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Songs

rainy sunday afternoon

July 25, 2010 - 12:02pm — tw

4:15 minutes (3.89 MB)

I improvised this while playing guitar for my daughter while she took her bath, one rainy Sunday in 2008, having just driven home from my wife’s cousin’s wedding in Vermont. I was just singing what was going on. Then it seemed worth remembering.

It took two years to get it recorded. The rain storm recording was from last night, after I spent most of the day finishing the solo guitar and bass tracks.

The Rose and the Daisy

May 13, 2010 - 10:46pm — tw

3:23 minutes (3.1 MB)

I got my daughter a lap dulcimer for her birthday in… 2007 maybe? Then, of course, I fooled around with it some. One day I was playing this. Clara asked what it was called, and I said I didn’t know - had just made it up - and she could name it. We had been talking about how nice daisies were, and how roses got more respect but in some ways I preferred the daisies - friendly, gregarious, long-lasting. And so she said “It’s ‘The Rose and the Daisy!’”.

Last week her kindergarten class had a field trip to a flower shop. read more...

'A' You're Adorable

February 6, 2010 - 11:40pm — tw

2:43 minutes (2.49 MB)

I recorded this quickly for my daughter’s kindergarten class to practice with. We performed it together at the All-School Program on 12 Feb 2010. Lots of kids sang along! That’s Clara and Katherine shouting the alphabet. My good recording gear wasn’t working, so this is recorded on a cheap condenser mic and a Sound Blaster card.

Living Downstream

October 26, 2009 - 2:48pm — tw

2:57 minutes (2.7 MB)

I have now officially given up trying not to write songs about water. Maybe it’s because they always come to me in the shower? read more...

Space Girl

May 2, 2009 - 3:42pm — tw

3:07 minutes (2.86 MB)

Clara sang the chorus of this song to herself during her bath one Sunday after spending much of the afternoon exploring outer space. I wrote the verses. We recorded it a cappella - including all the sound effects.

Recorded May 2, 2009 in honor of Pam Weber’s birthday. Hope we can sing with you soon!

Shenandoah, river of my dreams

February 1, 2000 - 1:07am — tw

5:16 minutes (4.83 MB)

A contemplative version of the old folk song about leaving, separation, and longing for return.

This song took me seven years to record. I did some tracks in 1993, of which only the harmony vocals have survived. I did some more work on it in about 1996, including recording the piano intro at a place where my friend Sharon was house-sitting. I redid all the lead vocals in October of 1999, then all the instruments in January 2000.

It’s a mysterious song, Shenandoah. I’m told it’s a sea chanty, yet it talks about inland rivers. Maybe it’s addressing the river, or a region, or a person. read more...

some kind of truth

January 1, 2000 - 1:00am — tw

3:49 minutes (3.5 MB)

A credo.

wood stove sounds

January 1, 2000 - 1:00am — tw

1:52 minutes (1.71 MB)

Thoughts during a meditation retreat. Just because you’re silent doesn’t mean you can’t eat yummy food with your friends.

calling the maid

January 1, 2000 - 1:00am — tw

4:16 minutes (3.92 MB)

I wrote this in 1995, when a book by a medieval Zen master seemed to intersect with a romantic relationship. The story and metaphor are from the book, though the author was applying it to religious conversation and here I’m applying it to relationship conversations; I think the same principle is at the root of both.

we do not meet by chance

January 1, 1999 - 1:00am — tw

2:47 minutes (2.56 MB)

“Do you believe in a love at first sight?/Yes, I’m certain that it happens all the time.”

Well, of course it does. Sometimes, unconditional love just occurs, with no discernible reason, no excuse for lowering the defenses, and no way to put them back up.

Love at first sight can take many forms. Sometimes it comes (at least to me) in dreams, and I spend the next day a bit dazed and moody and yearning. Sometimes it leads to romance, and sometimes marriage. read more...

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