This 16-track CD collects music from, and inspired by, Red Vs Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles. The music was written and performed by Nico and his Boston-based trio Trocadero. Roses are Red, Violets are Blue includes four pieces of incidental music from your favorite RvB episodes (including the Intro theme), and twelve full-length tracks.

Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue

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This one is kind of a departure for us. While we've flirted with disco in the past, we've never really tried to make out with the genre. Don't worry, we won't do it again. This tune also distinguishes itself from our other material as having a guest musician: Guitarist Philadelphia Telepants recorded a beautiful, blistering solo to close this song.

Lyrics:
Gun metal green 
Prettiest that I've seen 
I've nothing to hide
And you've nothing to hide

I'd trust you at the wheel,
Even if we're going down
Our love is made of steel
Last us 'til the underground
Steady and surreal, 
In a world of lost and found

Took out the trash
Paid my bills all in cash
Nothing to hide
And it's summer outside

I'd trust you at the wheel,
Even if we're going down
Our love is made of steel
Last us til the underground
Steady and surreal, 
In a world of lost and found
Trust you at the wheel,
Know you'll keep us safe and sound

We don't need a key
We were already free
Cruising along
To a mexican song

Credits
Trocadero: Words & music
Nico: Danelectro baritone guitar, drums, vocals
Wendy: Kurtzweil K2661, vocals
Philadelphia: Fender guitar


Steady Ride (Gun Metal Green)

The theme that plays at the start of RvB episodes is the same recording Nico submitted to RvB back in '03. The RT folks (in their awesome and obstinate way) never agreed to replace it with any of the improved versions that have been submitted, so the crazy string sliding noise, and the little buzz at the end... they're features, not bugs!
Credits:
Nico:  Music; Danelectro baritone guitar


Intro

This tune has gone through a few versions.  The very first version, which we fondly call the 1.0 mix, had Nico playing drums recorded in stereo at our old, usually flooded rehearsal space.  Brandon re-recorded the drums for the "final version."  This tune has been revisited in the Bloody Mix, which played at the start of Season 2, and Return, which opens opens RvB Season 5 as well as Ghosts That Linger.
Credits:
Trocadero: Words & music
Nico: Danelectro baritone guitar, vocals
Wendy: Moog Opus 3, Kurtzweil 2661, vocals
Brandon: Drums, Moog Taurus pedals
Heather Cristofaro: Artwork

Blood Gulch Blues

Nico: a while back, I saw the (incredible)Alvin Ailey dance company perform at the Wang theatre; I was blown away by the technical dancing and the intense musical repertoire, which included Civil War-era spirituals. Later on, Wendy and I talked about writing one of our own, this is what came out.

Lyrics:
Jesus, I'm a broken man…
Can you make me whole again?

Jesus, I'm a broken toy…
Can you make me whole again?

Can you make me
Can you make me whole again?

Jesus, people play with me
They toy with me
Yeah, they mess with me
Jesus, make me whole again
Can you undo what's undone?

Can you make my
Can you make my soul again?

Credits:
Trocadero: Words & music
Nico: Danelectro baritone guitar, slide, vocals
Wendy: Moog Opus 3, Kurtzweil K2661, vocals
Brandon: Drums, Moog Taurus pedals


Spiritual

Using ’persephone and demeter’ as a rock song lyric is unforgivable; somehow, the band forgave Nico. Brandon’s slinky bossa nova and Wendy’s Casiotone vibe sound save this one... this tune appears in Ep20 of RvB. That's right, Blue Command digs us!

Lyrics:
Where is the one
Who will mourn me when I'm gone
Who will pour water on my bed of dirt
Who will breathe fire on my neck at night

I heard someone say
There's a chance that I will meet her
I could be perse-
phone and she demeter
To pull me from the underground that I call home

Her name is no one...
She blinds me with her eyes 'cause she's
The one, the one
She lives somewhere not here...

My lovers are as smooth
As a politician's tongue
The more I look for goodness
The more that I find none

I heard someone say,
That she's honest and good...

Her name is no one no one no one...

I measure out my days
With sips of a Corona
I'm pretty sure she drives
An old fucked up Corolla
To pull me from the underground
That I call home

I've a funny feeling
There's no chance that I will meet her
so I'll measure out my nights
To my metronome's meter

Credits:
Trocadero: Words & music
Nico: Danelectro baritone guitar, vocals
Wendy: Moog Opus 3, CasioTone, vocals
Brandon: Drums

No One

Wendy came up with that theme that plays at the start of the tune, and she and I played it with it for a while. The whole song sort of all came together. If you're a Bungie fan, no doubt you'll have an easy time figuring out the inspiration for this song. If you're not, then you're doing it wrong!

Lyrics:
I was once, underground
07 years without a sound
Ten Shadow Punch
In my arm
Leads me to the funny farm...

I'm a rogue, samurai
Devil spins me and I fly
Kicking far, kicking wide
It's the secret that I hide...

