I NEED YOUR HELP!!!
This is the half hour set that I performed with 2 of my 4 bandmates at Bootstrap Brewery a couple weeks ago. I'm eligible for a full, Thursday night gig, but their system involves potential performers getting "votes" from their fans, just to show that we have a following.
I review a film about a Late Night Talk Show host willing to do anything to be famous, followed by a song about the sacrifices we consider in showbiz. Enjoy!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
I’m forever waiting for my one true Love, but this goes out to those who have already found it.
This is an old tune of mine from the early-2000s. I wrote it for my friend and collaborator, Doctor Bob, in theory to be played at his wedding. Unfortunately, that was in the days before I could write a song in a couple hours, so it didn’t get finished until months after the ceremony. But, hey! Now I’m ready for the next wedding…
I’ve Waited So Long
By David Coile © 2002
Hey, my dear
Do you really want to go on with me?
Hey, my dear
Do you really want to be one with me?
Well I’ve been waiting so long for this moment
I’ve been waiting so long for this time
Just to hold you near
And whisper your name into your ear
And tell you that the future is ours to steer
Into tomorrow, anyway
Yesterday is gone
Today I have found my home
I’ve waited, I’ve waited so long
I’ve waited for you for so long
Hey, my dear
Do you want to spend your whole life with me
Hey, my dear
Do you want to walk the aisle with me
Well I’ve been hoping so hard for someone
Who could love me and
Commit to herself and me in holy matrimony
Raise up your glass and cheer
The joyous ceremony
Come join the family
We’ll celebrate and take a vow
This is how I know
That you and I belong
I’ve waited, I’ve waited so long
I’ve waited, I’ve waited so long
I-I-I love you, I-I-I love you
I know we’ll carry on
We’ll show the world our love is strong
They may ask “for how long?”
Well the heart alone can know
For the rest of our lives
Through all the tears and all the trials
Through the years, ‘cross the miles
It’s you, you and me, we’ll be together.
Day 31: Movie Show
Part of my song-a-day writing challenge for January 2024
Lyrics:
Let me take you to a movie show
To a theater that's a century old
Sitting underneath a ceiling so tall
In darkness, enthralled
By the faces on the wall
And all you need to enter the club
Is an usher to tear your stub
When the story's all told
Just tell 'em you saw it
At a movie show
Let me take you to the cinema
Where celebrities still leave you in awe
Where the pictures take you near and far
To exotic locales
Or deep inside your heart
And all you need to enter the club
Is an usher to tear your stub
When the story's all told
Just tell 'em you saw it
At a movie show
The smell of popcorn in the air
The crinkle of candy wrappers torn
And then you just can't help but stare
At the posters down the hall
And the trailers show you more
Of what Hollywood has in store for you
Then they dim the lights
And soon the curtain's drawn
Let me take you to a movie show
I ain't talking 'bout no HBO
I ain't talking 'bout Netflix or Hulu
I just don't know who
Those tiny screens are for
And all you need to enter the club
Is an usher to tear your stub
When the story's all told
Just tell 'em you saw it
At a movie show
***
Details: I did it! 31 songs in 31 days. Some got finished after midnight, but before going to bed, so they count in my book.
This song is about my next goal, which is to go see a sh!t ton of movies. I need to get caught up on my Oscar nominees, and I've seen next to none of them!
I also used to work at a Movie theater. And in the 90s, I really wanted to be a screenwriter. I love music, but movies were my first passion. I still occasionally work on film projects.
Anyway, once I decided on the topic, two songs came to mind: "Movie Magg" by Carl Perkins and "Saturday Night at the Movies" by the Drifters. I love both those songs, but the Drifters' rhythms were more appealing. In fact, I actually found myself drawn to the rhythm of their song "Save the Last Dance for Me"-- which is only one of the greatest songs ever written; so if I was going to be inspired by something, it might as well be that. Anyway, that's what the rhythm to my song started from.
As I was writing, I realized that the melody I was coming up with was pretty similar to "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli. So I had to tweak the melody a little bit to differentiate.
