written for the Nur Ein songwriting challenge, year XVII Round 0. Challenge: Write a feel-good song (titled "Friday the 13th") with happy lyrics and upbeat music.

Lyrics: 
It was a super flower blood moon
Our eyes met across the room
A pair of black cats crossed our path
You had your hat on backwards
Put your shoes on the table
We lit three smokes to a match

How does Fri-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-day
become Fri-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-yay
when that Friday was the everloving day
I met you, I met you

I broke a few mirrors
You may have killed a ladybug
And opened an umbrella inside
We walked under a ladder
Hung our horseshoe upside down
Saw a bird pass from left to right

How does Fri-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-day
become Fri-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-yay
because Friday was the everloving day
the 13th, the 13th

Inst bridge

How does Fri-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-day
become Fri-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-yay
because Friday was the everloving day
the 13th, the 13th 
the 13th

credits:
R. Brookes McKenzie: vocals, Omnichord

Friday The 13th

Written for the Nur Ein songwriting challenge, year XVII, Round 1.
Title: Deified
Challenge: Use a palindromic musical phrase

liner notes: 
Narrated from the point of view of an Egyptian whose body is being prepared for mummification. (so the paper is the shroud/funeral wrappings and the jars are Canopic jars to hold the organs). the palindrome is in the "guitar" (actually Q-Chord run through a GarageBand filter) riff in the bridge.

lyrics: 
mama, I'm not freezing anymore
paper flutters around me like so many moths
my useless brain is gone and soon my eyes will follow 
mama, I'm not freezing anymore

chorus: 
I'll be reified soon
I'll be deified soon
I will see my gods soon
I'll be with them soon

mama, I'm not hurting anymore
the air is cool and quiet, full of incense
I’m ready for the jars or are they ready for me 
mama, I'm not hurting anymore

CHORUS

bridge
the sky is held up by her back
the world around me fades to black
you don't need to agonize for me
I'm in good hands, I'm in good hands now 

CHORUS

outro
I hear them in the darkness without ears
I feel them waiting patiently for me
they will welcome me, they will judge me 
and I'm so happy to be dead 
I'm so happy to be dead (repeat to fade)

Deified

Written for the Nur Ein songwriting challenge, year XVII, round two.
Title: Floating In The Water
Challenge: Incorporate at least two different narratives from at least 500 years apart
lyrics:
sweeter than well water
gentle was your name
stronger than the men who tried to put you down;
they could not get you down

chorus: 
you put his head on a platter
you put his head on a plate
and when your world was all shattered 
you left it all in your paint

your necklace of thorns
hung with a dead bird
hair floating in the water, you lived dying
but they could not keep you down

CHORUS

BRIDGE: 
a deer pierced by arrows
twins entwined by blood and fate
a mirror shows your shadow to you
hope it’s not too late (x2)

CHORUS, repeat last line x3

credits: 
R. Brookes McKenzie: vocals, engineering, mixing
E. Niveous Rayside: guitar, S-Drum pedal

My song is about Artemisia Gentileschi and Frida Kahlo. Both of them suffered terribly, Artemisia due to being raped at age 18 and Frida due to being impaled by a bus handrail at the same age. But they both persevered and went on to become great artists, though they became better known and their genius truly recognized after their deaths. The "head on a platter" refers to Artemisia's famous painting of Salome holding the head of John the Baptist on a plate. The first verse is about Artemisia and the second about Frida, the necklace of thorns with the bird is from her painting, "Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird". The hair floating in the water references a different painting, "What The Water Gave Me".

Floating In The Water

Written for Round 3 of the Nur Ein XVII songwriting competition. 
Title: "Can't Let It Go"
Non-optional challenge: Must include a guest from outside the band singing a vocal harmony. My guest is Ben Krieger on backing (harmony) vocals on the chorus and ending noise collage. 

lyrics:
Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms

All my life
people told me
I can't do the 
thing I wanted most
All it did was
made me angry,
make me want it more 

chorus:
why can't you let it go-o-o-o-o
why can't you let it go-o-o-o-o
why can't you let it go-o-o-o-o,
you fool? 

when they told me
I didn't listen
I'll never learn I guess 
the only way I know 
how to do things is out of spite
or so I'm told 

why can't you let it go-o-o-o-o
why can't you let it go-o-o-o-o
why can't you let it go-o-o-o-o,
you fool?

bridge:
my brain remembers everything bad said to me
ever since I was born or at least since 1983
and even though it’s not personal 98% of the time
someday I hope to forget it, maybe in my lifetime

why can't you let it go-o-o-o-o
why can't you let it go-o-o-o-o
why can't you let it go-o-o-o-o,
you fool?

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms

Can't Let It Go

written for the Nur Ein Songwriting challenge, year XVII, Round 4.
Title: June Moon
Non-optional challenge: Lyrics must contain no rhyming couplets and no perfect end rhymes.

lyrics:
wish I could feel like I knew what was wrong
wish I could sleep through the night til the dawn
wish I could feel like I knew what was wrong
wish I could sleep through the night til the dawn

chorus:
forget it, Jake, it's Cheridah
sometimes nonsense means everything
and sometimes everything means nothing at all 

wish that I knew how to act around you
I could learn to be free for a while
wish that I knew how to act around you
I could learn to be free for a while

CHORUS

BRIDGE:
some of the saddest songs sound like jokes
some of the best people struggle to exist
I've got it easy, I don't need to be told
but why does everything feel so hard

CHORUS

outro:
every time I want to give up
it takes so long to remember how to try
every time I want to give up
it takes so long to remember how to try
every time I want to give up
it takes so long to remember how to try
every time I want to give up
it takes so long to remember how to try

