Song #244 of 9999 - The Best Place in Town is Also the Darkest by Frankie Big Face

One more week of writing about my own music (as mentioned in my post of July 20) and then back to my normal blog! I think people are getting tired of this...

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Song #244 of 9999 

Title: The Best Place in Town is Also the Darkest
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2012
Album: Nur Ein 7

Click here to listen!

Sometimes the challenges in Nur Ein can really encourage creativity. In Round Two, we were instructed to employ a "creative use of stops and starts." Were it not for this challenge, I probably would have completed the song that you hear on the "radio" that opens this track. But I really wanted to write something where the stops and starts were an integral element of the song. I was especially drawn to the idea of placing this pause in the middle of the verse and of using pauses that were of varying length. To me, this creates a more organic environment for the lyrics (but also makes for more difficult drum programming).

Having had a few months away from this track, I find I really like it. It was fun to revisit my prog rock beginnings and I think the comparisons to Rush (especially more recent Rush) are warranted. The alternating sections of 5/8 and 6/8 seem unforced and there's a lot of energy in the track. It seems a good setting for this tale of revenge brought on by feelings of loneliness (my favorite line: "empty homes are catacombs for the living"). I wish I had had a real drummer but someone had to attend his son's baptism. The nerve!

Song #243 of 9999 - Architect by Frankie Big Face

One more week of writing about my own music (as mentioned in my post of July 20) and then back to my normal blog! I think people are getting tired of this...

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Song #243 of 9999 

Title: Architect
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2012
Album: Nur Ein 7

Click here to listen!

I like words that are most commonly used as one part of speech but can be used in other ways, often heightening their meaning or uniqueness. "Architect" is one of those words and once I decided to use it as a verb, I found much more inspiration and clarity of direction. Although the song may seem like a throwaway blues-rock number, I'm really happy with the earnest chorus lyric of this "cautionary tale":

If you architect a plan of mutual respect
You can build a house of love
If you engineer a machine that's fueled by fear
You may find yourself alone

Architect was a particularly fun song to record. It features the very talented (and life-time Frankie Big Face member) Paul Gallello on drums and the debut of the Slave Labor Choir, a group of five students who had been bugging me to sing backing vocals on one of my songs for a few weeks. It was interesting to work with them in the studio, where everything is typically made up on the spot, given that they're so used to having everything written out and rehearsed. I think they were also taken aback at just how loud one has to sing to get the desired effect (i.e. rocking out) for this style. I'm not sure I got exactly what I was aiming for (I was thinking gospel choir), but having backing vocals sung by other people is such a luxury and really adds a lot to the arrangement. Plus, the more reserved vocal style has kind of a "cool" quality, especially during the unison scales that follow the chorus.

Song #242 of 9999 - Breaking the Ice by Frankie Big Face

One more week of writing about my own music (as mentioned in my post of July 20) and then back to my normal blog! I think people are getting tired of this...

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Song #242 of 9999 

Title: Breaking the Ice
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2012
Album: Nur Ein 7

Click here to listen!

Breaking the Ice is not a terribly interesting song. I was quite happy when I came up with the hook but I recognize now that it's kind of overused throughout the song and that the structure in general could have been tightened up. I think I could have shortened the chorus here and there or perhaps tried to come up with some alternate lyrics. The subject matter is pretty near and dear to my heart as I am terrible at starting conversations with strangers. I think the second verse is especially good at illustrating that concept. For this song, I had to employ a "significant use of shouting," which was kind of fun as I was given the opportunity to try on my best screamo hat. Otherwise, a pretty inconsequential song but a solid start to Nur Ein 7.

Song #241 of 9999 - Heart Shaker by Frankie Big Face

One more week of writing about my own music (as mentioned in my post of July 20) and then back to my normal blog! I think people are getting tired of this...

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Song #241 of 9999 

Title: Heart Shaker
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2011
Album: Nur Ein 6

Click here to listen!

