Blacktop Fields

2003-06-06T09:52:00.000-04:00

Well, since you didn't do it over here yet, I guess I will.

Here is a rough cut of Breathe You.

Music, guitar, mixing by CTodd Lombardo
Lyrics, vocals by Kitty Mortland
Recorded by Alec Gorecki (I think that's how you spell his name)
copyright 2003 by Blacktop Fields

2003-05-27T11:43:00.000-04:00

Breathe You

Light creeps in upon your face
It's early yet to rise
I feel you with each heartbeat
And I breathe you with my eyes
I'm lying with perfection
And I can't believe you're mine
This moment I have stolen
And it's frozen in my mind

I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop
Just like it has before
But you slip them off as you kiss my lips
I couldn't love you
I couldn't love you...

Drive me crazy telling me
How beautiful I am
You rescue me from lonely
With a touch of your sweet hand
You suffocate me with the things
I cannot ask of you
You vanquish every fear with
Your adherance to the truth

(instrumental bridge)
(chorus)
(or is it the other way around and the chorus comes before the bridge? Either way...)

I can hold out no longer
I reach out to touch your skin
You ope' your eyes to see me
And you melt me with a grin
You bathe me with a love
That I have never known before
The dawning day is calling out
To lovers come explore

I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop
Just like it has before
But you slip them off as you kiss my lips
I couldn't love you
I couldn't love you more

2003-03-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

Silly rabbi. Kicks are for trids.

2003-03-03T12:41:00.000-05:00

duh...I was thinking LYRICS...

silly me...

maybe they've invented the transmogrifier of melodic words so I know exacly the melody.

MMmmmmMM MMMMmmmmmmm Mmmm Daaa deeee ooooo.

right?

2003-03-03T11:10:00.000-05:00

And, um, how exactly do you propose I post a melody? Keeping in mind two things: 1) music writing in blog form is pretty pathetic (as has already been demonstrated earlier in this blog) and 2) my really sad skills at transcribing what I'm singing (I don't know what the notes are, I'm just singing them).

When I have something nice and cute worked out, I'll call you and sing it to you so you can hear it. I'm not even going to try to post it.

2003-02-28T13:38:00.000-05:00

Excellent!! Post what you have and maybe I can add some input to the bridge...

2003-02-26T10:08:00.000-05:00

I listened to "Breathe You" about ten times before I went to bed last night and I have a nice melody for most of it (the bridge is still giving me some trouble), which means lyrics should be coming along soon. Yay!

2003-02-20T23:20:00.000-05:00

OK so I went to a songwriting class tonight. It was pretty cool. we did a lot of lyric writing exercizes. Which was really good considering I'm horrible at lyrics. Here are some of the exercizes:

1- we were given certain phrases where we had to re-write them
2- write a list of song titles
3- write a verse about your favorite blank
4- now go write the two previous verses to #3

The results were interesting. I am more prolific than I thought once I got started. The hard part was definitely getting started.

I'll post what I actually wrote later. I also found out that the instructor is very equipped (and willing) to help record songs. So that's an option. I didn't get into price, but certainly will ask at some point.

I owe you a new CD. I'll have it ready this weekend.

2003-02-13T12:27:00.000-05:00

None that actually stick in my head that I like..

2003-02-13T10:45:00.000-05:00

Tee hee. Nice. Do you have a melody in mind yet?

2003-02-13T03:51:00.000-05:00

Ok - here are the lyrics to a song I've appropriately named Time to Kill. It could use some work, another verse and perhaps a few lines for a bridge as well. But its a start. (I'm having trouble sleeping...hence the 3am post..)

Sitting here waiting for departure, to make my way home.
This journey has been quite long, and yes I'm making it on my own.

My home calls me softly, more and more each night.
I cannot understand how I miss it, because I'm leaving paradise!

Chorus:
Time to kill, time to kill
it's like I'm mentally ill.
Time to kill, time to kill
someone give me a suicide pill.

2003-02-12T15:20:00.000-05:00

More possible "Breathe You" lyrics (again, open to editing so they will work within the music. Which I am looking forward to hearing when you're in town next week.)

