Faded, Jaded Mandarin ([info]nvonflue) wrote,
@ 2008-07-05 20:20:00
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Song Sketch (Casey)
I sent this over to Nich to see if it's HangDog material. Steve and Grant, feel free to input as well if you think there's something worth working on:


Here's the lyrics/tabs:

(Am)in the straight swath path that a bullet makes
(Em)Casey steps up and taps the plate
(Dm)and mutters "this is your brain on the the war on drugs"
(E7)and hits it out of the park, sweeps it under the rug

and later at the fight, in his ring side seat
dreaming of the bed in his hotel suite
he'll think back to a time when it was all so blue
and he was the kind of kid his father could lay into

(Am, C+f, E7, Am)

and they say the high way blues made mona lisa smile
but the fact is her face was versatile
and we read our own truth into her red lips
and secretly wish she'd sink a thousand ships

for all the trails laid in the transit of the sea
have lead to a complication in the bourgeoisie
and a desperate need to avoid the rocks
and invite the queen to the witness box


now the lobsterbacks stand ready, rank and file
a boy passing out in the heat every once in a while
not to worry though there's plenty more
they come three for a dozen at the bargain store

their chinese boots are blacker then an empty well
and connected to the legs that marched over the oyster shell
lay waste to the trunk and you can count the rings
while you keep one steady hand on the apron strings


one day ill bite my fingernails to the bone
and wake up washed out and alone
to a sun brighter than the previous day
and step into a new passion play

centered around a to do list in a 10 round clip
and a sense of duty sharp as a buggy whip
its a steady blip on the radar screen
the course is set, and its all too obscene

its a good day to take out the people you admire
and lead their boat across a lake of greek fire.
we see the shinng path ahead
and dream like Casey of our soft clean bed

its a sleight of hand, and dirty card trick
it's brings you low and bleeds you like a tick
and in the evenings beating Casey will join in
cause he's the kinda man who needs to win



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[info]fabricari
2008-07-06 02:28 pm UTC (link)
God damn it man, that was good. I see how it is, Hangdog gets the good stuff and R.E.J. gets sloppy seconds. ;)

Incredible writing. The words evoke so much imagery. And your voice has a lot more range these days. I love the richness that the 3/4 time gives it.

I like the "hey hey hey" at the end, and think it'd be great to have it on all the bridges. It's a great tension release thing.

Only thing I can think of is to tighten up the rhythm of the words a bit, but it sounds like you're moving that way when you compare what's written to what's sung.

Maybe needs some accordion, too. :)

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[info]nvonflue
2008-07-06 04:08 pm UTC (link)
I agree with everything yo say here, I do dig the "Hey Hey" part and only thought of it at the end of recording. Ideally, it should be another singer, or a doubled track I think.

I think my biggest hurdle is the chord progression. Nich said it best when he said it's too much like Hotel California. I played with some other notes but didn't like them as much. So now I'm looking towards arranging it in a way that'll be different. maybe drop out the guitar and bring in some piano and drums... Accordian would be fantastic! Do it!


And also, unrelated, we just got RockBand and I'm looking at the USB drum pads and wondering plugging them into Garageband as a midi instrument. HELLO DRUM KIT! (I wonder what happen if I plugged the guitar in?)

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[info]fabricari
2008-07-06 05:05 pm UTC (link)
You know what, forget what I said about trimming the words. The lyrics are perfect. Just gotta sing it a hundred times to play with the phrasing.

I'm not trying to improve on what you did, I just dug the moment of the song so much I took a crack at the first couple of verses:
http://fabricari.com/music/casey.mp3

I'm going to keep working at this. Can you tell I'm that disgruntled banjo player who wishes he could play the guitar better?

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[info]fabricari
2008-07-06 05:06 pm UTC (link)
Oh and dude, that would kick so much ass if you could convert the Rockband drums into a midi drum kit.

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[info]nvonflue
2008-07-06 05:34 pm UTC (link)
Totally got it working, but there's some lag issues that I've got to defeat before I've got an awesome drum kit! but now my kids took their toys back to keep playing Rock Band.

and DOOD! I like your version alot, maybe it only needs a less busy guitar part.

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[info]rteacher
2008-07-06 05:37 pm UTC (link)
Looks like you guys have been cooking up some mischief while I've been away at church. . . :)

I really like the words. . . I don't know what they mean sometimes, but that's ok. its mysterious and that's what makes it good. it reminds me of how I feel about Mr. Tambourine Man- I don't know what it means, but the sounds of the words just sound good together.

I agree the chord progression gets a little stale as time goes on, but I like the possibilities that diminished chords lend to songs.

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[info]nvonflue
2008-07-06 07:14 pm UTC (link)
Yeah i was going for an aesthetic lyrically. Alot of them sounds like lyrics that I've heard before, kinda jumbled together. Borrowed nouns, i guess...

And I'm not sure about diminished chords, maybe it's something that would work on guitar better, though. In open G tuning for banjo, diminished chords are kinda hard to fret, at least you get some difficult fingerings...

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[info]bbullock
2008-07-07 08:56 pm UTC (link)
Haven't listened to the music, yet, but the lyrics are like something Waits and Brennan would come up with.

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[info]nvonflue
2008-07-08 05:30 am UTC (link)
man that's heady praise!

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