Stowaway, c#m Stowaway

A You miss that feeling when we drift away?
D Healthy things taste like such bitter medicine
A I knew I’d be okay in a few days,
D But I didn’t want the bad weather to end. Oh, there

bm ain’t nothing dumber than a f#m long distance runner that’s
A patching his shoes with the E soles of another, and there 
bm ain't nothing dumber than f#m giving another your 
A arms and your shoulder but E holding out hope, and there
 
bm ain’t nothing dumber than a f#m big jazz drummer that’s 
A fixing his beat to the E heart of another, and there 
bm ain't nothing dumber than f#m picking a lover that's 
A made of the same stubborn mold, E but


A I told myself
D I didn’t care about you, though I
A did, oh if you 
D wanted me to but 

A you’d never want me to 
D try and make you 
A stay, and I didn’t 
D anyway,

A I’m not a 
D fool for you, though I
A could have been if you 
D wanted me to but 

f#m But there’s nothing dumber than 
E giving another your 
D heart to make them change
D and anyways


Chorus:
E I’m in bm love with a part of my 
D mind, Stowaway, c#m Stowaway

E You snuck bm inside me in the 
D night, from her c#m lips, Stowaway

E Why pretend bm the person 
D outside is the c#m person in my mind

E When I’ve loved a bm memory this whole 
D time, Stowaway, c#m Stowaway

Stowaway

My Personal Highlighted Songs:

1. The Drugs
2.The Violent Blue
3. Living on a Bell Curve
4. Plasticene
5. Your Small Soul
6. Atoll
7. The Borderline


Amateur musician/singer-songwriter with a classical guitar and a mildly dark imagination. If you like to feel and to immerse yourself in a story, this is the place for you.

Evan McCormick

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