Recording this was a chore! That bridge was really difficult to sing. It's not even because it's at the top of my range, but something about the change was making it very hard to nail the note. I actually tried doing as much as two full steps lower, but I was even more pitchy when singing it. I mostly get it in this take. But you know what? This is about writing songs, not necessarily about me being able to sing them. Somebody else might want to sing it...
Hey, it's been a fabulous month! I've had a total blast, and I'm glad to have done it again after two years off. I plan to write a more in depth wrap up post tomorrow. But for those of you who are actually listening to these tunes, then reading these blog entries, thank you! I'm honored to have had a chance to entertain you and show off a bit in the process. Cheers!
Day 30: The Future’s Been Delayed
Part of my song-a-day writing project for January 2024
Lyrics:
Looks like there's a distribution problem
Your order hasn't been fulfilled
Could be lazy workers or a misunderstanding
Or perhaps you haven't paid the bill
Let me show you this department
And they will process your complaint
They'll set you up with an appointment
With disappointment
'cause the future's been delayed
Four years and a hundred thousand dollars
Will earn you an entry level wage
The newest software won't help you get promoted
When it takes your job prospects away
Let me show you this department
And they will process your complaint
Hey, this daydream that you've brought us
Ain't what they promised
So sorry, you're future's been delayed
By now, I thought I'd have a jet pack
Or else at least a flying car
Instead we're gossiping on oh so many cameras
I can't keep track of who they are
Let me show you this department
And they will process your complaint
I just can't see where the hope is
Where's the utopia?
Oh yea, that future's been delayed
That future's been delayed
***
Details: I was supposed to have a co-write today, but it fell through. Which is a shame, because I struggled tonight on my own. I love this writing project, but it's the end of the month and I'm ready to be done with it (just one more day!).
Once again, I was completely blank. However, I did have a sense that I wanted to rock out. So I came up with that staccato strumming thing. Might sound better with an electric guitar, but I tried to make it rock.
I've been having issues with getting some medication from the pharmacy because of distribution issues, so that was the inspiration for the first verse. "The Future's Been Delayed" just sort of popped out while I was playing and around, and I dug it. That gave shape to the rest of the song, making it about upended expectations.
My voice was shot by the time I recorded this. I had to take the guitar down half a step. I've done that a couple times this month-- some of these songs will ideally be sun in a different key, and probably will be if I'm singing with a rested voice.
Anyway, this was another attempt at being political. Not sure if it works.
Day 29: Have You Had Enough? (with Leah Casper)
Part of my song-a-day writing project for January 2024
Lyrics:
Plant a seed and grow the branches
Let it rip and roll
Take a sip of murky water
Watch the undertow
Stress fracture on a femur
Keep it lifting up
ATP through the fibers
Has it had a enough?
Has it had enough?
Has it had enough?
Oh, has it had enough?
Perfect image visualized
Hidden Mise en scene
Take a picture, heads up, asshole
You stuck your dick in it
Your twisted timelines will unravel
Working off the cuff
Cortisol through the bloodline
Have you had enough?
Has it had enough?
Has it had enough?
Oh, has it had enough?
***
Details: I worked a little bit with Leah just before the pandemic and haven't really followed up until now (aside from covering one of her songs "Alright" in the Summer of 2020-- you can find it on YouTube).
Leah reserved a space at The Music District in Fort Collins. OMG, it is aMAZing!!!! It's a huge building with tons of recording spaces for bands and other meeting rooms. We were in a sizable performance hall.
Leah had been listening to Tool lately, so that was on her mind. I don't know Tool that well, except that they were Ian Mackaye's follow-up project to Minor Threat, and that they had been part of the D.C. hardcore scene.
Anyway, Leah had suggested a cool process: we each wrote short words, phrases and sentences on a sheet of paper, then tore them off the page and mixed them up. We each chose a few of the scraps of paper and used them to guide where we went with the song. I can't remember the prompts, exactly, but it took us places.
