In case you missed
them, here are
several of our previous SotW
selections...
July 30, 2010: "
Graciously" -a preview from the forthcoming CD, "
The Chandler
Travis Philharmonic Blows", which we are now taking pre-orders for on the
catalog page and expect have to have in stock in
a week or two... this one's a Travis-Greenberger composition, and
entirely typical of the party in store on said CD!
June 4, 2010: "
Suddenly Everything Is Different" (recorded by The Valet at the
Midway, May 16th, 2010) -a cover of a song by Stereo Total, originally
called "Plotzlich Ist Alles Anders", translation from the original
German courtesy of Bubbles in the Think Tank's Belinda Rawlins (thanks,
B!) I had already loved the track, but really went nuts once I read the
translation (though I did change a couple of lines just for fun.) This
version was the first time the Philharmonic ever played it live, so
there's a lot of screw-ups on the words (they're quite a mouthful), and
hopefully we'll have a new, improved version to post soon; meanwhile,
here's my version of the lyric:
Suddenly Everything is Different
I was cold as a refrigerator
Stiff
as a broom stick
Sad as a nightcap
Barren as the plain
Never
spoke like a grave
Never danced like a door
Never laughed like
a chair
Was unhappy as a stone
My heart was iron
My hair
like the rain
My skin like chalk
And she was flat as a board
I
was cold as a refrigerator
Sad as a road
Gray as a leviathan
endless day
cold ... stiff ... sad ...
dull ... dumb ...
boring ...
Suddenly everything is different!
I'm hot like
an oven
I'm agile as a snake
I'm happy as a sparrow
And
funny as a lima bean
I talk like a parrot
And dance like a
top
You'd laugh to see me beautiful
And happy as a fish
My
heart is soft as cotton wool
My skin as soft as velvet
My
eyebrows are like normal
People's eyebrows are, but better
I'm
hot like an oven
I'm happy as a Fink
Think pink as a rose
Way
quicker than a Rocket
hot ... Soft ... so pink ... ...
fast
... shiny ... amusing ...
Suddenly everything is different!
hot
... Soft ... happy ...
articulated ... talkative ... happy ...
Suddenly everything is different!
(I'm
not entirely certain, because I don't own the CD, but I assume these
fabulous lyrics were written by Stereo Total's main -and, at present,
only -members, Françoise Cactus and Brezel Göring. Except for a couple
lines I changed completely for no good reason, totally without anyone's
permission.)
May 20, 2010: "
Alchemy Rules" -recorded at the Harvest Wine Gallery by the Valet, May 7, 2010. This
is the debut of a new song, so still pretty germinal, but I like the
song. I'm not usually a big guy for printing lyrics, but I kind of like
these:
Alchemy Rules
There's
no one in the world I'd rather lie around watching TV with than
you
You
seem to be the kind of girl who really knows how to sit still
There's
too many dogs on the bed and that's a problem I'll never solve
More
than happy to go on this way until
Even
as we lie here motionless, half-drunk and out-of-breath
Can't
even say the rest
Even
though I know we won't ever win
Because
you're gold and I am tin
But
alchemy rules
There's
no one in the world I'd rather sit doing nothing with than you
It's
going so good I think I might take you out to lunch
And
we seem to have the same sick awful sense of humor -it's true
And
I'm glad I hit on you – I had a hunch
I
don't think the world's been unkind to us
No
need to make a fuss – this could all turn to dust
When
I'm with you, something comes over me
Opens
my eyes to see that here I am home
Alchemy
rules / I am home / You smell good / Pheromones!
May 9, 2010: "
Mother's Day" - To all my favorite mothers everywhere (written and recorded just now, Mother's Day, May 9, 2010.)
April 20, 2010: "
Pajama Pants Baby" -the Catbirds, live at the Lizard Lounge, April 8,
2010, recorded by The Valet. Well, we certainly had a fine time at our
Cambridge debut, and here's some evidence: Dinty Child singing lead on
a song by one of our favorite songwriters, the legendary Pete Labonne
(originally included on his Sonic Trout release, "Meditation Garden",
available on the
Trout merch page, seventh from the top)... well, you try to play this song and not have fun!
