A home-made demo written for an animated Halloween film that was never produced. My daughter sang it when she was 12 and I joined in on the chorus. It's called "Even a Witch Deserves to be Happy."

Even a Witch Deserves to Be Happy

Comedian Jack McBrayer of "30 Rock" joins us to write a ridiculous song at Disney Studios.

Martin Olson's Album

Irving's Camp Song sung by Jack McBrayer

SHE SAW THE HOCKNEYS TODAY
(olson)
She saw the Hockneys today 
Wish I was with her and gay 
So then like Hockney I'd drool  
At his paintings of a nude guy's butt in a pool

Gayness must be a Pandora's Box 
A pair of dicks inside a paradox  
Yet some stray dude was acting rude she had to knee him 
She ran annoyed from the museum 

Girl just meet me back at the bar 
You didn't have to travel that far  
Though I'm not gay I am peculiar and queer.
He is most definitely queer 
I'll kiss you over a beer

Let's have a drink and surrender 
Unto the opposite gender  
She saw the Hockney's today  
Wish I was with her and gay.

She Saw the Hockneys Today

Demo for Disney - EVIL HIDEOUT VACATION SWAP
Written by Dan, Swamp, Martin and Rob Morrow

That's Rob Morrow & Martin singing
Guitars: Dan, Swamp, Rob & Martin
Keys and Synths: Martin

Evil Hideout Vacation Swap1 demo

I wrote a ridiculous story for a Disney series w a running gag where the characters experimented playing different sports in pyramid formation. Rob Hughes and I wrote and recorded this rough demo for the song sequence. Dan and Swampy added a couple fun ideas for the final broadcast version.

Pyramid Sports - rough demo

My daughter Olivia & I were asked to write & record a personalized song for the 2021 Leukemia Foundation Auction. The highest bidders were a couple who met by accident at a New Orleans festival, so we wrote this NOLA-style ballad for their anniversary. That's Olivia singing, me on piano, bass & mix, the great Hal Rosenfeld on percussion and a horn section of sessions players who improvised their parts. (For fun, Liv intro'd the soloists by the names of the couple's doggies.)

Lucky Punch by Martin Olson & Olivia Olson

Song from a sweet apocalyptic dream.

when the starry sky
like a million eyes
seems to hypnotize us so
then you'll hear my heart
that will be the start
by the campfire all aglow
when we're quietly
underneath a tree
and the firelight is low
whisper in my ear
things i long to hear
by the campfire all aglow

hold me let you're deepest feelings show
hold me by the campfire all aglow

when the world ius gone
we will linger on
when the world is burning low
when the world is done
we will be as one
by the campfire all aglow

By The Campfire All Aglow

A guitar demo I wrote to later sing w my daughter, but then Covid kicked in. We'll get around to it before I croak. 

INTERESTING RIDE (M. Olson)
well i was born and my mom would say
you'd better have fun before it goes away
since nothing seems permanent
i look up at the firmament
and wish there was a map or a guide
but it looks like an interesting ride

well i was born and my parents said
you'd better have fun before you're dead
the most obvious thought
is make the best of what you've got
and you'll know that at least you tried
so buckle up it's an interesting ride

working minimum wage behind a wheel barrow
you think of yourself as an egyptian pharaoh
dreaming of a trip to rio de janeiro
when you hit it rich
you try to make sense of the world around you
the sights and sounds everywhere seem to drown you
when you're looking for someone to love and ground you
but who and when and which
it's hard to get thru it but we all seem to do it

well i was born and my mom would say
you'd better have fun before it goes away
since nothing seems permanent
i look up at the firmament
and wish there was a map or a guide
but it looks like an interesting ride

Interesting Ride (remixed)

A piano tune I meant to record with a band, but forgot. 
Oops, sped up a little at the end there.

JACK-O-LANTERN
(Olson)
I’m a jack-o-lantern with a flickering flame
I’m a two-part man with a three-part name
Stuck in this body like a bug in a jar
Lost in this vacuum like a red dwarf star

Put your jacket on
Button up tight
It’s a windy night

I don’t like politicians cause they get me confused
Are they helping me out or am I just being used
Mama mama tell me where should I sleep
With the cosmic pigs or the sitcom sheep

i want plenty of money but I don’t want no bills
Want a doctor to cure me but I don’t want no pills
Tired of living but don’t want to be dead
Want to be left alone but there I am in my head

How many things can I actually see
There’s light and dark and me that makes three
I see the universe and everything spin
Am I inside looking out or outside looking in

Put your jacket on
Button up tight
It’s a windy night

Jack-O-Lantern

Demo. This was written for a female singer.

