What is this?! This is another tune for the Nur Ein “Olympics Of Song Fight” competition. You can’t vote for it but you can download it and let me know what you think here or by email.
Don’t be alarmed, I haven’t abandoned the family-friendly, all ages theme… I’m just easily distracted. Oh hey! What’s that…?
Category: Music
2 Bullets & Lovers
3 Sleep Tight
Dad’s visiting from out of town so this is a quick little one-off unrelated to any current projects. Discovered a side contest on Song Fight called Nur Ein IV yesterday and put this together for it in between trips to the farmers market and the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival.
5 Thinkin’ About the Old Days
Okay, so this one’s a little different. You’ll have to let me know what you think.
It’ll be my last Song Fight entry for awhile. Should be up there in a couple of days. Go give it a vote if you like it.
Thinkin’ About The Old Days
There seems to be time when you’re thinkin’ about the old days – There seems to be a time when you stop thinkin’ about the old days – Thinkin’ about the old days – Thinkin’ about the old days – Thinkin’ about – Thinkin’ about – Remember – When you start thinkin’ things were better you get caught up in the waves – Set sail on a little pail overflowin’ with cliches – And everything’ll be all right – Just take it down to the sea and throw it into the high tide – There seems to be time when you’re thinkin’ about the old days – There seems to be a time when you stop thinkin’ about the old days – Thinkin’ about the old days – Thinkin’ about the old days – Thinkin’ about – Thinkin’ about – Remember – When you start thinkin’ things were better you get caught up in the waves – Set sail on a little pail overflowin’ with brighter days – And everything’ll be all right – If you think you’ve got that much to loose then baby just hold tight – And then just maybe – We’ll thank everyone – For this amazing dream – We’ve rode upon – We’ve sung a million songs – And it’s been fun – And now this one is done
8 Green Eleven
Green Eleven
Hazel likes the way it is – Arms straight up in a green eleven – She opens up her fists – And spreads her seeds into the wind – She’s wearing her favorite flowered
dress – Makin’ a wish they’ll someday be – Two tall trees droppin’
colored leaves down from the heavens – Just like a green eleven – She takes out her watering can – Like a teapot she pours two drops in – And she opens up her fists – And spreads her seeds into the wind – She’s wearing her favorite flowered dress – Makin’ a wish they’ll someday be – Two tall trees droppin’ colored leaves down from the heavens – Just like a green eleven- People stop and wonder why – Those two tall trees seem to scrape the sky – And they open up their fists – Like they’re spreading their seeds into the wind – They raise their arms just like this – Makin’ a wish there’ll someday be – Two tall trees droppin’ colored leaves down from the heavens – Just like a green eleven
So, that’s a new one. Let me know what you think. I really like it. Even though I had to slam it out really fast because of technical problems and a Song Fight deadline I think it came out really nice. Go give us a vote over at Song Fight if you like it.
Thank You!
3 We Keep Them Alive
A brand new one with the Sun for “The Green Thing”
In a moment the sun realized – She smiled so wide it lit up the sky – You gotta say it – And breathe it – And be it – You gotta sing it Sun –Â You gotta say it – Sing it – Be it – But that isn’t all – The joy’s inside we keep them alive – The fears inside we keep them alive – The Love’s inside we keep them alive – The hopes inside we keep them alive – The Sun lifted us up to the clouds –Â Down below there gathered a crowd – You gotta say it – And breathe it – And be it – You gotta sing it Sun –Â You got – You got – You got it all – The joy’s inside we keep them alive – The fears inside we keep them alive – the Love’s inside we keep them alive – The hopes inside we keep them alive
5 No Way! Two Songs AND a Comic!!!
Yes, it’s true, and you, our loyal heroes, deserve it.
You’ve waited patiently, quietly visiting each day, spending sleepless nights wondering when the next post might come… and here it is! (wow, I should get some sleep)
The first one goes with the comic. The second one is for the Green Thing (mentioned on the previous post). Both are for Song Fighting and thus (yes, thus) they have similar titles.
4 The Green Thing
I have this wonderful project I call “The Green Thing.” This is something that has been in the works for awhile now. It’s a musical story done in watercolor. There’s little animations and character models and lot’s of grand ideas and that I plan to work on it in between projects. Â This is one of many songs that is being worked out to be part of this project. There’s a little noise on this one but rest assured it won’t exist on the final version.
So, here we go…
Today two friends set out to sea
One is green
The other is me
1 Elegy for Industry
Hey! I managed to squeeze one out of this new machine tonight after all!
As I said earlier today, I’ve got all kinds of fun things planned for this year and I decided to kick it all off with a Song Fight. Those folks have been really great to me so go over, give a listen, and vote for your favorite. And, as I said before, stay tuned for more fun and adventure.
Thank You!
3 A Christmas Song For Harry Nilsson
I do think it’s a little strange, but I’ll bet there’s some of you who don’t know who Harry is. For those of you who do, you know how absolutely amazing he was and the mere idea of this little tribute may send a shiver down your spine (and probably not the good kind either). However, Harry has meant a lot to me (which should be quite clear to everyone now). I wasn’t going to do it but I found some of the demo‘s he did for the movie Popeye recently and they keep popping up on my iPod (which Harry has a habit of doing). I sat down to do a Christmas song and his music just kept coming out. So I decided just to give in and do it for him. And, no, I do not do him justice here. Go buy The Point, or Nilsson Schmilsson, or Nilsson Sings Newman and dig in if you want to hear some real singing.
Thank you to everyone who’s purchased the CD so far. I’ve only announced it here and over at Song Fight and we sold out in a week. In a few more weeks (for the New Year) we’re going to do an actual “record release” and send them out for reviews and put them into full distribution.
Don’t forget the lovely Christmas present combo that a Book, CD, and a couple of T-Shirts can make. Your friends and family will surely give you that nervous “um, what the heck is this…” look, but in the long run they’ll thank you for it… right?
Merry Christmas!
4 “Grass Stained Twilight” the Album! It’s Here!!!
Hello everyone! I’ve finally finished my CD “Grass Stained Twilight”!
As most of you know, over the course of the past couple of years I wrote and illustrated a book full of strange little poems, pictures, and songs – kind of in a Shel Silverstein meets the Beatles vein. Then, at the beginning of this year I started this little website on a dare from my brother in law Andy Baio over at Waxy.org, I started writing, recording, and posting a new “Song of the Week” every week (little did I know at the time that there was a long running tradition doing just that over at Song Fight that I would soon join) (Oh, and by the way, Hollywood Wax won Song Fight again last week! Thank You!). I ended up liking all the new stuff coming out of this experiment so much that I ended up going back to the book and adding these new songs and pictures to it. Then, I went back, cleaned-up, and re-did some of the songs. I’ve learned a lot more about mixing and mastering, however, I make no claims that it has a traditional “professional” quality. I prefer the “home-spun” vibe anyway.
So, “Grass Stained Twilight” the album contains a collection of songs from the book and my own “Song Of the Week” experiment conducted right here over the course of 2008. It’s got the “sunshine pop” sound and is meant as an all ages affair. I hope all of you like it. Your input has been invaluable to me. I’m having a great time here and look forward to many more exciting things in the new year.
Order the CD here, it’s $9.99. It comes with a booklet featuring some illustrations from the “Grass Stained Twilight” book and it’s wrapped in a paper bag, an idea I got from Empty House Cooperative.
Thank You!
Todd McHatton 