Rise, and shine
Burn, and glow
Rise, and shine
Here, I go

Credits:
Trocadero: Words & music
Nico: Danelectro baritone guitar, vocals
Wendy: Kurtzweil K2661, Moog Opus 3, vocals
Brandon: Drums
Artwork: Jay Faircloth

Funny Farm

A short piece that was written to accompany a car chase montage in RvB Season 2.  And by car chase, we mean puma chase.  Er, chupacabra chase.  Walrus chase?
Credits:
Nico:  Music; Danelectro baritone guitar, Yairi baritone guitar, Dean banjo, drums

Punch It

It's kind of a Boston hurrah type of song. Not really about booty calls, but more about leafing through your address book while doing shots. Dated, since no one has address books anymore, not ones made of paper anyway. Don't get too attached to the keyboard solo -- a different one is played at each performance.  You can hear a bit of (517) in that old RvB episode where, uh, the puma tries to kill sarge.

Lyrics:
213 girls talk too much
And 212 boys not enough
312s are very bold
Man 206 gets way too cold
Doing shots I'm all alone
I slur my words after the tone

And I drink and I call...

I can't stand to be alone...
Save me on the telephone.

419s they hate the phone
And 208s are never home
And all my lovers they have voice mail
They call me back, they give me hell!

And I drink and I call...

I've dialed the numbers, dialed them all
But nothing beats, a local call

617 boys, hmm, 617 girls, hmm
617 boys, hmm, 617 girls, hmm

Credits:
Trocadero + Susan Hsia: Words & music
Nico: Danelectro baritone guitar, vocals
Wendy: Moog Opus 3, CasioTone, vocals
Brandon: Drums


(617)

Words can't even begin to describe the depth and power of Alan Moore's Watchmen and neither can music, but we had to try. This tune features original Trocaderist Susan Hsia, who co-wrote it. Sadly, she left the band for inconsequential things like Harvard, work, love and marriage.  Superhero appears in Episode 28 of RvB

Lyrics:
True American love,
Is like a green Coke bottle
They don't make it anymore
Part of me died back in '64...

I want to be a superhero
I've got a mask I've got a name
Your days calling me freak are numbered
Don't bother with surrender

We were so wrong
All dressed up, with somewhere to go
We wanted to do right, but
The costume fits just a little too tight...

I want to be a superhero
(I want to be a superwoman)

I don't have any super-powers
(I'll hang out with my super girlfriends)

I want to be a superhero, I don't need any super...
(Talk about our days)

I'm gonna be a superhero
I don't need (have) any super-powers

Your days calling me freak are numbered
(and pushing me around, well)

My broken heart's a super-power
(they're over, they're over, over)

Credits:
Trocadero + Susan Hsia: Words & music
Nico: Danelectro baritone guitar, vocals
Susan: Moog Opus 3, CasioTone, vocals
Brandon: Drums


Superhero

Nico: Susan and I used to really get into the X Files (we started around seaon 3.) The tension and chemisty between the two protagonists was just so tangible... the piano theme at the beginning was played on a Casiotone -- I swear it beats a 9 1/2 foot Steinway in this context.

Lyrics:
With my games, and your games
And the rules we hate the same
And my breath, and your breath
As I hear you call my name

Like two parts, face to face
And the whole, falls into place
All as one...

With my dad, and your dad
And the gin, they never had
And my rules, and your rules
And your heart, and mine it cools
Beating hard... 

Follow the truth, follow the lies
Nobody wins, everything dies...

With your art, and my art
To instigate, a change of heart
And your heart, and your mind
And your body, next to mine

Credits:
Trocadero + Susan Hsia: Words & music
Nico: Danelectro baritone guitar, vocals
Wendy: Moog Opus 3, CasioTone, vocals
Brandon: Drums, Moog Taurus pedals

All As One

Another short instrumental done for an early RvB PSA.  This goofy little ditty shows the versatility of the Danelectro baritone which was used to play the "faux slack key" slide lead, the bass part, as well as the rhythm part which features the unmistakable tremolo from an old Fender amp.  

Credits:
Nico:  Music; Danelectro baritone guitar, shaker

Oh Five!

Nico: they say it's easy to write about it if you've lived it. I guess that's true. This tune has two things which save it from being a complete YAID (Yet Another Indie Dirge): Wendy's awesome string arrangement, and, to use the words of mastering engineer Mark Donahue: "the loudest twenty seconds I've mastered this year."

Lyrics:
In love, in need, in want, in miss
I taste your bite, I taste your kiss
And I think back, the things you said
They make me mad, a bull to red

And I wonder where you are
And I wonder what you wore
And I'm lost inside a bar
And I'm drunk inside a war…

Drinking Martinis by myself
On a Sunday
Drinking Martinis again
On a Monday

It's a half life...

I buy your brand, I smoke your brand
I count the what ifs on one hand...

Drinking Martinis alone
Sunday morning
Drinking Martinis again
Sunday evening

Credits:
Trocadero + Susan Hsia: Words & music
Nico: Danelectro baritone guitar, vocals
Wendy: Moog Opus 3, violin, viola, vocals
Brandon: Drums
Karen Langlie: Cello


Half Life

This was done for an early RvB PSA where Sarge is narrating a fictitious hunting show.  His prey?  The "Griffus Retardicus" or something similar. If you listen closely, you can hear Matt desperately trying to contain laughter.  

Credits:
Nico:  Music; Dean Banjo

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