This started as a fun light-hearted project, but as usual I got carried away with recording layered vocals. Taylor Swift song meets Beach Boys style.

You Belong with Me (Taylor Swift cover)

A simple cover of a classic 1960s protest song. I'm just playing piano and singing, just like I used to. I updated the lyrics to reflect current times. Here are the full lyrics:

The eastern world, it is exploding.
Violence flaring, bullets loading.
You're old enough to kill, just started voting.
You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're toting?
And even the Jordan river has bodies floating.
But you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Don't you understand what I'm trying to say?
Can't you feel the fears that I'm feeling today?
If we put up a wall, then we'll all have to pay.
Tear apart families, bring sorrow and shame.
Take a look around you, child, it's bound to scare you, child.
And you tell me over and over and over again, my friend,
You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

My blood's so mad, feels like coagulating.
I'm sitting here just contemplating.
And global climate change will keep accelerating
If a handful of senators won't start legislating.
And marches alone can't protect Black lives
When human respect is being pulverized.
This whole crazy world is hard to survive.
And you tell me over and over and over again, my friend,
You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

The injustice in Syria should really make you worry,
But take a look back home to Ferguson, Missouri.
You feel so tolerant, you don't see people's race,
But how can you see their problems when you can't even see their face?
The vigils and tear gas, the pride and disgrace.
You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace.
Hate your next door neighbor, but don't forget to say grace,
And tell me over and over and over and over again, my friend,
That you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Dartmouth

Eve of Destruction (Barry McGuire cover)

As compared to the original, I made the song sparser and softer. There's a playfulness in the original that I didn't really capture, but I added my own brand of sentimentality, making the lyrics come across more like wedding vows than an intimate conversation. The arrangement is pretty bare: two keyboards (one of which is an organ sound that mostly stays in the background), several vocal tracks, and trumpet in the third verse. Little touches that I'm particularly proud of: starting out with a slower instrumental intro with keyboard alone, which took me many many tries until I finally nailed it; the way the second verse interrupts the end of the preceding chorus, cutting off the last word "am"; and the feeling of rising and expanding in the final chorus, with its dramatic climax on the line "more than I could ever promise".

The Way I Am (Ingrid Michaelson cover)

This piece is in a rock style, but it is in the classical sonata form. The two themes established in the beginning recur throughout the piece in various ways. I spent six months recording this, and there are tons and tons of instrument and vocal tracks in it. The basic instrumentation throughout is piano, guitar, bass, and drums (all played on my keyboard). The lyrics tell a story which alternates between second person and first person.

Don't You Worry About Me

A love song to my spouse, who plays the flute parts in the song (and sounds phenomenal!). I don't know why my song lyrics keep coming back to nature imagery, since I hate going outside, but it makes me feel peace and calm.

York

That's When You'll Feel My Love (with Natasha Troyka)

I've always loved this song. It was the first song of the Beatles that I fell in love with when I was a kid. Ever since then, I've been listening to it carefully and trying to understand the intricate vocal harmonies and enigmatic chord progression. I made a few attempts at recording it when I was a kid, and for some reason I felt like coming back to it. As in the original version by the Beatles, mine features three-part harmony throughout, each part recorded three times over, for a total of nine vocal tracks. But instead of McCartney on the top, Lennon in the middle, and Harrison on the bottom, it's just Troyka on all three. I also recorded four tracks of keyboard accompaniment.

Because (Beatles cover, 2019)

Cover of the iconic song from the musical The Sound of Music. I thought this song, about hope in the face of fear, was the perfect choice to start off my "Music from the Pandemic" series.

Music from the Pandemic

My Favorite Things (from The Sound of Music)

A brief piano piece I wrote several years ago and finally got around to recording!

Prelude in C minor

A song I wrote a few years ago and finally recorded. The title is from the Beatles' song "Mother Nature's Son", and the song as a whole is inspired by that song. I was thinking about authenticity — how Paul McCartney was never a poor young country boy, and how a lot of my songs' lyrics use nature imagery even though I hate the outdoors.

Born a Poor Young Country Boy

A Disney song I recorded with my wife Natasha, who sang the main vocal part and sounds absolutely astounding.

Out There (from The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

A song from the Beatles' first album — the original is lively and energetic but also surprisingly mature and introspective for their early days. I'm playing keyboard, tambourine, and harmonica. I love the vocal harmonies in this song, and my harmonies in this version are true to the original for the most part.

There's a Place (Beatles cover)

It was so great to collaborate on this with my friend Grace! I love "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and this was a great song for us to do together. She sang the lead, and I played piano; I also sang backing vocals in the last verse. My wife Natasha played flute and sounds gorgeous on it; she and I also did choral vocals in the last verse.

Bridge Over Troubled Water (with Grace Fremont) (Simon and Garfunkel cover)

A cover of a great song by Fountains of Wayne (the band Adam Schlesinger was in). My wife Natasha introduced me to the song, and the moodiness and loneliness of it really spoke to me. For this version, Natasha plays ukulele and helps on harmony vocals in the instrumental bridge section.

Hackensack (Fountains of Wayne cover)

Jillian and I recorded this cover of Simon and Garfunkel. It's a lot faster and more energetic than the original. I'm playing piano, she is playing ukulele, and we both sing.

Homeward Bound (Simon and Garfunkel cover)

I am a keyboardist, trumpeter, singer, and songwriter. My biggest influences are 60s and 70s rock bands like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Who, the Doors, the Zombies, Led Zeppelin, and Elton John.

Justin Troyka

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