Guitar note: Standard tuning on my Taylor 514ce. (This is the guitar I was carrying when hit by the car.)

Josh Woodward gave me a compliment about this song, comparing it to Nick Drake. I originally planned to shelf this song, but Josh's encouragement led me to embrace a more subdued sound, which became a cornerstone for the record.

There is an allusion to the Odyssey in the bridge.

The record is built around counterpoints. Each song is having a conversation with another on the record. Musically, there are motifs within the record, too. The counterpoint for "WNHA" is "Burning Bright," and both songs feature the same type of pauses in the third verses.

Mike Gentry, who recorded the record for me in the cabin, guided me on how to sing this verse, getting the syllables and intention correct.

"Ghost on the sidewalk" was a #PVSG song challenge. "Devil in the street" is foreboding to me, now, after the accident. Fortunately, I'm still here.

"WNHA" was the first song from the record to get a radio spin! Thanks Ann Delisi from Essential Music on 101.9 FM WDET.

**You're listening to part of a weekly songwriting challenge I participate in with some other songwriting friends. Each week every participant must write a song containing a given word or phrase. The most fun part is listening to everyone's different interpretations, but here you can at least listen to my contributions.**

WEEK 2
Challenge: "sun goes down"

But the Sea

On an evening at the end of May in Tennessee
Scottie Moorhead jumped into the Mississippi
Whistling a tune about a man who was in love
Will we always wonder what else he was thinking of?

What could it be?
Nobody knows but the sea

The sun goes down without a Scottie in sight
Until the afternoon, the fourth of June he came to light
And now we're always whistling a tune
About a man who was in love

Why did he go?
What could it be?
Nobody knows but the sea

Week 2- But The Sea

Songwriting group week 5. The phrase we had to use this week was "rose-yellow moon." I was reminiscing about some childhood friends that I don't see anymore. Good times running around with those rascals. This demo was recorded live on an iPhone. Thanks for listening.

Phonograph Hearts

Polar Vortex Songwriting Game: Week 11: Accidental Hero. This week's song was inspired by the true story of Carter Altruda, a fifth-grader who saved a fellow classmate from choking on an apple by administering the Heimlich maneuver. He was featured in the on-line version of People magazine and Mlive.com. 

Accidental Hero

Carter woke up one day with a premonition
He had a strange dream, but he couldn't quite remember the vision
Brushed his teeth & he combed his hair
Caught the bus on time, he was unaware
He was an accidental hero on a mission

When he got to school he did his math in the usual fashion
He liked fifth grade ok, but it wasn't his passion
Started day-dreaming about lunch 
Hope'd for pizza, but he hadn't a hunch
He'd be an accidental hero on a mission

When the noon bell rang he was out the door in a flash
Got his chicken fingers and paid the lunch lady in cash
Took a seat next to Johnny Cliff
Who took a bite out of a Granny Smith
& started talking to an accidental hero on a mission

Johnny's face turned purple as he started to sputter & choke
He waved his hands in the air, but the other kids thought it was a joke
But Carter never lost his cool
Did a move they never taught in school
Now he's an accidental hero on a mission

They put his picture in the paper
& his face on the cover of a magazine
It was all over twitter
He was glamour & glitter in the lunchroom scene
To the hairnet crew he was Captain Kirk
But he shrugged it all off, all in a days work
For an accidental hero on a mission
He's just an accidental hero on a mission

Accidental Hero

Redux version produced by moon:and:6.

Original version written and arranged by Showroom (SOCAN). From the album "The World Is Too Much With Us" (2005) available for free download here: showroommusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-is-too-much-with-us 

Lonely Crowd (2014 Redux)

Mike Vial's new record, A World That's Bigger, was released on October 3, 2016. I was struck by a car three days later while walking to a gig at the Ark Theater in Ann Arbor, making this song a bit more eerie. 

Lyrics: "We're Not Here Anymore" 

Take your finger, point it in the air 
Do you feel a presence, was your final judgment fair? 
Did you hide your secrets, like a scripture untold? 
See that fire burning we left out in the cold 
When we're not here anymore 

Take your fingers, dig deep in the ground 
Did you leave a marble, or take each stone that you found? 
Did you replace those bones with a current and a wave? 
Did someone paint your shadow with no future left to save 

When we're not here anymore 
When we're not here anymore 

We fear a mystery waiting, a knock that's at the door 
By fingertips of rose, the man and the moon were given a chore 
When we're not here anymore 

Take your fingers, count minutes one by one 
No, you won't go blind if you stare into the sun 
There's a ghost on the sidewalk, a devil in the street 
One you'll never welcome, one you're meant to meet 

When we're not here anymore 
When we're not here anymore 
When we're not here anymore 
When we're not here

A World That's Bigger

We're Not Here Anymore

Song written and performed by Neo & Neo.

Buy Album on itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ch/album/before-the-birds-start-to-sing/1367906085?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

www.neoandneo.ch

Californian Sun

Songwriter from Ann Arbor.  My Soundcloud account is only featuring two singles from my recent record, and to share private songs with my songwriting club. You can hear my official releases at www.mikevial.com/music (which has Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Bandcamp links and more.)

We're Not Here Anymore

Mike Vial

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