FAWM2023

When I was 20 years old, I was driving home from a concert one night and got pulled over even though I wasn't speeding or breaking the law in any way. For years, I thought of it as a funny story, but this year I changed my perspective on what the situation meant.

Bopp Road

PUNK BOY 

C                Am                                 Em 
I always wanted to be the lead singer in a punk band. 
C                Am                                 G
I always wanted to scream out lyrics of my own. 
C                Am                                        Em
I always wanted to leap across the stage with my mates and
C                                   Am                     G
Hear the crowd go wild as I sneer into the microphone. 

C                 Am                            Em  
I always wanted to write the next great song about anarchy. 
C                 Am                             G
I always wanted to fight the fascists in my head. 
C                 Am                              Em 
I always wanted a bite of that restless, pulsing energy
C                                       Am                G                    NC 
To propel me to great heights and convince me I’m not dead! 

Chorus:
C                                                 G                 F                                                      Am                      G
Punk boy. Oh, I wanna be a punk boy. Leather jacket, safety pins, and songs that end before 2 minutes. 
C                                                  G                F                               G7                   C         F  Em        C       F  Em 
Punk boy. I still wanna be a punk boy. Gimme a start and let me finish now! 

C                           Am                          Em
But it turns out all I’ve got is this guitar that’s acoustic.
C                            Am                       G
And it turns out that I’m not age 22 anymore. 
C                            Am                              Em 
Still I’m ready to take my shot, and I think this song here proves it. 
C                             Am                 G                NC 
I just need to remember what    [pause] punk is for! 

Chorus:
C                                                 G                 F                                                      Am                      G
Punk boy. Oh, I wanna be a punk boy. Leather jacket, safety pins, and songs that end before 2 minutes. 
C                                                 G                 F                                                                        Am             G
Punk boy. Oh, I wanna be a punk boy. Spiked up hair and ripped up clothes and everybody in the mosh pit. 
C                                                  G                F                               G7                   
Punk boy. I still wanna be a punk boy. Gimme a start and let me finish
F                                  G7                            C
Gimme a start and watch me finish now!

Punk Boy

What do you say when the girl you are crushing on tells you that she can't date you because you got the Pfizer vaccine and she only dates people who got Moderna? 

Could this be the pop punk anthem of 2021?

Pfizer Guy

Written for FAWM 2022
Copyright, Dave Escoffery 

Differing Opinions

Verse 1
If someone dares to have a different opinion,
Especially on the Internet,
The hatred and the anger that erupts in response
Would make you think that an opinion is a threat.
You could even go so far as to forget
That we are all connected, all one.
That goes for every creature underneath the sun.

Chorus
Allow, why can't you allow
Differing opinions to exist?
Think of all the chances that you've missed
When you get pissed
And you resist.
Now I must insist that you desist. 

Verse 2
If someone doesn't like our favorite music,
If someone supports a different team,
If someone dares to watch a different channel
Or read the wrong paper it would seem
We are all so each to deem
That someone has to be our enemy
Even though he is no different from me
(When you get right down to it). 

Chorus

Bridge
So much of our society
Is about digging a chasm between you and me.
I may not be an engineer,
But I can build a bridge from here to there. 
SO much of our society
Is about raising a wall between you and me.
I may not be a carpenter,
But I can open a window, I can build a door
Connecting you and me, the way it's meant to be.

Differing Opinions

For FAWM 2022

This one is my homage to the band Luna. I wanted swirling guitars and a spaced-out sound. There's more I can do in the production, but since FAWM is a timed event, I'm posting what I have so far.

FIre

For FAWM 2022 
Based on prompt 23: Be dirty, be messy, be gross

Messy Stuff

For FAWM 2022
Copyright 2022, Dave Escoffery

Roller Rink

Homage to Woody and the Guitars he played

Woody Guthrie's Guitars

This is one of 15 songs I wrote for FAWM 2023. This is a rough demo, but there are only so many days left in February!

I  had the title in mind for awhile, because my Yoga teacher always tells me "nothing bad is happening" when, of course, things are getting gnarly. I started this as kind of a nonsense thing, a little like some REM or Beck songs, but it gradually started making a bit more sense. Hopefully a good mix. 

This was the first year I tried to write and record for FAWM, rather than just write, and I was still setting up the studio in the first half of February. So I'm recording songs I wrote, but don't really understand yet as a performer.... but some of it wasn't bad!

Nothing Bad Is Happening (demo)

The second of fifteen songs I wrote for FAWM 2023.  This one's just a little dark.
I've had a small bit of this in my notebook for awhile, the idea of a descent into cold, darkness, bad/evil behavior, with the changes understood and yet still accepted as fate or destiny.

Cold Creeps (demo)

So, my friend Caitlin (https://soundcloud.com/caitlin-sigler) wrote a song called "12 Words" -- with only 12 words... and a good one! I was inspired to minimalism, but I just need more words! I'm rarely one to use 5 words when 50 (or 500) will work much better... not much of a Twitter person. But I liked the idea of a minimalist song. This one's about one of my kayaks and various travels around Delaware, also without saying much of anything about those to keep it, you know, minimal. Not sure which kayak, but it would apply to either. I'm tempted to keep going here to ensure I have more words in the liner notes than in the actual song, but I've probably said enough.

I dubbed the style "alternative lounge" because I didn't have a better explanation after I had worked out the recording.

It Floats

This is the very, very first country song I've written... and oddly, I got two more in my FAWM 2023 haul. I guess that's what happens when you move to a place called "Ocean Farm". Anyway, as mentioned, this is from FAWM 2023.

I have no idea why I wrote a country song, but I just had this going around in my head, and had to write it down. But hey, with drinks and a truck, what other genre is even possible? The big question was banjo lessons? Or maybe a slide!

I got the answer... Peddle Steel, Acoustic, AND Fiddle, all worked out in the computer (shhh... don't tell).

I Just Had Three

I Just Had Three (demo)

This one actually came from a dream. I woke up with the chorus playing in my mind... I love when that happens. Saves my conscious mind the work. The only Denise I know is one of the three Amiga custom chips, but it seemed to work. This is one about #obsession and #denial.

This is as basic as it gets, me, a guitar, and the wonderful headcold I got for this last week of FAWM 2023!

Denise, Denise (demo)

So when I had written seven songs for FAWM 2023, it occurred to me that, hey, I actually made it halfway and it wasn't even February 28 yet!  So that got me inspired to write about writing songs, in the context of something like FAWM 2023, sure, but it's always a contest between you and yourself... and maybe that new thing on Netflix rather than being out in your he-shed at 2am recording your last track... which in fact I just finished at this very minute. It came out pretty folky... what do y'all think?

Halfway There (demo)

One night I woke up from a dream with a strange sentence in my head. "There's a secret lake on a windowsill in Croatia." Where it came from, I have no idea, but I immediately knew it was the start to a great song. So I made myself wake up enough to get my phone and write it down. When I went to write the rest of the song, I was inspired by Regina Spektor's quirky, surreal songwriting style (think "Grand Hotel" if you know that one). There's probably a bit of Robyn Hitchcock in there, too. So if you enjoy surreal worlds, check out the Secret Lake!

Secret Lake

An unconventional love song to those who keep us thriving

Halfway There (demo)

Dave Haynie

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