Okay, I tried to post them, but they didn't look the same way they did in my head. I was thinking something along the lines of "I can't believe you're close enough for me to touch, which I would do, if I could be convinced you wouldn't disappear." But somehow that doesn't look right. I'm shooting for the mood of "is this a dream, 'cuz it's too good to be true," you know? Where you're lying there looking at someone so perfect and your hand is drawn to their face, but you're afraid that if you make contact, you'll find out that it is a dream and you'll wake up. Something like that. When we play this weekend/next week, we can work on it. It's just another image that popped into my head that I thought would work in "Breathe You."

2003-02-11T11:34:00.000-05:00

Home safe. How about California wine instead of tropical drink?

I'm getting better and better on the recording side. I should have a CD in the mail to you very soon.Berklee College of Music has some summer workshops, two of which I plan to attend: Basslines and Recording. I also have some lyrics to post which I will when I'm home tonight. One song "Time to Kill" was inspired during my travels homeward when I literally had lots of time to kill....

2003-02-07T09:04:00.000-05:00

Bring me back a hot man with a very large, tropical drink. And if you could bring back some warmer weather, too, that'd be nice.

I'm thinking we can figure out what lyrics work with what sounds once we get a chance to sit down and play together. You sure you're not stopping in Chicago on your way home? ;)

Sorry. I'm tired. I'm delusional. Remind me not to post when I'm like this.

And get home safe!

2003-02-06T15:47:00.000-05:00

Aloha! Thanks for sharing! =] Indeed it is what this is all about!!

The 3/4 time may work. I've been using the PS-02 as a scratchpad for differnet chord progressions, riffs and whatnot. I've recorded a short segment of a song including the drum features and have a dark-sounding song which I had been thinking may be a solo project, but now I realize it may work well with this. (Sometimes wavelengths run paralelle, eh?) Its a bit too Creed/Metallica sounding as is, however I've been thinking how to funk it up a bit wth different drums and a bassline. This gives me a few ideas for that.

Anything I can send/bring to you from Hawaii? Only two days left in paradise..

2003-02-05T14:35:00.000-05:00

I'm getting lyric ideas for another song that I think I'd like to call "Restless." This is one I was thinking about writing myself, but it might be better as a Blacktop Fields project. The pre-chorus would be, "I want to be everything I know I can be/I want to be everything you see in me." I also have the line in there somewhere "Step out of my head and face reality," but I'm not sure where it will go yet. I also scribbled down two verses that I'm not sure if I like or not. But hey, I might as well share them 'cuz this is what this is for, right?

Scars on my fingers prove how hard I have tired
The passion consumes all I lock deep inside
I can't even count all the times that I cried
(I don't like the line I had here, so I'm going to change it, or we could do this song in 3/4 time (waltzy) and keep verses/choruses to three lines -- that might be fun, actually)

Grooves in the skin penetrate to the core
The nerves scream out stop but I need just one more
Before I can argue, the one becomes four
(Again, I didn't like this line. It was the same as the last line of the previous stanza -- "Trying to make something beautiful" or "And I start to believe I am beautiful" But yeah, I'm not thrilled with this last line, so yeah, let's change it)

But the premise of the song is kind of one's perception of oneself versus the outside world's perception of that person, dig? Like I may think I'm great, but the rest of the world thinks I suck, or vice versa.

Of course, this idea might work better as part of "Skinny White Boy." Who knows. :)

2003-01-30T15:52:00.000-05:00

Forgiven. =]

Maui rocks!

Go Kitty-music!

2003-01-27T12:23:00.000-05:00

I'll forgive you for not sending a disc if you'll forgive me for working on my own, non-Blacktop Fields music this weekend.

Have fun in Hawaii!

