This was a class assignment in the Multimedia Developer course I took over a one year period back in 2001 as part of learning the Adobe Audition software program for sound editing.
I actually composed this using various loops in Sonic Foundry's Acid 2.0 loop editor. It was just a fun project. Nothing serious. No lyrics to speak of per se. Just a couple snippets of memorable cinematic dialogue.

The Funky Truth

This track is somewhat of a tribute to the 'grunge rock' style sound featuring chord progressions reminiscent of artists like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden etc. 
The majority of credit goes to our bass player (and my younger brother) Martin Z. for crafting the bass lick that inspired this song. 
Much credit also to Derek P. for his inspired and innovative lyrics describing something akin to a Hatfield and McCoy's type feud in which the younger generation continues to wage the battle of their forbearers for no apparent reason beyond family tradition.
*LYRICS*:
Seven generations have passed
It's way past due now you're the last
Great, great grandfather's son's, son's, son
Was mad at you 
I'm mad at you

I'm pullin' out the warpaint
Gettin' ready for a...

Great Samaritan is what you think
Always good but not to me
Desperation to the brink
You don't know how low I'll sink

I'm pullin' out the warpaint
Gettin' ready for a...

Guitar Solo

Pullin' out the warpaint
Gettin' ready for a...

You may have a family
I don't care
They don't see
Get you when you least expect
Fight until we find the best

I'm pullin' out the warpaint
Gettin' ready for a...

*Spoken - And so you see?
Things could have been way different between you and me
I didn't even know your great, great, great grandfather
What did he ever do to me?
It could have been so beautiful...
You and somebody else!

08. Pullin' Out The Warpaint

Where to even begin trying to describe this tune? Another fusion of various individual influences to create something entirely new. Again with the tempo changes that start out with a ferocious intro and eventually transition into a softer, dreamier sequence featuring a steady, metronome-like bass riff and melodic guitar leads to introduce some rather profoundly dark, philosophical thoughts before launching back into the intro hook.
*LYRICS*:
I've seen my future
I've seen my life
Where am I goin'?
Where am I goin'?
Where am I goin'?

Well I've seen my woman
I've seen my wife
Where is she now?
Where is she now?
Where is she now?

Read my palm made me look like a fool

I've seen my saviour
I've seen my life
How do I know?
How do I know?
How do I know?

Complicate my life and bring it through
Shattered dreams of what I thought was true

Guitar Solo

Complicate my life and bring it through
Shattered dreams of what I thought was true

I've seen my future
I've seen my life
Where am I goin'?
Where am I goin'?
Where am I goin'?

Read my palm made me look like a fool
Shattered dreams of what I thought was true

Y'know I thought that I was crazy
Thought I had a lot of go
Thought I was insane
But I was inane
Now I'm comin' down on you
Comin' down on you
Comin' down on you
Comin' down on you

Y'know I thought that I was crazy
Thought I had a lot of go
Thought I was insane
But I was inane
Now I'm comin' down on you
Comin' down on you
Comin' down on you
Comin' down on you
Comin' down on you
Comin' down on you
Comin' down on you-hoo-hoo

07. Eye

As a collective, I'd like to believe that as an original song, we truly loved the creative process that went into its evolution and also performing it live. This was another one of those 'signature' songs that defined who we were as a group. While we all had many various musical influences, there were a lot of overlaps and one of the obvious ones was The Rolling Stones whose early sound I think is very prevalent in this track.
*LYRICS*:
I used to be a miner
Cuttin' stone all day
I used to be a diviner
Future's in my way

I used to be a builder
Usin' what I made
I used to be a 'stiller
Getting drunk every day

Pick up your pieces
Substitute them in your mind
Rearrange them all you want
You will never be satisfied
Satisfied
Oh-no-ho

I used to be a traveler
My journey it was long
I used to be a liar
Everything was wrong

Pick up your pieces
Substitute them in your mind
Rearrange them all you want
You will never be satisfied
Satisfied
Oh-no-ho

