I needed a new soft alarm track to play to help with waking up gently. I didn't love the ones in my phone, so I decided to use my new KORG Krome to make a little something for that purpose.

I'll probably do a longer version at some point!

All Dreams Must End

This song was written years and years ago during a very tough time. Basically from the opposite place of where I am now. It’s not a break-up song per se, but it’s sort of an a-break-up-changed-my-view-of-how-the-world-works-and-I’m-a-musican-so-yeah song.

I released a version a few years back, but I hated it so eventually I just shame-hid it and it hasn’t been heard by others since. I wanted to do some music recently though, and remembered the music for this was pretty much done, so I re-did the vocals with the benefits of all the things i’ve learned in the last few years. Which is quite a bit.

I redid some of the lyrics as well, because they were just a little too tactless and I couldn’t relate to them anymore.

Meaning:
Life’s, like, confusing man?

Despite the [ostensible] gloominess, I think it contains some important things I’ve learned. Namely: the future isn’t a real thing. Live in the present. No exceptions. I think the general feelings expressed in the song are relatable to a lot of people though.

Notes:
I know the vocals may be a touch tough for some to understand. I got about 50-50 feedback on how understandable they were, but I felt like the sound I wanted to capture with the vocals was very important to the art of the song. So at a high risk of self-importance, I kept it for now. It’s supposed to represent a murky, difficult place. This song doesn’t necessarily exist for listening pleasure: it’s supposed to express something specific.
That said, I’d be open to engineering changes down the road, the next time I rework the song.

Lyrics:
----------------------------
Someone once told me that
Things would be all right
If I just closed my eyes and 
Dreamed a dream and
Kept that dream in sight
And I was wrong to believe them
Because no matter how you try
You will never have collateral
That can guarantee fate will abide
By the deal you think you’ve made
When the scales have been weighed.

I wonder if things aren’t as they seem.
I wonder if this has all been a dream.
I wonder if I’m just a memory.
I don’t know.
I don’t know.
I wonder if the truth wasn’t meant for me.
Could ignorance be what keeps me free?
I wonder if someday
Things will be all right.

I can’t know...
I can’t know.
I can’t know,
And I don’t.

Someone once told me that
Things would be all right
If I just closed my eyes 
And whispered prayers and
Believed that they were right.
And I was wrong to believe them
But that doesn’t mean that I
Wouldn’t do this all again
With a different goal and fewer lies.
I wouldn’t close my eyes.
And I wouldn’t be afraid.

I wonder if things aren’t as they seem.
I wonder if this has all been a dream.
I wonder if we all speak too subtly.
I don’t know. 
I don’t know.
I wonder if there’s someone waiting for me.
I wonder if someday I’ll feel that I’m free.
I wonder if someday 
Things will be all right.

I can’t know....
I can’t know.
I can’t know,
And I don’t.

And I Don't

This all started with my wanting to take a crack at “electro swing.” I was coming off finishing Like A Fox, which was a nudisco track, and they’re basically sibling genres in a lot of respects. Well, since I’m bad at writing to genres, apparently, I created whatever this is instead. I’m calling it electro swing anyway, but that’s probably optimistic. But I do think it retains some swing-ish elements and it really took a turn to my style that I ended up being very happy with. 

I have to say, I think these are my favorite lyrics I’ve written in all my many years of writing songs. This is also my first time writing a political song. I hope people get the meaning, but I’ve intentionally left it open to interpretation. So much so that it doesn’t even have to be political. 

That said, I started the lyrics on election night, 2016. So take that as you will. I could literally write an essay on my interpretation, and may someday.

This track was very difficult to produce, and very difficult to perform, but it was so worth it. I could see revisiting it down the line when I’ve become a much better engineer, but I think I pushed my non-studio recording capabilities as far as I’m capable at this point.

Also, I’m pretty sure I’m the only person ever to use “cantellated mondegreen” as a metaphor. Or at all, probably. So that’s something. I also want to point out that the lyric can read correctly be “cantillated” as well. Because I love my homophones.

----------------------

Lyrics:

She said “I’m of two minds about this
And maybe a couple more.
Yeah I think a couple more.”
I didn’t think she really meant it,
So we had a couple more,
Until our choices were a blur.

And after it was over,
Both of us cold sober,
I remembered I could breathe.

“That wasn’t what I meant to be”,
I said.
I watched her count the victims:
She was distracted,
But as the numbers rose
I could read her lips, saying
“We’re all gonna regret it.
We’re all gonna regret it.”

That’s what she said to me.
That’s what she said to me.
A summary of history.
A cantellated mondegreen.
“Who would have thought that we
Could produce such sophistry?”
That’s what she said to me.
That’s what she said to me.

And, “If you’re so aware of
The mistakes committed here,
Raise your glass:
Let’s drink for four more years.”