Love Between A Woman & A Man

A ridiculous song I wrote/arranged for an animated pilot about murderous pirates who also had a sensitive side. I did the idiotic vocals and played the instruments.

Nothing Beats A Mutiny

NEVER-ENDING RING (M. Olson)

the world will live a hundred million years 
and the sky will live a billion more 
we'll look at them and they will look at us 
that is all the sky and earth are for 

and it's nothing but the way of love 
it's the love of the sky and the earth 
and it's nothing but the way of love 
it's the love of death and birth 

a man is buried and in time will change 
to become another living thing 
life into life will simply rearrange 
to become a never-ending ring 

and it's nothing but the way of love
 it's the love of the earth and the sea 
and it's nothing but the way of love 
it's the love of you and me

Never-Ending Ring

Song for Disney TV sung by Olivia Olson. Written by Olivia, Dan Povenmire & Martin Olson for the animated series "Hamster and Gretel." Produced by Danny Jacob.

Gotta Get Away

One of my fav songs we've written for TV.

Songwriters: Dan, Swampy, Rob & Martin. Written in an extremely fun late-night writing session on the Disney lot.
Arranged and produced by Danny Jacob. This special version is a duet w vocals by Danny and my daughter Olivia.

Summer Belongs to You

maria stefanopoulos (m. olson) 
you were a girl who liked shooting guns at the wall 
seven cats and you'd shoplift down at the mall 
in your room alone you liked to wear nothing at all 

your dad was lame your mom stayed out till dawn 
come halloween you were drunk and drove up on my lawn 
said yeah you loved me but i just never turned you on 

maria stefanopoulos maria stefanopoulos 
maria stefanopoulos i loved you 
yeah i loved you maria stefanopoulos 

when we were young i felt your breasts in your dad's canoe 
you just smiled but i was nervous didn't know what to do 
we barely even kissed i didn't have a clue 

you put a sign in the window that said LOSERS RULE 
you wore glasses on purpose that didn't look cool 
we dove together to find them in the chelsea pool 

on the school trip at night lights moving cross your face 
made you look like a creature from outer space 
never heard your messages i hit erase 

you were a girl who liked shooting guns at the wall 
seven cats and you'd shoplift down at the mall 
in your room alone you liked to wear nothing at all

Maria Stefanopoulos

My first songwriting partner Jeff Root and I wrote our first album IDIOTS DELIGHT in the 70's. This is a song I recorded for it on two stereo tape recorders connected by Jeff's mixer. There was so much hiss from the over-dubs, I ran it through suno.com and added a string orchestra. Still need to fix the opening and add a bass part.

I WHISPER TO BLACK NIGHT
(M. Olson)
So I whisper a dream to the night
I whisper to no one 
But that can't be right
So I whisper to black night.
I will do a simple deed
When I forget the tune
I'll take my life and hang it dead
Upon the crescent moon
So I whisper a dream to the night
I whisper to no one
But that can't be right
So I whisper to black night

I Whisper to Black Night v4

1st draft of this short Disney song. Rob Hughes & Bobby Gaylor on acoustics, me on vocals/synth arrangement.

Heck of a Day

Dan, Swamp, Rob & I wrote this at Disney Studios for singer Sheena Easton.

When Will He Call Me, sung by Sheena Easton

"SUMMER ALL OVER THE WORLD" Rough demo written at Disney by Dan, me and Joey Lawrence. Joey sang lead; Dan and I played the instruments and sang backup.

summer all over world rough demo

A short, lo-fi demo for Disney's "Phineas and Ferb." Vocals: Carmen Carter. Producer: Danny Jacob. 

Written/performed by Dan Povenmire, Jeff Swampy Marsh, Jaret Reddick (of Bowling for Soup) & Martin Olson.

kay furtado olson's Album

Izzy's Got the Frizzies demo3

Ain't Got Rhythm demo1 -Dan & Martin singing

A ridiculous Disney song about nothing that Swampy Marsh, Dan Povenmire and I had the honor of writing with our songwriting hero, Mike Stoller, of the legendary team Leiber & Stoller. That's my daughter Olivia singing and me on piano. Arranged by the great Danny Jacob.