Guitar Solo

I used to be a smoker
Half a pack a day
I used to be a joker
Laughter a-la gay

Pick up your pieces
Substitute them in your mind
Rearrange them all you want
You will never be satisfied
Satisfied
Oh-no-ho

You will never be 
Satisfied
Wish that you could be 
Satisfied
Satisfied
Satisfied
Satisfied

06. Professed

This track was based on a catchy hook Marty W. used to pull out of his tool bag during the band's warm-up jam sessions before the band would actually begin rehearsals. I loved the potential of it being an actual song so much that I sat down one night and threw some lyrics together. Note that I admittedly have nowhere near the raw creativity or poetic genius of Derek P. who wrote most of our lyrics. My personal influences (to this day still) ranged from AC/DC to Aerosmith, which was basically 'sex, drugs and rock 'n roll' so take it for what it's worth.
*LYRICS*:
You've got a nasty reputation baby
I have seen your kind before
Take what you can't get for free
Then you walk right out the door

You better think it over
Before I blow your cover

I can see right through you woman
You're pretentious and so vain
Well I ain't got no time for sympathy
Honey that's a shame

I can read you like an open book
And all it took for me to see was just one look
So if you wanna take a chance and roll the dice
I'll take your confidence and make you pay the price

Guitar Solo

I can read you like an open book
And all it took for me to see was just one look
So if you wanna take a chance and roll the dice
I'll take your confidence and make you pay the price

So you better fight temptation lady
'Cause I won't be foolin' around
If you've got somethin' that I want
Then I'm gonna take you down

05. X-Posed

This is a fun little track we came up with just for $hit$ ‘n giggles that used to get a lot of requests for whenever we played live. Not the most polished performance by any stretch but sometimes it's the notable flaws in a recording that can make a song somewhat endearing.
The lyrics were based on all those games we used to play as kids (Tag, Hide & Seek, Kick The Can etc.) and the methodology used to determine who would be 'it' to start the game. Influenced perhaps in part by the likes of Green Day and The Offspring? 
Part folk-y, part punk-y but all cheeky.
*LYRICS*:
Na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na!
Na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na!

One potato, two potato, three potato, four
Five potato, six potato, seven potato or more
Mickey Mouse built a house how many bricks did he use?

Snakey, snakey on your back
Which finger did I crack?
Snakey, snakey on your back
Which finger did I crack?

Ink pink, you stink
Ridin' on a horse's dink
Ink pink, you stink
Ridin' on a horse's dink
So, so suck a toe
All the way to Mexico
So, so suck a toe
All the way to Mexico

Eenie meenie miney moe
Catch a rabbit by the toe
If he hollers let him go
Eenie meenie miney moe

My mother punched your mother right in the nose
What colour was the blood?
My mother punched your mother right in the nose
What colour was the blood?

Ink pink, you stink
Ridin' on a horse's dink
Ink pink, you stink
Ridin' on a horse's dink
So, so suck a toe
All the way to Mexico
So, so suck a toe
All the way to Mexico

Engine, engine number nine
Going down Chicago line
If the train falls off the tracks
Do you want your money back?

Martin and Martin sitting in a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

Ink pink, you stink
Ridin' on a horse's dink
Ink pink, you stink
Ridin' on a horse's dink
So, so suck a toe
All the way to Mexico
So, so suck a toe
All the way to Mexico
Ah-heh-heh-heh
Pull my finger!

