This is the full album before it was "mixed" for release.  It is raw. It is pure. The poetry of Chris' lyrics are more legible.  The tones are what we were listening to in the studio. The actual release mystified people. It never represented the recording.  It never represented the genius of where Chris could, and did, take the blues and rock paradigms. The album is one of rock's Greatest Misses.  

There are some alternate versions, and a different sequence.  Mostly I am posting this because of the decades of conversation with Whitley fans who don't enjoy the album.  How can you convince someone that "really, it's a milestone and a classic" when the only thing they have heard is a watered down commercial release that has little to do with the actual work that was done?  I hope this spurs conversation about this classic!

Chris Whitley-Din Of Ecstasy

robin st. Julien's long-awaited debut album.

Grog Pains

Dust

The Feeling

A long dive into the ethics of Corporate Consumerism, with influences ranging from but not limited to: Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Antonius, Flavius Honorius Augustus et al. Credit goes to my High School History Teacher Nic, thanks Brother.

003 1

"boys decide whether you're girly or not"

tactile distraction
pomelo pith peeled with precision
babe, it’s not gonna
babe, it’s not gonna happen

get away while you still can
protect yourself from the modern man
babe, he’s not gonna
babe, he’s not gonna get you

i kicked a fucking ball for four years
never scored a goal
and i tried to be academic
but it sucked out my soul

I’m coming into myself cause i have to
running home to the shelf where i kept you
to fill it up with my books and my seashells
coming into myself

skins

First track for February Album Writing Month 2025! Last year I decided to make a trilogy of albums, and this is the first track off the final album in that project. 

This is a sequel of sorts to a track off of the first album Memory Ln., the other track called "waves // deeper". I'll be ideally posting new tracks every other day or so until the end of February, aaaand then I can be done with the Short Stories Trilogy. 

This particular project is about loss and grief, which is either perfect for February, or the worst idea ever. Hope you enjoy this album opener!

Here is also the sister track from the previous album:
https://soundcloud.com/brandon-brooks-746737217/waves-deeper

Lyrics:

Verse:
Here come the waves
Pulling us deeper,
Out from the shore
And into abyss.

The rest of our days
Dancing in darkness
With phantom limb.
(Days Darker)

No one will say
It ever gets easy.
You learn to move on
With a hole in your life.

It never lets go,
It just gets familiar,
Like bumps in the night.

Pre-Chorus:
For all the walls that we built
And calls we ignored,
Conversations we could have had
That we can't anymore,

We're the effect and the cause
Of the sickness and the cure,
So what is this for?

Chorus:
These are the nights that I remember
In late December
When I'm stuck in my head.

(Deeper than the waves that pulled me down)

I know these thoughts are gonna kill me,
The way they fill me,
With a deep, dark dread.

(Darker than the days underground)

days \\ darker

"Can't Do Anything Right" is song about men (especially dads), written for the people who tolerate them. I recorded it in my backyard shed, using a Tascam 424 cassette portastudio.

Lyrics:
It’s time to celebrate
The source of their frustration
He can’t do anything right
He can’t do anything right

He’s reading Lonesome Dove
In boxer shorts and loafers
He can’t do anything right
He can’t do anything right

All she wanted was a way to procreate
Now we honor everything she tolerates

He punishes with puns
He’s tangled up in Dylan
He can’t do anything right
He can’t do anything right

Twenty minutes poops
Thirty second showers

All she wanted was a way to procreate
Now we honor everything she tolerates

It’s time to celebrate
The source of their frustration
He can’t do anything right
He can’t do anything right

All parts written, performed, and recorded by me.

© 2025 Jordan Seal
℗ 2025 Jordan Seal

Can't Do Anything Right

Either/Or

VERSE 1
you never want to go home
somedays you always feel alone
truth be told
my home's whenever you're around
you tie my soul to the ground
lay me down
VERSE 2
i know i'll never be free
this life here just ain't for me
so unique
my love is heavy with dope
i hope we both overdose
hold me close

soundtrack for your backseat

Mild High Club - Homage (Slowed)

ELØN

I write and record music in the quiet hours — songs about change, memory, and the strange beauty of everyday life. Indie folk shaped by late nights and flickers of meaning.

Can't Do Anything Right

Jordan Seal

Related tracks