Music / Lyrics: Joel Buxton, Steve Cruickshank
Production: Steve Cruickshank

Lyrics:

Money equals time, so I took the Greyhound Line
I made sure that I had books for the failing light
I closed my eyes but I couldn't sleep 
Seems killing was the theme on Ira`s show this week
Oh boy the border chick is bustin' balls
My French friends don't know I understand their threats at all
On walls, smearing shit on walls

I was chicago bound
I was chicago bound 
My soul was lost and found 
I felt chicago bound
There's something about this town
That's creeping in my sound
I was Chicago bound
We are Chicago 
Bound

You can find the things you like, just observe the skyline
They built buildings inside the wall to impress your kind
Had some time to kill so I checked out the bill
Took a stroll past the tin man just to test my will
She punched her kids head  into a wall `cause she can`t eat
Oh God I couldn't find the outrage  I don`t know this street
I don`t know this street

I came home thinking I was cool but eviction time
I guess the bus is just a symbol  that moves my kind
Oh god I smell a fire it's burning white
Oh lord they're kickin out the trash my dear
I can`t monetize

I was chicago bound
I was chicago bound 
My soul was lost and found 
I felt chicago bound
There's something about this town
That's creeping in my sound
I was Chicago bound
We are Chicago 
Bound



WEEK 51/52: Chicago

WEEK 53/52: Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone (Glass Tiger cover)

Written by Joel Buxton

LYRICS:

Everyone I see 
Is disappointing to me
They seem broken and mean

And everyone I meet
They seem ugly to me
They want to tear a strip off me, but I can see

Ooh I've been thinking about you
I've been living without you, please hurry soon
Ooh Am I a fool to believe you, 
Will I be here to receive you, please hurry soon

Every time I pray, 
I've got nothing to say
I must believe that I'm okay

And every time I sleep, 
I've been dreaming about you,
I'm beginning to doubt you may dream of me

And every time I fall, 
It's like expecting a call, but
There's no one at all, cause

Ooh I've been thinking about you
I've been living without you, please hurry soon
Ooh Am I a fool to believe you, 
Will I be here to receive you, please hurry soon

Everything I say,
I keep drifting away
Don't see a reason to stay
But I'm here anyway

WEEK 54/52: Song For a Girl I Never Met

I had a seed of an idea for this song in June of last year. I came back from seeing "Sloan," a local rock band that had been playing together since 1992. I went with a friend who, in most cases, I have a pretty superficial relationship with, we typically communicate by hurling references at one another from our shared pool of favourite media/pop culture. But every so often when we really talk, we'll get into some deep stuff. She was very keen on going to some shows that summer and was up for checking out this band that we were both familiar with but only passively. On the way to the show we talked about past relationships, the perils of dating in your mid-30s and the benefits of therapy among other things. All roads inevitably lead to this idea that in life, love and the pursuit of happiness, nothing is black and white. It's all grey. I made some quip that "I live in the grey," and then half-jokingly commented that it could be a song. "That could be a Sloan song!" I started writing it that night, and then shelved it for a few months before coming back to it over the last few weeks. I tried to write it in Sloan's melodic rock style. Usually, I can only muster up time for a quick acoustic demo and I anticipate that will happen a bunch more this year. I was able to put a lot more time/effort into this one, but it's still far from perfect. The mix is rough, some of the vocals could use some work, some of the lyrics may need adjusting and there's probably a few things I can add to it...but damn it if I wasn't very proud of putting together an actual "full" song for the first time in a long time in this challenge (software drums but I'm playing/singing everything else and the bass is a pitched down electric guitar run through a bass model in Logic).

I Live In The Grey (January 2024)

Music / Lyrics: Joel Buxton
Production: Steve Cruickshank
Art: Shane Heron

LYRICS

I rode the train there, stuck in my mind and thinkin' 'bout my life,
Then I saw your skin in the sunlight
I was bummin' around, you pulled up and fed me food and flashed a smile,
Feelin' loose like this, just ain't my style.
I couldn't have left you, I was held fast for most of the night, 
Said goodbye in the cab and I wanted to...

And I don't care where you're from,
I don't care where you've been
I don't know you,
Let's begin

I broke the rule and asked you out, you whispered jokes into my ear,
Squeezed your hand when I went for beer.
We've been laughin' a storm, we've been hookin' time to tell our secrets in the dark,
Can I be your girlfriend, I say yes, yes, my God.
I'm feelin' it for real.

And I don't know how loves supposed to go,
And I don't know how love's supposed to be,
I got no doubt, you're for me, you're for me
No doubt, you're for me.

And I don't say I love you so easily
I don't say I love you so easily
I don't say I love you so easily
I love you, baby.

WEEK 23/52: Let's Begin

Music / Lyrics: Joel Buxton, Steve Cruickshank, Rob Norman
Production: Steve Cruickshank
Lead Vocals: Sara Wilkinson
Art: Shane Heron

LYRICS
Come swim in my grotto come see the things I've made
Come meet the people who made me see my spread in Chatelaine
They're ready for my body, They're ready to see me now
Can I get this vodka water watered down
We`re getting paid, we're getting paid, we're getting paid

The calendar girls - rule the world
The calendar girls - the calendar girls, the calendar girls, the calendar girls

Don`t worry bitch, I got this, don`t fret it`s on my bill
So good to see you  my friend, did I tell you looks can kill
Did I show you this article Did you see my centerfold
I'm not drunk enough to forget that I`m getting old
We`re beautiful, We`re beautiful, We`re beautiful, We`re beautiful 

The calendar girls - rule the world
The calendar girls - the calendar girls, the calendar girls, the calendar girls

My heels are on, here's the thong.
Teach tap this, he's at prom
themes are gone, under the sea
Should it mean, tongue in teeth
Dumb and grease, that's for me
Take those hoes and eat this quiche
A girl in a sweater, gonna grind better
Than a hipster trend-setter in a fur and leather
You know we in it when I pull those linens
and fuck that dick all up in it
Take that shit and twist it and spin it
spit suck spit suck fuck and finish
You gouge me good, then I do the rest,
Test one two three four five mess
Whoops false start, begin again,
This time try it like you're not sleepin 

The calendar girls - rule the world
The calendar girls - the calendar girls, the calendar girls, the calendar girls

WEEK 26/52: Calendar Girls

Written by Steve Cruickshank, Joel Buxton, Rob Norman

LYRICS

When it came time to pay
Our respects for the dead
There weren't the words
That had to be said

In a minute you can get out of your situation
I've tried to find the will

The will is found
And lost and found
And lost and found

In a minute
In a minute
In a minute it'll breakdown, breakdown
In a minute it'll breakdown on you now
In a minute it'll breakdown
With the wave function collapse
And then it's gone

WEEK 47/52: Wave Function Collapse

Acoustic pop with some folksy elements, a little soul and everything in between. Think of it as a delicious musical gumbo.

I Live In The Grey (January 2024)

Joe Chammas