Day 6: Sandcastles, Snow Forts (and Gingerbread Houses)

 

Day 6: Sandcastles, Snow Forts (and Gingerbread Houses)

Part of my song-a-day writing project for January 2024

Lyrics:
I was thinkin' 'bout Lone Ranger's mask
How his partner never thought to ask
What costume shop was cutting out his eyes

A jagged hunting knife won't work
And scissors never were a perk
For cowboys riding horseback in disguise

But when the villain twirls his 'stache
Flips his gun and flashes cash
No one ever asks what styling gel he used

'twas probably grease, or else crude oil
Or birdshit on a Tesla coil
These questions, man, they border on abuse

Sandcastles, snow forts and gingerbread houses
We know what'll happen
When the mortgage payment bounces

I got greenbacks in my pocket
Credit cards are in my wallet
I wonder what counts as counterfeit today

My checkbook's getting dry at home
And food stamps taste like cheap cologne
Time, I think, the try some ApplePay

Electronic signatures are nice
And thumbprints work on some devices
Cameras then stare deep into my soul

My eyes are just a window
A screen with many pixels
By Jove, I think my resolutions low

Sandcastles, snow forts and gingerbread houses
We know what'll happen
When the mortgage payment bounces

Listen to my whistle, y'all!

Sandcastles, snow forts and gingerbread houses
We know what'll happen
When the mortgage payment bounces

Yeehaw! Woo Hoo!
Gettyup, little doggy!
It's a free range, baby!

***

Details:

First a disclaimer-- there are too many goddamn words in this song, and I don't think I was going to get them all right no matter how many takes I did tonight, so I just posted the best video. Lots of flubs...

Anyway, I was writing in my journal this morning and, out of nowhere, I asked why at the beach we build sandcastles, but not sand people like we do snowmen during the winter time (if you'd like to take a stab at answering that, please do so in the comment section below). Anyway, that ultimately led to the title and chorus of the song "Sandcastles, Snow Forts (and Gingerbread Houses)" Note that the parentheses are gratuitous-- parentheses in song titles are often unnecessary, and I didn't want to buck the trend :)

Yesterday's song was a downer, so I wanted to get a little goofy, but I decided to continue using free association to write the lyrics. Once again, it comes off as vague social commentary, but it's really just stringing words together. Maybe there's something going on subconsciously, but I was just trying pick words that somewhat fit together. I threw in a whistle part because, damn it, I didn't want to write any more words!

Today was a busy day, and except for the title, I didn't really get started on this until after 8pm, then finished around 11pm. Trying to record it was a huge pain in the ass. Waaaaaay more words than I'm used to (screw you, Bob Dylan!).