Leah has more of a free association process, whereas I like to talk about specific meanings and how they fit into the parts of the song. I think we reached a relative balance with what we came up with.
We were running out of time with the room reservation, so we had to make some quick choices, like not including a bridge or a third verse. But the moodiness of the song may be enough.
Day 28: There’s A Hole In The Roof
Part of my song-a-day writing project for January 2024
Lyrics:
There's a hole in the roof
A hole in the roof again
There's a hole in the roof
A hole in the roof again
Thank God it isn't raining
On this Godforsaken cottage I'm in
There's a crack in the window
A crack in the window once more
There's a creak in the hinge
A creak in the hinge on the door
Thank God nobody's knocking
I don't know what I'm locking it for
And the faucet is leaking
The faucet is leaking, oh dear
And the foundation's sinking
The foundation's been sinking all year
Thank God the walls don't crumble
And bury me in rubble down here
There's a vacancy in heaven
A vacancy in heaven, I've heard
And if you want some company
Dear God, you know you can always
Say the word
***
Details: I'm really struggling to write at this point. Waited all day, then had a total blank when I got started. I decided to look back for one of the Fearless Songwriting prompts that I skipped earlier this month. The prompt I picked was "Tile on the roof".
As it happens, we've been looking to get some roof repairs done after last year's big hail storm, so I could relate. I mean, there are no actual leaks, but I've lived in places where there were, so I went there. There are also a lot of little repair jobs that need to be done, and it leaves me a little depressed at times. I've been a lifelong renter and have always asked the property owner to fix things. Unfortunately, the landlady passed away a year ago, so I'm more in charge of that sort of thing.
But that affected the tone of the song. I spent a lot of time grieving last year, and this song kind of captures that, just using the mounting maintenance issues as a metaphor for being down.
I wanted to just whip out a song. I'm tired and need a break from writing (almost done!). So there's no bridge here. I honestly don't think the song needs a bridge. So there you go...
Day 27: A Little Left Of Heaven (with Karen Horan)
Part of my song-a-day writing project for January 2024
Lyrics:
I let her go a year ago
Couldn't hold her anyhow
A restless heart is a slippery one
That can't be tied down
She saw the world in colors
But numbers were my thing
I kept the ledger balanced
She brought the mystery
A decorated envelope
Perfumed with her scent
An open invitation to
A little left of heaven
A little left of heaven
A little left of heaven
Come join me
In my creation
I thought it all was frivolous
She left with my regrets
I thought her lost forever
But I held on to her address
A cottage through a forest clearing
Wildflowers, flowing creek
The vastness of the cosmos
As far as you can see
A little left of heaven
A little left of heaven
A little left of heaven
Come join me
In my creation
My ledger was unbalanced
Each day became more grey
My frozen heart could only thaw
If I dropped my rigid ways
I had your invitation
With it's colorful bouquet
What would happen if I joined you now
And told you I had changed?
A decorated envelope
Perfumed with her scent
An open invitation
A little left of heaven
A little left of heaven
A little left of heaven
Come join me
In my creation
***
Details:
This was Karen's first co-write! She had a quote in mind from Robert Plant; when asked to describe Jimmy Page and his guitar playing, Plant apparently said that Page is "a little left of heaven". And that's what we decided to work with.
We came up with the chord progression for the verse and pre-chorus first, before we had any words. Then when stumbled on the chord progression for the chorus and the words "A little left of heaven" fit perfectly. It was the words around that nugget that took some work.
Karen likes to do something I often do, which is mumble sing until more coherent words form. That's really great for co-writing, because your partner starts hearing the ghost of lyrics, too. Once we got a few words down, we developed a whole story about someone inviting an ex- to her new, somewhat non-traditional home.
Karen and I really worked at each line in this song, and I think our sensibilities supported each other pretty well. We were running a bit short on time when we finished up, so we had to make some quick choices. But I really like what we came up with! I look forward to working on it with her some more.