April 6, 2010: "
Stoned" -the Catbirds (practice) -the first Catbirds thing ever, just a
rehearsal of this here Steve Wood song, w. Woo singing lead, natch...
we're so proud!
March 23, 2010: "
History vs. Hope", recorded live at the Midway, March 17, 2010, by The Valet.
This
is a wicked cool set of changes and horn lines that our fab trombonist,
Mr. Bob Pilkington, had for some time before he finally decided to pawn
'em off on us last summer, at which point I added the tune and the
lyric, which was a ton of fun -it's still pretty new, but we've been
having a great time playing it lately. That's Bob on 'bone, Ken Field
and Mike Moss on saxes, John Clark on bass, Phil Clements on keys,
Rikki Bates on drums, Dinty, Fred, meee... I think that's it.
We actually sound kind of like a jazz band on this, which I think is way cool.
February 4, 2010: "
Settling For Less"
-Chandler, Dinty, John, Keiichi, and Fred rehearsing... An all-out
attack on upward mobility. The song's ambitions are best summarized in
the line, "When there's no chance in hell you'll ever get the best you
better... settle for less." Dinty actually wrote one of the words in
this song, the word "car", and I hope you'll search for it and treasure
it even half as much as I do.
Settling For Less
The Navy's always telling me
To be all the man
that I can be
While I'm not saying that goal is dumb
I'm just
fine with being just some
I don't mean that I live to flop
But
from what I hear it's lonely at the top
Number one's pretty good,
I know
But there's so many other nice numbers -and I'm
I'm settling for less
Settling for
less
When you've got pretty good, who needs the best? I'm
Settling
for less
Being the boss might
sound sweet
But they're always trying to knock you off the cat
bird seat
And one way to make it so you don't fall far
Is not
to get your heart set on a star
When you're in school,
kids, act nonchalant
When they tell you that you can be anything
you want
An astronaut billionaire covered in bling
In school
they'll tell you any damn thing -and that's why I'm
Settling
for less
Settling for less
When there's no chance in hell
you'll ever get the best you better
Settlle for less
Settling
for less
Settling for less
I figure I'll aim a little lower
than the rest - I'm
Settling for less
The
other night I'm down drinking at the store
When in walks a girl
I've never seen before
Blond hair, blue eyes, a figure like
Venus
The kind of girl that makes you glad to have a penis.
She
sits herself down on the stool next to mine
And pretty soon we're
having a pretty good time
But she seems like the kind of girl
who'll break my heart
Figure why the hell should I even start?
Do
I really need this kind of intrigue?
She's smart, she's pretty,
and she's out of my league
Never seen nothing like her in my whole
damn life
But would I tell the wife? I guess I'll keep-
Settling
for less
Settling for less
Couldn't care less if I pass the
test, I'd rather
Settle for less
Settling for
less
Settling for less
When there's no chance in hell you'll
ever get the best you better
Settlle for less
August 24, 2009: "
Brooklyn Bridge"- Chandler Travis Philharmonette -recorded at a WOMR
benefit in March, '09, by Chris Blood -this is a reprise, due to popular
request (if you can seriously believe such a thing) of a song about
apologizing (remember, follow through! Don't lose your concentration!)
August 24, 2009: "
Never Never Land" - now that Chandler's new CD "
After She Left"
has been released, we're taking down most of the outtakes we posted
before it was released, but due to popular demand, we're keeping this
one around - written by Betty Comden,
Adolph
Green and Jule Styne, from "Peter Pan" - recorded by
Chris Blood at Trout Towers Casino. Dedicated to Bud Dunsford with much love indeed from all of us at the
ward, and a tip o' the hat to ol' Michael Jackson, too.