Heart Shaker was the end of the line for me in Nur Ein 6. I kind of expected it as there are problems with this song, most notably the vocal performance and recording in the second verse. (It's one of the few things in my entire catalog that I plan to fix one day.) There's lots of clipping. The song was almost universally panned by the judges. I came in last place.

Now....I may be deluded by my own hubris but I think this is a great song. I was going for a Faith No More-covers-the-Commodores vibe or maybe a Beck-circa-Midnite Vultures thing and frankly, I think I got it just right with the exception of the the aforementioned vocal problems. The electric piano layer and wah guitar make me so happy. And when the chorus opens up with those fake strings and backing vocals....it's nearly perfect. The chord progression is really complex and took me a lot of time to work out. The augmented chord that ends each verse with its rising whole-tone scale creates just the right amount of tension. Usually, when I'm away from a song for a year, I can tell if it's crap or not. This is a really good song and I'm proud of it. Except that second verse; I'm gonna fix that.

Song #240 of 9999 - Patient Number Seven by Frankie Big Face

Two more weeks of writing about my own music (as mentioned in my post of July 20) and then back to my normal blog!

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Song #240 of 9999 

Title: Patient Number Seven
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2011
Album: Nur Ein 6

Click here to listen!

During the recording of Patient Number Seven, my audio interfaced expired. As in kaput. Just died. Close to throwing in the towel, I dug out a USB microphone (the Blue Snowball) and a guitar interface and put together a pretty decent recording in a couple of hours even while learning this equipment I almost never use. It was a banner moment in this competition and I was rewarded with a first place finish for the week. :)

More important, I think it's a fun little song. "List songs" are generally pooh-poohed by internet songwriting snobs and this song probably falls into that category, but I enjoyed the challenge of telling this macabre story with a finite number of steps and even worked in a little twist at the end. The weekly challenge was cacophony, which afforded me the fortunate opportunity to devise a solo section consisting of tone clusters and piano strings strummed with a guitar pick (try doing that on a synthesizer!). Now to fix that guitar track in the second verse... :-\

Song #239 of 9999 - Unholy Alliance by Frankie Big Face

Two more weeks of writing about my own music (as mentioned in my post of July 20) and then back to my normal blog!

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Song #239 of 9999 

Title: Unholy Alliance
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2011
Album: Nur Ein 6

Click here to listen!

In Nur Ein 4, I scored big with a novelty duet called Schadenfreude, an unusual love story between two men who never quite get in sync with one another. In Nur Ein 6, I attempted to take this to an all-new high (or low, depending on your perspective) by incorporating Old Testament religions. Once again paired with John Benjamin of the John Benjamin Band, Unholy Alliance tells the tale of a Muslim and an Orthodox Jew who face a moral dilemma while trying to reconcile their respective religions with their love for one another. This track is campier than the previous and exploits stereotypes a bit more than I would have liked, but I think the laugh tracks and audience applause signal playful admiration as opposed to cynical derision. The whole thing unfolds like a vaudeville duet and ends with a universal love-conquers-all sentiment.

I included all kinds of inside jokes, ranging from the subtle (the Wal-mart in Detroit) to the obscure (Umm Kalthum!) to the hilarious (that Mindy Cohn joke is money). Writing comedy like this is fun yet complex and the musical composition has to be well-structured and tightly woven into the lyric. I worked really hard on all of the little faux accordion counter-melodies that pepper the verses and I'm particularly fond of the bouncy synth that comes in on the third verse. John added some really great backing vocals ("we're in love!")—he has a gift for this kind of thing. I only wish the ending was a little tighter but, as with many Nur Ein songs, time was of the essence. This song still makes me laugh out loud and I know when all the jokes are coming so that's pretty good, right?

Song #238 of 9999 - Blame it on Ginger by Frankie Big Face

Two more weeks of writing about my own music (as mentioned in my post of July 20) and then back to my normal blog!

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Song #238 of 9999 

Title: Blame it on Ginger
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2011
Album: Nur Ein 6

Click here to listen!

By far, the worst title/challenge combination I have dealt with came during Round Two of Nur Ein 6: write a song called Blame it on Ginger and, oh by the way, it has to be autobiographical. