david hill

OK – this took a little longer than planned for a couple of reasons…one was the unstable and crash prone mac book I was editing the video on…seriously – this thing lost hours of edits for no apparent reason – one of the least pleasant editing jobs I’ve done. Also I have been busy with several projects helping other folks with their music, and studio installation, and well, so many hours in the day you know? I wrote this song, hanging it on a fairly straightforward blues bed progression. Originally I wanted to shoot everything from one angle – but I couldn’t figure out how to get the drums by my audio workstation flatscreen…sooo…yeah. Anyway this is written as a response to the greed and crooked politicians we have on all sides of the party fence. Democrats, Republicans, Independents…it seems the only thing you need is the job – and most respond in the appropriately greedy self serving fashion. Throw Them All Out was a book recently written that covers some of the more disgusting aspects of the insider trading scam…and that’s just one of many money grabbing schemes our electeds are wallowing in. So – I include the song, the lyrics, and both QuickTime and Flash video for your listening / viewing pleasure. The small button with the circle streams the song, the video stream is available by pressing the arrow in the black box, and Quicktime is below that. Maybe this song will strike a chord in you…are you feelin those corrupt politician blues baaaaaaybay?

corrupt politician blues

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QUICKTIME

Corrupt Politician Blues

I’ve got those corrupt politician blues now baby

Ahhhh they’re comin down comin down comin down on me yeah

Those corrupt politicians man – everywhere I look I see em

Ohhh and those corrupt politicians now

They’re taking my money and my freedom and my time and they

Waste it all all over the place and nobody knows what they’re doin with it now momma

And it’s just a big fat disgrace

Ohhhhhh yeah yeah yeah

What we’re gonna do – thinkin we’re gonna have to change it around

On the top now momma yeah yeah yeah we’ll have to change it around on top now

Let’s play the guitar a little bit here

>>>guitar solo<<<<

Wellllllllll now baby – I got those corrupt politician blues now

And it’s breakin my heart now baby and I don’t know what to do but I

Got an idea and i’m thinkin maybe

We can all go out and have ourselves a vote

Get rid of Harry Reid and Nany Pelosi and Corzine and the guys in the Court

Maybe we’ll just hand the man on the top a big fat “L”

I think you know who I’m talkin about his names Obama – ahhh what the heck you know

Waaaaahhhhhhhh ohhh now now now

we’re gonna have to change it we’re gonna have to do ohhh somethin else up on top

oh move it around around we call it the politician blues now yeah yeah yeah do you wanna join me yeah yeah

but we all should tell our congressmember about how we feel about SOPA!

this one actually goes back to 2008ish…and this version is IMO much better than my original. Trina nailed it as usual – and if I am honest, my original is a little embarrassing when compared to this, but you know, one of the great joys of the new media era is the possibility of releasing sketches, demos, multiple versions and whatever else strikes ones fancy / muse / or imagination. Oh has a sitar – ish solo and lyrically is a kind of contrasty song. oh

oh
Praise you Lord , for this good day, I will be glad

Down here in the valley, broken glass in the back alley

ohhhh

I sing to you Lord, on this good day, I will rejoice

Though sins at my door, gonna collar it with my Lord

ohhhh

ohhhh

On my knees and pray, cause I need your help today, if I’m gonna make it through the day

Though I’m sweatin and I’m bleedin, I know the Lord will meet my every need

ohhhh

ohhhh

ohhhh

The brooks be bells; the winds, in caverns dumb,
Wake fife and flute and flageolet and voice;
The fire-shook earth itself be the great drum;
And let the air the region’s bass out thunder;
The firs be violins; the reeds hautboys;
Rivers, seas, icebergs fill the great score up and under!

GM

this song goes back to summer 2010…it was part of the weekly wallop series. Every now and then I recorded a rough or scat track on vocals…and left it, and this song was a case in point. Rarely did I spend more than a few “takes” on vocals…(and I hear the jokers / real singers already laughing OH REALLY in fake surprise) yes…and sometimes I just left the track with a one take vocal without even sussing out the words. Lazy? Nah – more like constrained for time and needing to go my son or daughters competitive sport of the week. Anyway, I did a one take vocal and copied some mangled background voices and called it a day. I liked the hey yo bit, and the basic flow of the melody – and so that was the songs name (it is still up as a demo if you want to go under the music section). To me it has a kind of tribal electro feel. I was going to play around with “lime and coconut” but the next thing I knew I had another song to deliver. Forward a year and some months and enter Trina B and some very fine full singing. I really like her voice, it reminds me of someone circa Phil Spector, but haven’t been able to nail it down yet. Apart from taking the song to a new level – she knocked the hey yo outro out of the park. Anyway – here for your pleasure is Hey Yo – with lyrics.
hey yo