2003-01-25T07:17:00.000-05:00

OK I apologize for not getting you a CD with all the sounds before I leave. However, I'm bringing my little Zoomy-Zoom recorder, which is so small I could put it in my pocket, and acoustic guitar. This means I should have some good stuff for you when I get back. Hopefully I won't be too influenced by Hawaiian music. =P

2003-01-24T16:17:00.000-05:00

A lot of this will become much clearer when we are in the same room and can experiment with variations on the themes/chords/notes/lyrics/etc..

=]

2003-01-24T09:38:00.000-05:00

I'd have to hear it as alternating lyrics before I could say one way or the other. My first reaction is that that might just make it cheesy. I'm not opposed to harmonies and whatnot, or if you want to sing this one, we can change the pronouns to make it appropriate for a guy to sing. But yeah, I'm kind of thinking a duet might come off too cheesy. 'Specially for a "hard rock" song.

If we switch the rhyme scheme, I'm going to want to rework some of the lines so that the first two lines of each verse will rhyme. I'm not saying that every song has to rhyme all of the time, but if you're playing with an A-B-C-B rhyme scheme and turning it into an A-C-B-B rhyme scheme, it kind of makes more sense to me to just make it an A-A-B-B scheme. And since this is one song where we're allowing ourselves to be predictable in the chord structure and whatnot, it might be nice to keep the predictability with a recognizable rhyme scheme. Make sense? Or am I just being too nit-picky? Sorry. I'm babbling.

Anyway. We can play with it.

I like the blue guitar, but I need to take her in and have a peg put on so I can actually put the strap on her. As it is, I tied the strap to the neck of the guitar up by the tuning pegs, but that requires rethinking the guitar's weight distribution on my shoulders since the balance point is different. And I think I'm either going to look into smaller gauge strings or sanding the bridge down a little bit to ease the action on it. But I have plenty of time to play with her. I was --><-- this close to calling in sick today so I could stay home and play. And 'cuz I shouldn't have had that second Vanilla Stoli and Coke last night...

And there was another gorgeous sunrise this morning that disappeared in about thirty seconds. Sparked some possible lyrics in my head. I'll play with them while you're on vacation.

2003-01-23T22:15:00.000-05:00

Dig that! I think I've got a melody to go with that and the chord progression we worked on previously (F#-F#-A-B). Not sure if I'm envisioning exactly how you describe it with the chord changes. Also, may have to re-write last line to remove "kind of." Maybe. Not 100% sure yet.

This may be a good candidate for both of us to sing..as in if I sing a lower harmony on top of the melody..

Ooooh ooh! Or What if we each sang every other line??

Todd: Do you think I like it when you shoot your mouth off?
Kitty: Do you think I like hearing how great she is?
Todd: Do you think I like it when you scream his name?
Both: You must think I'm some kind of masochist.

Another idea is to perhaps switch the rhyme scheme:
Kitty: You talk of perfect eyes and perfect hair
Todd: You talk of things I know I'll never have
Kitty: You talk of true love and eternal bliss
Both: You must think I'm some kind of masochist.

Just some ideas to build on that....

Tomorrow night after packing I'm going to probably spend all night recording these so I can get the sounds to you before I'm gone on vaca.

Blacktop Fields... The more I say it, the more I like it. =]

How's that pretty new blue?

2003-01-23T12:40:00.000-05:00

I like it that you changed the name of the blog, my fellow Blacktop Fields member.

Okay, now the beginnings of the Masochist lyrics. I'm not married to the order of the verses. And I haven't written the spoken word chorus (if we put these lyrics to the "hard rock" song you're working on) and I will probably need to write another verse or two. Something to wrap it all up. The way I'm envisioning it, though, is the first line of each verse takes up the two F# chords, the second line takes up the A and the B, the third line the next two F#s, the fourth the next A and B, dig? Though since I haven't heard what you've been playing with yet, again, this is all open to editing later. Or we could go back to the drawing board completely and make this a different song. Or we could scrap these lyrics completely. And please don't read any personal messages into this song. It wasn't inspired by anyone in particular. But here's what I have thus far:

Do you think I like it when you shoot your mouth off?
Do you think I like hearing how great she is?
Do you think I like it when you scream her name?
You must think I'm some kind of masochist.