Day 26: Brand New Day
Part of my song-a-day writing project for January 2024
Lyrics:
Every morning when I rise
Every morning when I rise
To my feet
I feel the rhythm of a song
I feel the rhythm of a song
With a marching beat
And then I put my new shoes on
An open door reveals the dawn
And as I gaze upon the sun
I walk away
Into a brand new day
In the evening when my body aches
I pray to heaven for a bed to lay me down
When I'm dreaming, it's a vivid picture
All the colors and the textures
And the sounds
But then sensation starts to fade
A cloud of darkness fills my brain
And then my mind rejuvenates
And I awake
To a brand new day
A brand new day
A brand new day
A brand new day
It's a brand new day
Every morning I'm surprised
Every morning I'm surprised
It starts again
Again, again, again, again
And then I put some coffee on
And then I fight another yawn
And in ten minutes I'll be gone
And drive away
Into a brand new day
***
Details:
Boy, this was a tough one to write. I started with "Every morning when I rise" with that rapid fire phrasing, and that made everything harder. Because you can't just put any word in there and make it sound natural. I'm not sure it sounds natural even with the words I came up with, but I tried to find ones that fit the cadence. I liked the rhythmic hook of the song at first, but then I grew to hate it, then I started liking it again when I got closer to finishing it.
I went through several iterations of what it was about. The first verse came out plainly, but then what? At first I was going to go back to some bad experience the singer had the night before, or some weeks ago-- anyway, something that was eating at him. Then the idea was that he starts out feeling good, but by the end of the day he's depressed again, but then sleeping makes him feel better in the morning, and so on.
I couldn't seem to make that work, so I decided to make the second verse more generic. Just describing what it's like to go to bed at the end of the day.
The bridge is a cop out; and I threw it in there just to get it done.
The final verse was cool. I like that it turned out to be less optimistic and more realistic than the first verse. I have a hard time writing 100% happy songs.
Day 25: I Want To Write A Love Song
Part of my song-a-day writing project for January 2024
Lyrics:
I want to write a love song
With the sweetest words
I want to write a sonnet
'bout the butterflies and birds
I want to wax poetic
'bout the moon, the stars, the sun
But I don't want to write a tune
That no one hears
Or write a verse for someone
Who is blank between the ears
Or craft a clever lyric
That details the ways
The days turn into years
I want to write a love song
With a catchy melody
Bring in an ensemble
With angelic harmonies
And play it with a rhythm
So we all can dance along
But I don't want to write a tune
That no one hears
Or write a verse for someone
Who is blank between the ears
Or craft a clever lyric
That details the ways
The days turn into years
But I can't deny
The music in my mind
The underlying structure
And the phrasing of the lines
And I think of someone beautiful
And then I think I'm just the fool
To try
I want to write a love song
Dedicated to the void
And play it for the ladies
Even if they get annoyed
And strum on my guitar and sing
Until somebody comes
And write for them a wistful tune
They'd love to hear
Compose a set of verses
That are pleasing to their ears
And craft a clever lyric
That details the ways
Our days turn into years
***
Details: I saw a clip on Instagram of Ray Davies of The Kinks accepting their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In his speech he said "I guess this means that Rock & Roll is finally respectable" (pause for the applause from the audience) "What a bummer..."
This had me thinking about The Kinks who, on any given day, I might consider my all-time favorite band (there's certainly no band I like more). Ray Davies was a very prolific writer, and to be sure, he wrote a lot of songs I don't like. But his good songs are truly glorious (not to forget his much less prolific brother, Dave Davies, who wrote some of the band's best songs-- very talented family).
So today is my tribute to The Kinks. Their song "Animal Farm" is one of my all-time favorite songs, and I found myself playing around with that chord progression. I wasn't going to try to write up to that standard, but I did want to write something that felt Kinksy.
The theme is me just working through stuff from the last year. When you're grieving, it's a tough time to be alone, and it's hard to turn it around on a moment's notice. Not in a healthy way, that is. But there have definitely been times in my life when I had love to give but couldn't find the right person to give it to.