This one was suggested at some point by Keith Spring, who plays piano
on this version, and it's a song that has always been very close to my
heart, and one that I absolutely love singing. It also is involved with
one of my very earliest memories, which is of defacing some of my
parents records with a pencil when I was very young, maybe 2 or 3.
Vinyl records were my first passion, and I think would've been even if
they had nothing to do with music; I loved the sight, the texture, the
smell, the jackets, and everything about them. And the original
Broadway stage version of "Peter Pan" with Mary Martin was the first in
a long series of musicals over the years that took our family hostage
-still hope I get to write one, one of these days!
Out of all of the outtakes, this is the one I was most ambivalent about
losing. It would've been the only track on the album that was recorded
almost entirely live (Ken Field's sax solo was the only overdub), in
one take, and it's easily the vocal I am proudest of; I also
particularly dig Keith's dreamy intro and outro. In the end, I cut it
to keep the album as lean as possible, both in terms of length and
sentiment, and in the hope we might get a crack at it someday with a
real piano!
April 23, 2009: "
Snakes of Money?" -Though it obviously just barely qualifies as a whole
idea, I think this might make a good Philharmonic song someday... until
then, here's one hell of a silly demo...
February 3, 2009: "
Everything
Can Go Wrong So Easily" by the Chandler Travis Philharmonic
(rough mix by Ducky Carlisle) -an instrumental from our recent session
at Milt Reder's Rear Window studio in Brookline, the first session with
the entire Philharmonic present at one time since the first session for
our debut album, "Let's Have a Pancake", about a decade ago, and boy,
were we glad to be back! I've never inflicted a rough mix on the
general public before, but this time had to make an exception due to
high spirits and great music, especially from soloists (in order) Ken
Field on alto sax, Jon Fraser on trumpet, John Clark on bass, and Phil
Clements on piano.
December 8, 2008: "
Goin'
Steady So Long" -recorded by Chris Blood; C.T. w.
Rikki Bates on drums, natch -Yes, yes, my aged p's just had their 60th
anniversary, and I wanted to write 'em something special, but the the
devil in me made me do my first attempt in an idiom they
can't stand, namely, hillbilly music; so then I had to go back to the
drawing board and do "
Thank You
Song". This happens to me a lot.
Anyway, hope you'll all drink to my parents -a lot!
November 30, 2008: "
Thank You
Song"
(drum track recorded by Chris Blood at the Trout Towers Casino) - a new
song from Chandler which was written in honor of his parents'
60th wedding anniversary. We here at Song of the Weak HQ
think it
has a nice dual meaning for the rest of us in this holiday season, as
well.
November 24, 2008: "
Not
In
Service" -Chandler demo in progress, November, '08 -a song of
eternal male hope, longing, and confusion, as our hero goes overboard
fantasizing about a phone machine message... will probably either add
stuff to this version (for instance, right now there's hole for a solo
-knock yourself out!), and/or do it over with actual other musicians...
meanwhile, knew you'd want to hear it right away...
"
Not
in
Service"
I only talked to her once
And she was so shy
I couldn't get much information
But I'll never forget what she told me
Last night -oh no
I'll never forget what she told me.
She said I'm sorry;
The number you have
Dialed is not in service
Please hang up and try
Your call again later
Oh yeah
She encouraged me to give it a try
I knew just from the sound of her voice
Something heavy was on her mind
And if I played my cards right
What then?
Oh yeah
I knew I had to give it a try
That voice -so cynical
So cold and yet so warm
And someday we're gonna do the wang dang doodle
All night long
If I'm not reading her wrong
break
She said I'm sorry;
The number you have
Dialed is not in service
Please hang up and try
Your call again later
Oh yeah -she said
Please try your call again later

Have a
suggestion for a
future Song of the Weak?
Got an idea for a new
version of Railroad?
Just want to blow off a
little steam about something?
Be sure to keep those cards
& letters coming in!
The Song of the Weak
email
address here
at SonicTrout
is song@sonictrout.com