You talk of perfect eyes and perfect hair
You talk of true love and eternal bliss
You talk of things I know I'll never have
You must think I'm some kind of masochist.

I know all the problems that you have in bed
I know exactly where and when you twos first kissed
There are limits to what friends should share
But here I sit, some kind of masochist.

There's only so much joy that I can feign for you
How many blank-eyed stares can one man miss?
You just keep rambling on as if I cared
You must think I'm some kind of masochist.

I know the whole damn thing is just my own damn fault
I should slap your face, instead I bite my lip
I know it's up to me how much of this I take
I guess I must be some kind of masochist.

Or something like that. Like I said, nothing is set in stone. This is just what I scribbled down while I was waiting for the open mic night to start.

2003-01-22T13:18:00.000-05:00

OK - you like Blacktop Fields and I like Blacktop Fields...sooooooo...let's go with that for now.

=]

2003-01-22T11:11:00.000-05:00

Man, you're sitting there like a vulture, waiting for me to post, aren't you? We could be Vultures Waiting. I'm kidding. I'm bored. I'm frozen. My brain isn't working.

Blacktop Vulture Cadence

And people would call us BVC for short.

Though Blacktop Vulture is kind of interesting, too...okay, I'm stopping now.

2003-01-22T10:44:00.000-05:00

Blacktop Fields was my #2. The more I say it, the more I dig it. I also like Verbal Dysentery, but still favor Blacktop Fields.

2003-01-22T10:21:00.000-05:00

I kind of like "Blacktop Fields." "Sunday's Cadence" is nice, but it sound really sweet and laid back to me, which doesn't really go with some of the stuff we're working on. Or does it? I don't know. I posted in my blog, too, for people to send us band name suggestions. 'Cuz we all know how big my reader base is...

And I'm still at the reception desk. Hopefully Masochist lyrics tomorrow.

2003-01-21T21:20:00.000-05:00

Cool about the lyrics. I've got a bunch I'm toying with myself. Saturday I'm leaving for Maui for 2 weeks. I plan to bring my new guitar (hopefully it arrives in time) and do some writing/recording during that time as well. While I plan to be mostly surfing and sailing, I think I'll have plenty of time at night to relax and compose. I've no doubt there will be plenty of inspiration. I don't know what my internet access will be, nor will I be dying to get to the net (what the hell, I'll be in Maui)...

As far as the brand name goes I'm 100% open... Although 'Nuts' doesn't seem to fit.

Band-o-matic has yielded the following:

Medley Of Badness
The Unintelligible Epicure
Blurry Goatees
Reanimated Orphan Mannequin Children
Mucus Factory

Ew.

Or we could pick from this list. Some examples:

Empowering Significance
Blind Federation
Ethical Ramifications
The Other Dilemma
Voir Dire
Umbrage
Theoretical Issue
Local Media Types
The Unsettling

However, this site produced:

Sunday's Cadence
Blacktop Fields

of which both I really like..

Oh - my roomate just walked in and offered her suggestion: Hello Harris

Some ideas from my brain:

The Different Same
Hidden Identity
Intent to Play
The Distance Over
Who Was Here
Brown-like Hat

Although my favorite is Sunday's Cadence

2003-01-21T10:33:00.000-05:00

I wrote some more lyrics this weekend, but I'm stuck at the reception desk, so I can't really transcribe them today. I'll hopefully be able to post them tomorrow. They could, I think, be crafted to work in the "hard rock" song (the Fm, Fm, B, C song we worked on over New Year's). And if these lyrics work with that melody, I think the song should be called "Masochist." Don't worry. It's not really dirty.

On another note, I think we need a more interesting name for our "band" than Kitty and Todd. The thought of getting up on stage and saying, "Hi, we're Kitty and Todd," isn't quite as appealing to me as getting up there and saying something like, "Hi, we're Nuts." Or something like that. But I haven't come up with any names I really like yet. So it's just something to think about.

2003-01-17T14:53:00.000-05:00

LOVE the concept!!

Here is my 2 cents: Chorus is a bit too long.