Day 24: Metropolis Optometrist
I’m a little embarrassed to say that this is part of my song-a-day writing project for January 2024. But hey, it’s a song…
Lyrics:
I am the optometrist
And I live in Metropolis
And I contend
That this Clark Kent
Has made a fool of all of us
His famous pair of glasses
Just frames that have no lenses
And when he stares
At Miss Lane's rear
Her pants have no defenses
His X-ray eyes
Can see her thighs
And then he flies away
What does he do
In the solitude
Of his fortress, I can't say
I am the examiner
Of ocular parameters
And I can see
How he deceives
Young Jimmy Olsen's camera
No one seems suspicious
Even Perry White's oblivious
To his star reporter's
Fondness for
Miss Catherine Grant's new minidress
His X-ray eyes
Can see her thighs
And then he flies away
What does he do
In the solitude
Of his fortress, I can't say
Mister Luther, I need your aid
For my solution to end his charade
I know his secret, I know I'm right
Please help me give him rims
Of green kryptonite
The Daily Planet's healthcare plan
Will be the end of Superman
And once addressed
His vision test
Will surely be his last exam
I am the Optometrist
Eye doctor of Metropolis
I will protect all of us
I am the Optometrist
***
Details: This is a convoluted one. I challenged a friend of mine to paint a picture to the same prompt I was going to write a song to. The prompt was "Hide in Plain Sight" and was from the Fearless Songwriting challenge from a couple weeks ago, but I didn't use it at the time. So that was the theme I was working with tonight.
Earlier in the day I heard a version of "One More Day" from Les Miserables, and I thought about doing some sort of theatrical song a la stage musicals. I don't generally like stage musicals, though I can appreciate the artistry behind them. But that got me thinking about this compilation of Disney songs reinterpreted by popular performers, specifically Tom Waits' version of "Heigh Ho (the Dwarf's Marching Song)" which then reminded me of his original song "Singapore", which totally influenced the rhythm of my song. I was going to try to sing it like Tom Waits, but damn, that's screws up my voice pretty quickly.
On top of all that, I went to the Ophthalmologist today for a long overdue eye exam. It was a topic that jived with the "Hidden in Plain Sight" theme. I went with Optometrist over Ophthalmologist because I thought it was more musical. Then once I got going, the Clark Kent reference just popped out and I was thinking "Well, of course an optometrist would notice that Clark Kent's glasses are fake". And then I made him suspicious that Superman is pervy about using his X-ray vision.
*sigh*
Anyway, that's how it happened...
Day 23: Dog Stars (with HL Howells)
Part of my song-a-day writing project for January 2024
Lyrics:
Dog Star
1/23/24 – David Coile & H. Howells ��
Narrator:
This is a story about breaking free,
Sneaking out of the maze of domestication.
Sidewalks, and leashes, and having to heel
Working for morsels, being tempted to steal
Fences are looming on every side
Buildings eclipse our view of the sky
Dog:
Nose to the ground, leash dragging behind
Eyes closed / Ears closed / All the world comes through my nose
Follow this scent to where it goes
Sneaking, seeking, no one knows
What I know, I know, I can find
Narrator:
And so our hero follows the nose,
Leaving behind the familiar skyline
Spurred onward by the earthy fecal scent of the doings of unknown beings gone before,
Their hooves and claws have scarred the earth, revealing the score
Fallen bones, rules unknown
Flesh rotting off of those who never make it home
Dog:
Coolness descends, night’s digging in
Fingers of darkness bleed through my flesh, beneath my skin
Pick up the pace, to flee this place
The branches crack, the sky goes black
The blinding light of lightning strikes
I’m the bulls-eye for the sky to aim
All around me turns to flame
Dog: (Bridge)
Mind makes revoultions
Heart makes dissolutions
There is no solution
Pray for absolution
Can’t escape the mystery
Falling down from these trees
Into burning embers
Lose all that I remember
All . . . my . . . howls . . . break free . . .