Hey Yo
ahhhh – ahhhhhh

took a little time for the both of us say
hey now maybe its a love so true
oh now I see in the cold and lonely
oh now baby I’m looking at you

ahhhhh – ahhhhhhh

oh everything we are sending on through
wait now baby what you want to do
its round and round and we be wound so true
I say I feel everything with you

ahhhh ahhhhhhh
hey yo hey yo

some years ago when I lived overseas I was on a long walk…can’t remember right now if it was between 2 cities or just a long distance in one city, but it took a while. Given the tempo of my steps, a chorus kind of naturally broke out “keep on walkin”. I remember thinking at the time it was worth developing…but I pretty much forgot about the concept after that walk. The idea popped up once or twice since then, but I don’t believe I ever wrote it down – and it was again dismissed. Recently the idea resurfaced and this time I acted. Enter steps, percussion, light keyboards, bass, a dash of vocoder and the inimitable Trina B on BG vox and we have a song. The video was a first take of (surprise – surprise) walking. Conceptually it is built around Job (as in though the Lord slay me, yet will I serve Him” Job) with a slightly modern vibe. You can click on the button to stream the audio only, or the video below for the audio/visual effect. If you click in the black frame you get a flash stream – and if you look under that there is a quicktime link for stock (flashless) ipadders.
keep on walkin

I wanna
keep on walkin (3x)
don’t know where to go
lost my job
lost my cash
lost my girl well it went so fast
gonna
keep on walkin (2x)
lions I’ve seen
lions they come
everybody run but I won’t go gonna
keep on walkin (2x)
well my health left me a long time ago
every day the sheet around me a gown now
keep on walkin (2x)
well I’ve been bleedin up and down the street
got cut like a rat and left on my feet gonna
keep on walkin (4x)
well look around for a little bitty friend
ain’t no messin day to day don’t send gonna
keep on walkin (2x)
well everybodys gone, I’m all alone
feel those chains to dead been sown gonna
keep on walkin (2x)
well the sun comes up, sun goes down
nothin ever changes in this old town gonna
keep on walkin (3x)
gonna bang my gong
gonna be like this
gonna cry my river
gonna need a little kiss gonna
keep on walkin (2x)
well I don’t know if its ever gonna change
but I trust the good Lord to lay His own thing gonna
keep on walkin (2x)
ohhhhh yeahhh
keep on walkin baby
keep on walkin
well I don’t know if it’s ever gonna change
give me tho soul give me tho chains gonna keep on walkin
I ain’t gonna stop now
gonna keep on walkin

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Quicktime small 15MB

this is a little bit electro…some big beat…and a dash of breakbeat. I messed quite a bit with drums – ran a signal through a supermarket speaker effectively for the low-fi effect. The synthesizer solo is actually a sampled electricish zap…which I quite liked. There is vinyl being scratched – you know – basic songwriting stuff. I probably got away with too many effects on this… The story is one of beauty and betrayel…shoulda known better, are we gettin down now Download
lyrics below

are we gettin down now

shes sliding into me so tall
whoah no go boom and get boomed tee
she said now baby you can have it all
i say i am into you and trouble free

i said now baby you come hard and tall
sharing moon going good in Bombay toe the line

she said now are we gettin down now
oh be kissin and go chit chitlin love
ahhh are we gettin down town
no i’m a gettin i’m a gettin i’m a gettin goin down

and so we walked along the beach and that was fine
she looked around and said baby you’re mine
she pulled a knife and held it to my neck
give your money she said, and off she went

and as i watched her walking down the beach
should i call her i beseeched no

she said now are we gettin down now
oh be kissin and go chit chitlin love
ahhh are we gettin down town
no i’m a gettin i’m a gettin i’m a gettin goin down (2x)

This song has some points that bear mentioning;

1) it’s the second song I have written with harmonica, and I actually feature it pretty heavily.

2) I made my own glass “slide” for the guitar part – and broke several in the process…I finally ended up dumpster diving a local restaurant for spare wine bottles for the one I used on this song.

3) banjo is provided by Matt and his virtual collaboration is much appreciated. He gave me quite the buffet of good musical options to use in the song!

Fallen is a short tale around paradise lost, and the reality of our current predicament. You can stream / download fallen here Download

lyrics below

Fallen

fallen
my worlds fallen
fallen (2X)

yeah

paradise in the rear view mirror
serpent said don’t you fear
old eve made adam believe the pretty fruit would give good cheer

well they both went and ate it
on the Lord they never waited
yeahhhh this worlds fallen

fallen
our worlds fallen
(2X)

yeah

that was then this now you know
we still got a lot to do
that old devils still trickin folks tryin to make a lie a truth

with the Lord we’ll stand and fight him
Holy Spirit so delighted
Yeahhh
Lets play some harp now….

hamonica solo
banjo solo
out