How about shortening the Chorus to:
This is my escape
My release
The thing I do just for me
Relaxation
Meditation
Guilty pleasure to the umpteenth degree

The Bridge flows like a verse so why not make it one?

Compare:
I know exactly what this looks like
I know exactly what they'll say
You know that's not my motivation
You know I'd do this anyway

To:
I do this 'cuz I want to
Not for anybody else
I just hope that you will listen
Before you put me on the shelf

Similar flow, no? Or am I on some good drugs? (don't answer that...)

How about making the bridge the latter part of your initially proposed chorus?

Don't you take it away
Don't you turn it into a job
Slip me a check as you cough
That's not why I'm here
This is how I stop the world when I wanna get off

At some point you'll have to tell me what inspired you for this...I like it!

2003-01-17T10:45:00.000-05:00

I wrote some lyrics last night. I'm not going to tell you what inspired them 'cuz I kind of like their ambiguity. But let me know what you think.

I didn't write them with any particular melody in mind, so I don't know if we would want to put them with one of your existing progressions, or if you want to use them as part of the "write the lyrics, then I'll put them to music" experiment. Either way, they are not set in stone. We can easily add a word or drop a word or change a word as necessary to make it fit. When I get on a roll, I don't like to stop myself, so I just write. I know that the lines don't all have the same number of syllables and stuff. I think that's okay. At the very least we can play with it. 'Cuz as we all know, the rests in music are just as important as the notes. And I'm not sure I like lines 9-11 of the chorus, but we can play with them. And pre-chorus 2 could be substituted for pre-chorus 1 after the third verse if it sounds better. I just like the idea of bringing something from early in the song back into it towards the end. But here goes. Oh, and I don't have a title for it yet, either. But I picture it being a harder rock song. Garbage-y. Definitely not sweet.

(Verse 1) I know exactly what this looks like
I know exactly what they'll say
You know that's not my motivation
You know I'd do this anyway

(Pre-chorus 1) I'm not asking for a handout
I'm not calling in a favor
I'm the one making an offering
You don't have to be my savior

(Chorus) This is my escape
My release
The thing I do just for me
Relaxation
Meditation
Guilty pleasure to the umpteenth degree
Don't you take it away
Turn it into a job
Slip me a check as you cough
That's not why I'm here
This is how I
Stop the world when I wanna get off

(Verse 2) Let's not suck out the fun
Let's not make this a chore
The day I have to be here's
The day I don't want to anymore

(Pre-chorus 2) I'm not seeking special treatment
I'm not asking for a break
I'm just putting myself out there
It's your choice which parts you take

(Chorus) This is my escape
My release
The thing I do just for me
Relaxation
Meditation
Guilty pleasure to the umpteenth degree
Don't you take it away
Turn it into a job
Slip me a check as you cough
That's not why I'm here
This is how I
Stop the world when I wanna get off

(Bridge) I do this 'cuz I want to
Not for anybody else
I just hope that you will listen
Before you put me on the shelf

(Verse 3) You can see from where I'm coming
You understand my point of view
You can take me if you want me
That is all I ask of you

(Pre-chorus 1) I'm not asking for a handout
I'm not calling in a favor
I'm the one making an offering
You don't have to be my savior

(Chorus) This is my escape
My release
The thing I do just for me
Relaxation
Meditation
Guilty pleasure to the umpteenth degree
Don't you take it away
Turn it into a job
Slip me a check as you cough
That's not why I'm here
This is how I
Stop the world when I wanna get off

2003-01-15T11:25:00.000-05:00

Accepted.

=]

2003-01-15T09:27:00.000-05:00

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write 8-16 lines about being a skinny white boy, starting with the line "Fifteen years old."

Of course, whenever I sit down to think about the skinny white boy song, Avril Lavourginneiuex's Sk8tr Boi gets stuck in my head...

But I think it could be fun to keep it fun and light and pop-y. You write about being a skinny white boy at 15. I'll write about being a pudgy white girl at 15. We'll have a bridge and a couple of choruses and wind up with a verse about how life really isn't like that. Or something. Just a thought.

