swarbles.

swarbles; fragmentalism.

the weekly elephant 6 townhall hoursong is up.  the theme was the cover art image (which is an image of a woman taking a photo in front of a whole slew of mirrors), which was found by googling “random.”

so i started off writing one thing, and then it turned into something else.  also i’m horribly obsessed with the last chord progression, which i also used last week, and used again this week (and am actually using in a song for whatever it is that i’m working on). but i’m pleased with this, so alright!

available to download from cllct.  the whole thing is available as a zipfile on mediafire.

lyrics:

you know, i don’t understand why
you only photograph mirrors;

reflecting fragments of the world for me,
as though the whole picture was too lovely.

you know, i don’t understand why
you only sing metered measures;

warbling fragments of the world for me,
as though the whole song was too lovely.

you know, i can understand why
you’re all i want to see
and you’re all i want to hear,
so could this be?

swarbles; the black lodge.

my second song from this week’s elephant 6 townhall hour song compilation about fictional characters was going to be an ode to special agent dale cooper (#fictional characters i want to have actual relations with), but i had trouble with it and it basically just wound up being about twin peaks in general.  also the lyrics are virtually unintelligible.  i like the basic chord structure of this (well, just the bridge-y “like cherry pie” and “the scent of” parts), but i’m not crazy about anything else.  i think i am just being hypercritical about it because i have allergies and my throat feels like garbage and i couldn’t remember how i sang when i was recording vocals, and an hour isn’t very long to write and record a song in if you have hypercritical tendencies.

available to download from cllct and all of the songs are available as a zipfile on mediafire.

lyrics;

the hesitance of fluorescence
still flickers in uncertainty,
even when the bulb is warm.

like cherry pie
and coffee,
black as midnight on a moonless night,
black as midnight on a moonless night.

you’ll find me washed ashore, wrapped in plastic,
with letters jammed beneath my fingernails
for you to decode.

the scent of burnt motor oil,
and tall douglas firs,
and fear.

your doppelganger
runs circles round you here.

swarbles; nino quincampoix.

the elephant 6 townhall hoursong weekly compilation is up!  i did two songs this week, because the theme was fictional characters, and a lot of the people i am in love with don’t really exist.  i wanted to do more (stephane miroux, holden caulfield, alyosha karamazov, balki bartokomous, etc.), but it is really really warm in here and having the window shut for any amount of time was wicked unpleasant.

this first song is an instrumental yann tiersen-sounding song for nino quincampoix from amélie, as played on nino quincampoix (my accordion is a nino accordion that was made in italy) and a xylophone, and maybe i sing a bit of a chevalier song at the end because it was in my head.  nino is a bit wheezy and rattley.  i found a hole in his bellows and i duct taped it, but i think he requires more help that i’m not capable of providing.

available to download from cllct and all of the songs are available as a zipfile on mediafire.

swarbles; peony, peony.

this week’s elephant 6 townhall hoursong is up.  the theme this week was the peony.  i got the idea for this in the shower last night and played it at too fast a tempo, but wasn’t really wanting to rerecord it, so alright.  this features the triumphant return of nino quincampoix, who no longer has any original straps, nor does he have any straps that are even appropriate accordion straps (two purse straps and a length of poly strapping we use at work), but at least he’s functional again.

as always, this song is available to download from cllct, or you could download all the songs in a zipfile available to download on mediafire.

lyrics;

peony, peony,
bud wrapped so tightly,
hiding your face needing more time to grow.
ohhhhhh

peony, peony,
blooming so suddenly,
white faces blush when your pale pink petticoats show.
ohhhhhh

peony, peony,
ants march with dignity,
carrying flags down the street so we all know.
ohhhhhh

peony, peony,
petals fall daintly,
cover the ground at your feet in your own snow.
ohhhhhh

peony, peony,
body lays lazily,
carried by ants to rest somewhere where we don’t know.

swarbles; perigee love song in three quarters time.

this week’s elephant 6 townhall hoursong is up!  hey alright!

i picked the theme this week, which was the moon, in celebration of this evening’s super moon, but also because i hold great affinities towards all of the moons.  i was thinking about writing a nice thing about the waxing crescent moon and the deer, but instead i wrote about the full moon and the deer because i am fairly certain that when i saw the deer last year around this time, the moon was full, and it was one of my most favorite times i have spent with him (he may or may not have been flirting with me, but i am uncertain because i am terrible at fellows, and most especially him, because surely there is no way he feels even remotely close to the same things i feel for him, but sometimes i think maybe he might, but maybe that’s just my brain wanting him to feel some of the same things i feel.  /long parenthetical), so i figure i will write a song about the waxing crescent moon for something else (probably multiple songs).  at any rate, i’m quite pleased with how the song came out; it is one of my more favorite hoursongs i have done.