04. Playground Poetry

This track features a bit more of an eclectic rock feel perhaps subtly influenced by The Tragically Hip with perhaps a dash of Tom Petty? 
*LYRICS*:
It's a long, long way to Georgia
You don't know how far it is
If you're gonna get there you better beware
Because I control the wind

It's a journey we all must travel
With our face against the wind
But the dust won't fly inside your eye
With your mind and your sight closed from the outside

That's my hurricane
Quick disaster
Wind blows you away
And away-hey

Jacob was a rebel
He tried to hold the reins
Thought he had the hand 'til his face hit the sand
'Cause a dust devil got his leg

Dust storm risin'
Nouveau hazard
Wind is blow'n away
And away-hey

Guitar Solo

That's my hurricane
Quick disaster
Wind blows you away
And away-hey

It's a long, long way to Georgia
You don't know how far it is
If you're gonna get there you better beware
Because I control the wind

That's my hurricane
Quick disaster
Wind blows you away
And away-hey
Dust storm risin'
Nouveau hazard
Wind is blow'n away
And away

It's a long, long way to Georgia
It's a long, long way to Georgia
It's a long, long way to Georgia
It's a long, long way to Georgiaaaaahhhhhh

03. Georgia

Crunchy riff, driving rhythm, thick bass line, memorable lyrics and a tempo change that slows it down ever so slightly for a melodic guitar solo before ramping it back up to 5th gear for the finale. In short, it's essentially a song about boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy tries to find girl to figure out what the hell went wrong.
*LYRICS*:
Thought I saw my fate with you
Now I'm not too sure
When I woke up your things were gone
Oh where did you go?
Left our home
Paid the rent
Packed my bags to go
Call a cab, catch a bus
Leave to where you'd go

I'm a-comin' to look for you
I just wanna know
Do you love me? Do you hate me ?
I just wanna know

Gonna have to do some travelin' 
Where I'm not too sure
Probably face some obstacles
But I'll have to endure
Got a picture of you
From people you know
To find out where you've gone
Where you're gonna go

I'm a-comin' to look for you
I just wanna know
Was it just because of me?
I just wanna know

Guitar Solo

Thought I saw my fate with you
Now I'm not too sure
When I woke up your things were gone
Oh where did you go?
Left our home
Paid the rent
Packed my bags to go
Call a cab, catch a bus
Leave to where you'd go

Hope to find you
Hope to see you
I just wanna know 
Was it just because of me?
I just wanna know

Gonna have to do some travelin' 
Where I'm not too sure
Probably face some obstacles
But I'll have to endure
Got a picture of you
From people you know
To find out where you've gone
Where you're gonna go

I'm a-comin' to look for you
I just wanna know
Do you love me? Do you hate me?
I just wanna know

02. I Just Wanna Know

One of the many songs that captured the true essence of the diverse and eclectic musical influences of the individual band members including the likes of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and U2 (among many others).
*LYRICS*: 
See the ocean
See the water blue
Liquid scenery
It will always be

See the fish go by 
See their greedy eyes
Eating greenery
It will always be

See the ocean green
Everything and me
See the tidal sky
It will always be

And I thought I saw you 
Swimming in the ocean
But you were on the shore
Talking to some cannibals 
I wish I'd brought my camera

I went down to
The town of Africa
I know it's not a town
But I was there anyway
*Spoken - That's right,
You can't tell me I wasn't there 
(in Africa that is)

See the ocean
See the water blue
Liquid scenery
It will always be

And I thought I saw you
Swimming in the ocean
But you were on the shore
Talking to some cannibals 
I wish I'd brought my camera

I went down to
The town of Africa
I met some primitives
And got myself an elephanté!

*Spoken - That's right,
I went big game hunting in Africa
But I didn't catch any fish :-(

And I thought I saw you
Swimming in the ocean
But you were on the shore
Talking to some cannibals 
I wish I'd brought my camera

See the ocean
See the ocean
See the ocean
See the ocean
See the ocean
See the ocean

01. Ocean (Africa)

Band Members:
Derek Perron - Lead Vocals
Martin Winter - Lead Guitar
Martin Zeidler - Bass
Stephan Zeidler - Drums/Backing Vocals
8-Song Demo "Everybody Knows One" recorded in December of 1995
in Edmonton, Alberta on Tascam Multitrack Cassette Recorder.
Converted to digital format in December 2015 to commemorate 20th Anniversary of the band's original self-produced recording session.

Strange Lake

Popular tracks