2003-01-13T17:42:00.000-05:00

I know I complain a lot about the fact that I have to get up at the proverbial butt-crack of dawn every day, but when faced with the alternative of missing out on sunrises like the one that happened this morning, I think I'll put up with the waking up early. It really was breathtaking. Colors I don't even have words for. I got in my car and didn't even let it warm up because I wanted to get to a better vantage point to see the sunrise before the colors were gone. But beauty like that only lasts for a minute or two. And I got to see it. Because I wake up way too frickin' early.

I know I write about this stuff too much. I'm just trying to enjoy being alive is all. The simple pleasures in life. I'm trying to take note of all of the beauty around me so I don't get too weighed down in all of the crap that goes on in this world. So if that means I write about beautiful sunrises for a while, please bear with me until summertime comes and the sun wakes up even earlier than I do.
posted by Kitty on January 13th @ dailykitty.blogspot.com

Now there's a song just BEGGING to be written.
=]

2003-01-13T11:30:00.000-05:00

Hee Hee. Funny!

But always keep in mind that when something is sung, and sung the right way, even the cheeziest line can sound awesome.

Examples:
You look so fine or Can't Cry these Tears - Garbage
Underneath it all - No Doubt
Stay - Lisa Loeb
or anything by Norah Jones (that woman's voice makes me weak in the knees)

We'll work it out!

=]

2003-01-13T09:55:00.000-05:00

Lyrics are fully adjustable. I'm not married to them. I ran them past our little New York protoge the other day and she said, "I can hear it being played at weddings for years to come." To which I replied, "Back to the drawing board..."

2003-01-12T23:43:00.000-05:00

Breathe You

Intro/Verse
D-C-G-G <-- repeat 4 times (4th time 2nd G is an A)

Pre-Chorus
A-A

Verse
D-C-G-G <-- repeat 4 times (4th time 2nd G is an A)

Pre-Chorus/Chorus
A-A-C-G-C-G-G

Verse
D-C-G-G <-- repeat 4 times (4th time A is played in place of 2nd G)

Bridge
A-Bm-A-Bm

Pre-Chorus/Chorus
A-A-C-G-C-G-G

Fade-out
D-C-G-G (End on A with finger pick to D hammer-on)

edit: I think we're going to have to adjust lyrics and music phrasing to co-incide with each other.

2003-01-12T17:42:00.000-05:00

Need to really define each song's chord patterns so I can record them. Started playing and recording and wasn't pleased with the initial outcome, have really good ideas for the "rock" song. I have the bassline all set, need to get the drums all in line. I found software which will help me setup songs on the PC then I can transfer them to the PS-02. I think I'm going to ditch the Tascam PS5 as its nowhere near as flexible as the little PS-02 (and let me tell you the PS-02 is LITTLE).

I'll try to somehow post the chord progressions as I work them out into intro/verse/chorus/bridge. Obviously we can play with the arrangement a bit (i.e. this section would sound better as a verse than a chorus)

2003-01-11T10:32:00.000-05:00

They sound slightly cheezy on paper but I doubt they will to music..

I like them so far. Although going along with melodies we may have to re-write some lines. For example:

"And I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop"

May need to be written as:

"Just waiting for the other shoe to drop" Or something like that.

Ran them by the roomate, she thinks they're very sweet.

For another song - I've had one line stuck in my head for a while:
"Skinny little white boy" There's a rhythm that goes along with that too...not sure if it works with either song we've got going, perhaps a third.

2003-01-10T09:44:00.000-05:00

Just playin' with more lyrics last night

Light creeps in upon your face
It's early yet to rise
I feel you with each heartbeat
And I breathe you with my eyes
Who knows what this new day will bring
It's so far from my mind
My only thought is, "How lucky
You were there for me to find."

And I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop
Just like it has so many times before
But you slip them off so silently as you kiss my lips
I know I've never loved anybody more

The problem I'm having with writing these lyrics is that they sound really fuckin' cheesy to me. Meaning I'll have to play with them more when I have the actual melody. I dunno. I have problems writing happy, sweet love songs. But I guess that's why you're there, isn't it? To tell me when the cheese level is too high.