That’s what she said to me.

She claimed this was a failure of prevision.
Babelling. Elision.
She wasn’t making sense at all.
The fear in her eyes was speaking for her
In the language of the future
[And] of the writing on the wall.

And with that fear awoken,
The question was unspoken,
Should we stay, or should we go?

“I used to think that this was home”,
I said.
She didn’t answer back,
She only hung her head.
The sirens in the distance
Spoke what was unsaid, saying:
“We’re all gonna regret it.
We’re all gonna regret it.”

That’s what she said to me.
That’s what she said to me.
A summary of history.
A cantellated mondegreen.
“Who would have thought that we
Could produce such sophistry?”
That’s what she said to me. 
That’s what she said to me.

And “If you’re so aware of 
The mistakes committed here,
Raise your glass:
Let’s drink for four more years.”

That’s what she said to me.
That’s what she said to me.
A last gasp testimony.
A summary of history.
“It’s not my fault you see,”
Repeated endlessly.
That’s what she said to me.
That’s what she said to me.

And “If you’re so aware of 
The mistakes committed here,
Raise your glass:
Let’s drink for four more years.”

She Said To Me

This track has been a LONG time coming. I posted my musical take on this track over four years ago (https://soundcloud.com/dustin-baldwin/boxcar-racer-background-demo). I have files from my original work on this from January 2011. I've been trying to make this for a loooong time.

And I always liked the music. The issue was I couldn't perform it vocally. It's a subtle song, but has a huge bombastic (and high) bridge. I just couldn't manage it.

I think I finally got it. :)

I took the song in a pretty different direction from the original. You can hear a live version of the original here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMKc1ISGtHY. It has an americana/indie/Dave Mathews sort of feel. So I did what I do and electronica'd it up.

I hear a ton of potential improvements, but it's time to set this one free. I hope you all enjoy it!

Boxcar Racer (Blue Merle Cover)

My first demo song release! My first song with entirely live instrumentation! My first song recorded with my new mic! My second ever full guitar song! So many new things!

It's been a long time coming. Not the song I intended to start posting public stuff with, but I guess when inspiration strikes you go with it. All of you who are close to me know that if I let my usual perfectionism get in the way I'd never release anything, so no regrets.

My thanks to my family, who bought me the nice Yeti Blue mic I recorded this on, and Michael Bean for letting me hang on to one of his acoustic guitars.

Recorded while seated in my computer chair and staring at the back of my office closet. Like a pro.

-----------------------------------------------------------
I'm Okay and Good-Bye

Time goes by and I still 
Find myself looking for you.
I cannot resolve the truth and
I cannot define what is
That I’m trying to find. 

But after all this time
I cannot regret 
Anything I said,
But “I’m okay” and “good-bye.”

Summer’s come and I still
Find myself thinking of you.
It’s been many months, but
There is nothing to do
To make you disappear or
Convince myself that you 
Aren’t here.

But after all this time I remember 
How you made me feel and 
I cannot regret 
Anything I said,
But “I’m okay” was a lie.

I cannot escape
This compulsion to reconciliate.
Capitulate. Facilitate.
And I still have found no way
To circumnavigate the void.

It’s staring back at me.

But after all this time I remember 
How you made me feel and 
I cannot regret 
Anything I said,
But “I’m okay.”
I’m okay.... (repeat)
And good-bye.

Okay and Good-Bye (Acoustic Demo)

This is the music track for And I Don't. (http://soundcloud.com/dustin-baldwin/and-i-dont) 

And I Don't (Music)

I haven't uploaded anything in a long time, so I decided to put up this extremely random cover tune I did about a year ago.

This is a cover of a little tune called All the Pieces by Danny Elfman's delightfully insane band Oingo Boingo. I was inspired by the bass line one afternoon and whipped this out in about 3 hours or so.  You can hear the original version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfY5ESX6V18.

Someday I intend to do the vocals... The song is kind of sparse without them, but for now this is all I have.

Of course someone else owns the song, so all rights to whoever does, etc... I just wrote the cover.



All the Pieces (Background Demo)

Another day, another old cover. This is Boxcar Racer by Blue Merle. I don't really know the band, but a friend showed me their album about 10 years ago and for some reason one day this song popped back into mind and I decided to play with it.

This is the result! You can hear a version of the original song here: http://youtu.be/mMKc1ISGtHY

Someday I hope to lay down the vocals. I have a sung version but it needs more polish. Enjoy!

All rights to Blue Merle or whoever owns this song, I just wrote the cover!

Boxcar Racer (Background Demo)

Practicing a line from an upcoming song. This line is deceptively tricky. 

Bass Opening Demo

I'm just another guy who writes music whenever he can.

Price Baldwin

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