My . . . soul . . . wails . . . please, please, please
Narrator: (Bridge)
Certain all is lost, doesn’t hear the coming whisper of the rain
Waves of rain / Quench the fire / as quickly as I came
Tears from the sky / wash clean the eyes
Heavens break open
And the clouds free, squealing,
Tails between their legs
Dog: (Coda)
Water pours from my nose / puddles flood my toes
Understanding ringing / dripping from my lips
My life has been spared / I’m no longer scared
But I lost my purchase / on my one wish
This is not my forest / Can’t pretend to own it
She took mercy on me / I do not deserve it
Can’t escape the beauty / Finally see the beauty
- In owning nothing / Everything is singing
Narrator: (Coda)
And so our hero lays down to rest
Vanquished by the knowledge that nothing is ours
And all victory is an illusion
But each of us, from the soggy forest floor,
Can see the stars . . .and the darkness
***
I got to our writing session a bit late, even though I actually showed up early and thought I had time to get a car wash... but I was wrong.
H is and I had talked before about songwriting on my Raw Songwriting podcast, but I got to experience her process first hand here. One thing I knew was that I wanted to write something using one of the latin rhythms she favors. She educated me about a couple of them, but we decided to with the Guapango rhythm. She said she wanted me to do some talk singing (to which I suggested we could have a narrator), which she's heard me a do a bit of. So that's what we started off with.
H had brought up the idea of not having to own something in order for it to be yours, which I thought was a beautiful concept, so that's what we decided to focus on. I can't remember how we got around to the dog metaphor, but I know that I pushed for more of an extended metaphor-- H would normally toggle back and forth between metaphor and directly personal. For me, metaphor IS personal, though maybe not direct.
H has a fascinating process. She basically thinks in poetry. When I'm writing by myself, I worry about being way too straight-forward with my lyrics, to the point that I'll do a first draft then go back over them to find a better way to make them interesting. But as we were discussing the story and message of the song, she would take whatever plain thing I said and made it beautiful.
She also has a non-linear way of writing it all down. She was writing on multiple pages and then numbering them to determine what order they were supposed to go. She also would brainstorm some words, then reorganize them based on if they were appropriate for major or minor chords, the various sections, rhythms. It was fascinating, but very different than my own process-- I had a hard time keeping up!
I'd say that H did most of the actual writing, and my input was more in the conceptualization and organization of the story and parts of the song. H is a force of nature, and it was super fun to work with her on this tune!
Day 22: 7 Steps (with Todd Hawkins)
Part of my song-a-day writing project for January 2024
Lyrics:
There's something wrong
I can smell it in the air
I can hear it in your groans
I can see you're in despair
Your breath is short
You got shallow aspirations
What's causing you to choke?
Do you need more respiration?
Don't panic; What happened?
Let's review your situation
We'll find you some relief
Some new alleviation
These 7 steps will help you
To ease your aggravation
Check the scene
Is it safe for us to be here?
Is there any risk
Or are we out of danger?
Are you hot? Are you cold?
Are you numb or are you dizzy?
We can always call for help
And hope they're not too busy
Don't panic; What happened?
Let's review your situation
We'll find you some relief
Some new alleviation
These 7 steps will help you
To ease your aggravation
Now you can breathe again
Now you can be free again
Now you can relax
Don't panic; What happened?
Let's review your situation
We'll find you some relief
Some new alleviation
These 7 steps will help you
To ease your aggravation
Now you can breathe again
Now you can be free again
Now you can relax
***
Details: Todd came over with an electric guitar and amp and said he was in the mood for grunge or some straight-forward rock and roll. He also mentioned that he just took a CPR class. Anyway, that was enough to get us started.
I'm a big fan of what I call "jargon songs". I like to look at a glossary on a certain topic, pick out all the terms that have double meanings, then try to construct a song with them. Todd and I have written three other songs together, and we've tried this technique before. So we looked up CPR and First Aid terms, as well as the steps you follow when performing CPR (that's where we got 7 steps). We decided to keep the specifics of the emergency hidden-- was this a physical or an emotional crisis?
It was fun working with an electric guitar, and I always enjoy writing with Todd. Though that last couple songs seem to send me into the upper registers-- it's tough for me to hit those notes!