Snow Day - sung by Olivia Olson

For the documentary "Bettie Page Reveals All!" by Mark Mori

Oh Bettie-by Martin, Dan Swampy, Rob Hughes - Olivia singing

A story in song about a musical archaeologist who unearths the bones of an ancient magician. 

SKELETONE.(M. Olson).. 

In ancient Matzapan. .

a mystic ruled the land.

in tablets only known as Magi Skeletone. . 

A poor musicologist asked if sound persists .

underneath the ground in etheric sound? .


With arcane devices scanned moors of Matzapan .

and one night alone his screen revealed a tone .

acoustically unknown. .

He dug through rock and stone .

and found remains in bone .

of the mystic Skeletone. .


Skeletone's remains he put on a pallet .

used the rib cage to hit with mallets. .

The sound transforms his pestle into a chalice. 

His meagre hut changed into a palace .

The vibrations pierced the veil in subatomic scale.

a mystic harmony unleashed the cosmic key. .

Skeletone, Skeletone, Skeletone!

Magi Skeletone

Our daughter Olivia was always a strong songwriter. When she was 11 she came to me with a melody she wrote called "What Do I Do." Here's a rough tape of us singing it. Like most of her songs, the melody is catchy and sophisticated for a little kid. I added instruments and a harmony later for fun.

What Do I Do by Olivia Olson

From our record “The Father-Daughter Album of Unspeakable Beauty”

https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-father-daughter-album-of-unspeakable-beauty/692404639

OUT OF NOTHING 
(Jeff Root/Martin Olson) 
Long time ago we were part of the sun 
All was as heaven all was as one 
Down from the sky we soon came with the earth 
Cooling to water cooling to birth 
Out of nothing there came sweet mystery 
Out of nothing your love for me 
Down through the years we've had children and died 
Deep in the darkness wondering why 
Playing our games and changing our teams 
Watching the rules all dissolve into dreams 
Out of nothing there came sweet mystery 
Out of nothing your love for me 
When all the answers appear in the skies 
All things revealed as we open our eyes 
Then all the worlds in the sky will collide 
All will be heaven all will be right
Out of nothing there came sweet mystery
Out of nothing your love for me

Out of nothing - sung by Olivia Olson

Time Magazine reported that when he died, his blackboard was covered with "dead-end equations." I wrote this uncatchy song as a tribute to Al's birthday. Best cranked with headsets: 

DEAD END EQUATIONS (M.Olson)
His two marriages had been failures.
One son was schizophrenic, one estranged.
He said "The exaggerated esteem
in which my life work is held
makes me ill at ease. I feel
compelled to think of myself
as an involuntary swindler."
He died one month later
at the age of seventy-six.
When they opened his office
they found his blackboard
covered with dead-end equations.
He said "The exaggerated esteem
in which my life work is held
makes me very ill at ease.`"
When they opened his office
they found his blackboard
covered with dead-end equations.
He died one month later
at the age of seventy-six.
When they opened his office
they found his blackboard
covered with dead-end equations
covered with dead-end equations
covered with dead-end equations

Dead End Equations5

Our demo for "Keep on Building." Recorded at Disney Studios by Dan Povenmire, Swampy Marsh, Martin Olson and Jon Colton Barry. Demo produced by Martin. Mini-doc of us writing it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV6_29p2GYk

Floor After Floor-Song Demo by Dan, Swampy, Martin & Jon

Dedicated to a new day.

BRAND NEW DAY

Well the second I woke up I started to choke up
Cuz I wanted to die and went to close the blinds
Then sunlight hit my face and the shock of it kind erased
Everything in my mind

I knew the sunlight on my face was a cliche
But still I couldn’t deny I felt better anyway
It was a brand a brand new day

A new game cuz I could hit replay
Just when it couldn’t get worse it shifted into reverse
It’s a brand new day

Even though I’ve got a cold and my arm’s in a sling
Still I was feeling so good that I just wanted to sing
Sunlight hit my face and suddenly I’m outa that space
Don’t feel a single trace
Yeah I was cynical no way that I could do it
Then a door opened in my mind and I stepped through it
To a brand a brand new day

A new game cuz I could hit replay
Just when it couldn’t get worse it shifted into reverse
It’s a brand new day

It's a Brand New Day

Great memory. For Disney's Phineas & Ferb cross-over special. Dan, Swampy and I had a ball writing with Wayne Brady, who sang lead. Dan and I w guitars, synths and harmonies.

Martin Olson

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