the song can be downloaded from cllct.  if you enjoy all the songs on the compilation, you can download the whole thing as a zipfile on mediafire.

lyrics:

i’ll glow only for you,
if you’ll glow only for me.

you’ll light the dark seas at night
and guide this boat right back to home.

your eyes will full moon at me,
and my heart will high tide for you

i won’t fear drowning those days,
with you, i always feel safe.

the moon, earth, sun all in line,
your orbit will coincide with mine.

swarbles; winterskins and phantoms.

here is my contribution to this week’s hoursong for the elephant 6 townhall, about the north pole (amongst other things).  i really don’t like rhyming and i don’t know why i bothered to rhyme this song, since i didn’t do any intentionally rhyming with the previous two weeks’ songs and what i wrote initially didn’t rhyme at all and i liked it better, i think?  i don’t know.  i feel weird about this one, probably because i am in a mental place that is not necessarily the best place, and i think that is pretty obvious.  i mean, i like it and all, but it just feels odd.  oh well.  oh well.

available to download from cllct.

i don’t know if i like this with the accordion in it (i don’t think i like it with accordion in it, but i left it in because??? [i forgot to disable it]), so i also uploaded it without the accordion, which you can download here.

lyrics;

the ice floes in my veins
lodged upon the shore.
the howling wind surrounds me,
the souls who came before.

ghosts tied to my fingers,
haunting all i touch.
the white blinds all around me,
with each ghastly gust.

which ghost is worse?
which ghost is worse?

the auroras overhead,
set the sky aglow,
soft sheets of shifting colors,
reflected on the snow.

but the show does end and the light fades fast,
the darkness spreads out thick,
swallowed in obscurity,
swirling oil slick.

you dive below.
you dive below.

the gulls hover effortlessly,
as though strung from strings.
the insulated isolation
from all other living things.

the midnight winter spirits cry,
their wails freeze completely.
their weeping would not chill me,
if they sang half as sweetly

as you,
the night of the crescent moon,
songs sung to toes,
downturned eyes, half closed.

i will not forget you,
and the way you look tonight
and my heart beats so
that i can hardly speak right.

no, you’ll never be more alone
than you are right here.
you’ll never be more alone
than you are right now.

swarbles; as you were.

here is my most recent contribution to the elephant 6 townhall hoursong series!  the theme this week was the march hare.  i’m getting more confident in my songwriting abilities.  or something.  at any rate, i like each week’s more than the week prior.  surely this trend will not last?  nino wanted to contribute his wheezy voice to this track, but there was not enough time!  maybe someday.

available to download from cllct.

lyrics:

winter weather worn
a bushel of brambles tangled
in your fur fully mangled;
oh, look what the cat dragged in.

the leap day hare
curled cozy against the cold,
slow thawing of frozen bones,
a live simmering rabbit stew.
the long winter melts away,
leaves a life fully renewed

card checked in the back pocket
of the books you long loved,
resting on the table laid.
you were late for tea again, my friend.

dormice snore tiny storms,
tucked safely around the cup
radiating small warmth,
black tea and citrus,
press porcelain against your lips.

no, i never wanted to be a tea cup
quite as much as in this moment.
the deception of top hats;
you seem taller than before
somehow…

but surely the same height as you always were.

as you were,
as you wish.

swarbles; aeroelastic flutter.

did another hoursong for the elephant six townhall hoursong compilation, this time loosely about galloping gertie, the tacoma narrows bridge who collapsed on the seventh of november, nineteenforty, but really more about love, because really, isn’t everything about love?

available to download on cllct.

lyrics;

you do nothing
to calm my fear of falling,
watching you twist and turn the night away;
restless bodies
trapped beneath sheets,
fighting for sleep.
my heart flexes the same way.
aeroelastic flutter eyelashes,
heart strings suspended,
snapping fingers against fingers.
garters for girders,
a plummet of pavement,
rattle them bones.

oh gosh, it gets more out of sync than i thought.  i was in a rush.  i’m done disclaiming.

swarbles; when the black rook comes around.

for the elephant 6 townhall hoursong volume 3; the game of the century.  you can download the song by clicking through to that previous link.

(songs inspired by the game of the century.)

lyrics:

the game is set
the pawns lined up in rows
each move is met
and tension squarely grows

take the queen
and to your hope you’ll cling
the unfolding scene:
the dethroning of a king

when the black rook comes around,
no knights to guard the door
your highness losing ground
when the black rook comes around

check and mate
you’ve nowhere else to go
seal your fate
pale king, white as snow

castle walls
built up out of air
the king will fall
you haven’t got a prayer

when the black rook comes around,
no knights to guard the door
your highness losing ground
when the black rook comes around
when the black rook comes around.