June Moon

an original mashup of 3 songs. conceived and created for the Flochan KB compilation (flochanmusic.bandcamp.com)

vocals, Omnichord, recording, mixing, production, engineering: 
R. Brookes McKenzie

mastered by Bandlab.com

Running Up That Hill - Sat In Your Lap - James And The Cold Gun (KB mashup)

written for the Nur Ein songwriting challenge number XVIII, Round Zero.
Title: Sink or Swim
Challenge: Lyrics about the changing seasons.

lyrics:
winter's coffin's got me buried alive
sun far above like a painted sky
you're all going about your lives
while I'm at the bottom of the ocean

spring takes so long to arrive
we’re running out the clock on life
soon winter winds will cut like a knife
just when I got used to summer

fall threw me in the deep end and I sunk
fall threw me in the deep end and I sunk
fall threw me in the deep end and I sunk
fall threw me in the deep end and I sunk

sink or swim
sink or swim 
sink or swim
I sank

Sink Or Swim

Written for the Nur Ein Songwriting Competition, XVIII, Round 1
Title: Blind Spot
Challenge: Use of hand percussion
lyrics:
I've got a blind spot the size of Texas
and you're in Abilene

should have seen you coming from a mile away
but you were on my right side (right side!)
should have known you were bad news and trouble
but you were on my bad side (bad side!)

you're in my blind spot (Move!)
you're in my blind spot (Move!)
you're in my blind spot (Move!)
you're in my blind spot (Move!)
you're in my blind spot (Move!)

(Bridge: clapping)

I've got a blind spot the size of Texas
and you're in Abilene

every other day you changed into a jerk
and you were on my right side (right side!)
like reverse Superman into Clark Kent
and you were on my bad side (bad side!)

you're in my blind spot (Move!)
you're in my blind spot (Move!)
you're in my blind spot (Move!)
you're in my blind spot (Move!)
you're in my blind spot (Move!)

outro: clapping
-------------------------
credits: 
vocals, Omnichord: Brookes McKenzie 
drums, backing shouts: Jay Ackley

Blind Spot

Written for the Nur Ein songwriting competition, year XVIII, round 2.
Title: The Numbers Don't Lie
Challenge: Use of the Royal Road chord progression

lyrics:
Of all the people that I met
when I was growing up
very few liked my vibe, I guess
I felt like giving up

I was the girl who talked too loud
didn't care what clothes you wore
I made up a fantasy world
it was better than the one I lived in

Numbers don't lie
I'm an acquired taste
Numbers don't lie
I'm not for everyone

chorus:
Numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers
Numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers
They don't lie! oh-oh-oh-oh
Numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers
Numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers
They don't lie!

Of all the people that we met
when our band did play out
very few liked our sound, I guess
we felt like giving up

we made songs that were too strange 
and we weren't too cool to care
one of these things is not like the others
and we were that square peg

Numbers don't lie
we're an acquired taste
Numbers don't lie
we're not for everyone

Numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers
Numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers
They don't lie!
Numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers
Numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers
They don't lie!
Numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers
Numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers
They don't lie!

Numbers Don't Lie

Cover of the sElf/Matt Mahaffey song, in honor of the 25th anniversary of Breakfast with Girls. thanks to Blaise Gauldrault for mastering. 

credits: 
R. Brookes McKenzie: vocals, Omnichord, Folktek modified OM-36, mixing/production
E. Niveous Rayside: guitar, bass
Jay Ackley: drums

lyrics:
Ask her for the mail back
Turn the car back
Sleep it off all afternoon
Where ever your head's at
Find your way back
That's an old, familiar tune

(Just when you think)
You're all rusted & used
(Turn around)
You're all shiny & new

Ought to just accept she's quite complex, she
Leads you on & leaves you bruised
She's an old romantic; her shadow's electric
Told the tale a time or two

(Just when you think)
You're all rusted & used
(Turn around)
You're all shiny & new

"I've got plans for you this time," she said
"This town's a storybook.
Skip the chapters you've already read
and take an ever-extensive deeper look"

Well, two of us growing older, going nowhere
Know the melody's been used
But it's oh so clever, love is forever
I think I could marry you


(Just when you think)
You're all shiny & new
(Turn around)
You're all shiny & new, shiny & new yeah

sElf-Portraits: A Tribute Album

Rusted and Used (sElf cover)

recorded live at the Open Mic Downstairs, March 10, 2015
Under St. Marks Theatre
written by Eli Drabman/Instant Death Mechanism
vocals, Omnichord - RBM
guitar - Mike Milazzo

When I Became A Starling (live)

written and performed by R. Brookes McKenzie (vocals, Omnichord)
lyrics: 
Dan Smith will teach you to play guitar
if Dan Smith really exists
Dan Smith will teach you to play guitar
if Dan Smith is not just a myth

oh  whoa oh oh oh 
oh  whoa oh oh oh

He wants to sing you a story
A sad song about your guitar
Collecting dust in your closet
Posters on your wall

oh  whoa oh oh oh 
oh  whoa oh oh oh

Is he really here
and is he really young
and has he wasted his whole life
just playing his guitar

oh  whoa oh oh oh 
oh  whoa oh oh oh

Dan Smith will teach you to play guitar
if Dan Smith really exists
Dan Smith will teach you to play guitar
if Dan Smith is not just a myth

oh  whoa oh oh oh
oh  whoa oh oh oh
oh  whoa oh oh oh
oh  whoa oh oh oh

the myth of Dan Smith

I play Omnichord and sing. I used to do entirely covers, but have been writing original songs for the past few years. I am also in the band Lucky Witch & the Righteous Ghost, please look us up on Soundcloud.

Virgo Power

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