John Watson – Undead Together (mp3)

I recorded this with my Nikon D90 and a Samson C01 condenser microphone.

Check out the official music video.

Video: I Saw Jesus At Walmart (.mov ~11.5MB)

I recorded with Ardour. Did the percussion tracks with Hydrogen. Used ZynAddSubFX, a software synthesizer, for the synthy noises. Recorded the guitar and voice tracks with a Samson C01 microphone and Xenyx 802 mixer. I wanted to do something visual to go along with the song but I a) don’t have access to actors and b) don’t have any talent or time for animation. So I found some photos, made them into a collage, and then traced and sketched and shaded a pencil version of it with Gimp. Then I did a screen capture of erasing an opaque layer on top of the drawing to create a controlled reveal of the final image.

I hope you like it. I’ve never been to Maine, but it sounds lovely. Happy Thanksgiving.

Lyrics:

Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.
It’s known as the Pine Tree State.
They’ve got lobsters, lighthouses, and submarines.
Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.

Would you like to see Moosehead Lake?
Well that’s in Maine, northernmost part of New England.
We could hike the Appalachian Trail or go to West Quoddy Head.
Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.

We could climb Mount Katahdin
or see Old Sow,
the largest tidal whirlpool in the Western hemisphere.

We could enjoy the Fall foliage
or kiss a French-American
but you can’t go to Golden Pond ’cause it’s really in New Hampshire
but anyway…

Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.
It’s known as the Pine Tree State.
They’ve got lobsters, lighthouses, and submarines (and clams!).
Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.

Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.

My personal interpretation for ukulele of the epic Dr. Horrible song:

Bad Horse Chorus
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog
Music by Jed Whedon and Joss Whedon
Lyrics by Joss Whedon

    C          Am
Bad Horse, Bad Horse
    C          G
Bad Horse, Bad Horse

   C
He rides across the nation
    F               C
the Thoroughbred of Sin
   C                            Am   D7   G
He got the application that you just sent in
   C                    F               G
It needs evaluation, so let the games begin
G
A heinous crime, a show of force
G
A murder would be nice of course

    C          Am
Bad Horse, Bad Horse
    C           G
Bad Horse, he's bad

    C
The Evil League of Evil
   F             C
is watching so beware
    C                                   Am    D7 G
The grade that you receive will be your last, we swear
   C                              F                  G
so make the Bad Horse gleeful, or he'll make you his mare
G
You've saddled up, there's no recourse
G
It's "Heigh-ho Silver"
G6          C
Signed, Bad Horse

So, I was super pleased when Shon Kornfeld (thanks, Shon!) contacted me and offered to send me a copy of his debut album Friday Nights.

Not a bad looking cover if I do say so myself. The photo is called Super Slab West. It’s a view of the 91 freeway, looking west, shot from the overpass at Lakeview Ave.

And now for something completely different.

I wrote a song last week and spent the better part of the weekend recording and tweaking it. Everything about it screams “amateur” which is true. But I like it and I wanted to share it anyway. I also feel like if I don’t just put it out there then I’ll keep tweaking it forever and I’ve got more important things I need to be doing! It’s the second song I’ve written since I started playing and the first full-length one. (Here’s my first.)

Now that I’m done making excuses, have a listen. There is some PG-13 language and a flippant attitude about suicide, so if that bothers you then please skip it:

I Died Three Years Ago, mp3, 3.6MB

It’s sort of a love song. Here’s the back story: the husband of a young, childless couple dies. Let’s say they’re newlyweds. The particulars of his death aren’t important—just that it was unexpected, quiet, and meaningless. You know, tragic. It’s taken the wife three years to mourn and finally get on with her life. She’s dating again. But the dead husband has not moved on… won’t move on.

I wrote poetry like this for a few weeks in a college writing class once upon a time. This is what comes out of me when I write fiction.

Chords and lyrics:

E E7 Amaj7 Am7 (capo on 4)

I wrote my name in the steam
on your bathroom mirror
sorry that freaked you out
it was a bad idea in hindsight
I can see that now
not even sure how I did it
I don’t have any hands

I hate your brand new boyfriend
I think that he’s an ass
I don’t see why you like him
I guess he’s got nice hair
don’t have much use for products
no gel for ectoplasm
being disembodied sucks

He said he saw me in the hall
making scary faces
strange demonic noises
but it really wasn’t me
well maybe just that one time
he’s such a little bitch
I know you could do better

I died three years ago
but for me
it is always yesterday

Yes that was me who moved your keys
it’s the only way I have
left to show I care
it was just a coincidence
it made you late for that jerk hole
I’ve always had bad timing…

I heard he finally left you
ran screaming from the house
like a giant crying baby
can’t say that I’ll miss him
he wasn’t right for you
I guess I’m sorry you’re depressed
FYI I’m still dead

I died three years ago
but for me
it is always yesterday

The kitchen knives are sharp
and there’s rope in the garage
I don’t recommend the Drano
any of these things
would bring you back to me
pick something quick and painless
I’ll be waiting here for you

If you’re interested in the technical details… I recorded all of the vocals and instruments separately (using a Samson C01 condenser microphone into a Xenyx 802 mixer) and put the song together with Ardour. There are three guitar tracks, three vocal tracks, and I used Hydrogen to create the drum loop in the chorus. Ardour is amazing by the way. It’s a superb—and completely free—tool for post-processing multi-track audio. Hydrogen: also awesome.

Listen to the lyrics—it’s a beautiful song. No wonder there are so many covers.

First, the original from The Postal Service:

Iron & Wine’s cover from the Garden State soundtrack:

Another cover by Ben Folds:

The Ben Gibbard (singer for The Postal Service and Death Cab For Cutie) acoustic version:

Quartet version:

Lots of choirs like this song:

This is the basic riff for the Iron & Wine version of Such Great Heights by The Postal Service. Except I’m playing it too fast, he’s playing F differently, and I need a lot more practice. Here’s the real thing. C G F C G sure is pretty.