2003-01-08T20:49:00.000-05:00

PS-02 Palmtop studio is absolutely amazing! The Tascam seems a little less user friendly. We'll see.

The PS-02 has some REALLY nice acoustic effects for Breathe You.

OH the ideas are flowing! For the "rock" song I've found some effects which will lend themselves REALLY nicely.
Not too harsh, and with a slight electronic edge. I think some of these will be able to implement later in the recording process as well.

2003-01-08T17:07:00.000-05:00

I have two digital recording devices at home! I will send you a CD once I figure out how to get music onto and off of said devices.

Dig the comments on the lyrics.

2003-01-08T11:04:00.000-05:00

Note to self: the last verse of "Breathe You" should end with "you" breathing "me." I'd like it to be the moment of him waking up, her perhaps touching his face that makes him wake up, and the two of them sharing one of those beautiful, peaceful, silent moments of total connection.

Once I have the melody, it'll all work out.

Oh, and to expound on something I wrote earlier, I think the line should be "I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop but you slip them off as you kiss my lips." I like that imagery a little better.

2003-01-03T15:14:00.000-05:00

Yay ghetto tabulature!

Sounds good. I think an A major will work nicely.

2003-01-03T12:33:00.000-05:00

An excellent start!

I found a nice way to transition to an A after the D - C - G progression.
Its not an A7, rather an A major with a hammer-on to the D...

Like this:
E |------------------
B |----------2-/h3---
G |-------2----------
D |------------------
A |----0-------------
E |------------------

(Like the ghetto TAB notation?)

2003-01-03T08:54:00.000-05:00

K, so these are the beginnings of some lyrics that were running through my head as I was waking up this morning. Granted, they are not set in stone and will probably have to change as I am reminded of what the actual melody is (hooray port-a-studio!), but if nothing else, they are a start. I'm just not sure yet whether or not I like it that they rhyme.

Light creeps in upon your face
It's early yet to rise
I feel you with each heartbeat
And I breathe you with my eyes

Yeah, they're for the sweet love song, not the hard rock one. I'm picturing the song taking place largely inside a single moment as the singer is waking up with "the you that the singer sings to" as Ani DiFranco so aptly called that character. Kind of an "I'm Going to Watch You Sleep" mixed with a dash of "I love you so much it hurts" kind of song. I'd also like to have something in there about waiting for the other shoe to drop but it only hits as you kiss my lips and I think, "It can't be this easy." Or something like that. I'm thinking that should go over the A, which may be more of a chorus than a bridge. And like I said, I'm sure these will change as I get the actual melody and need to fit the words into the proper syllables.

I played my guitar for about an hour last night and sang at the top of my lungs. Felt damn good.

2002-12-30T16:06:00.000-05:00

Here's a chord progression I was working on...

Key:
(.) = one beat of rest (1/4 rest)
(<) = 1/2 beat of rest (1/8 rest)
(^^) = repeat strum for one beat (1/4 note)
(~) = Let ring
(^) = Repeat strum for 1/2 neat (1/8 note)
(|) = Bar ends (8 beats in between)

| F# ... F# ...| F# <~^ A~ | B~ B~ |

Repeat that a 3 times, then down to E for a middle 8.

2002-12-27T08:53:00.000-05:00

Yay 16 year old angst-ridden poetry! ;)

2002-12-26T10:08:00.000-05:00

I'll post more later, I have a book full of them... I'll go through and post those that may be noteworthy (some were written when I was an angry 16 year old)

Needle in a Haystack

you walked in
through that old red door
in an instant
I had to know more

tried to speak
words could not follow
left with the sound
of sadness and sorrow

Chorus:
searched my whole life
found the needle in the haystack
broken, no point, no eye
I didn't want to go back

wrote a letter
sent to you today
wishing you could change
you're gone away

Bridge:
why can't your heart see what mine sees?
empty return, I will never be free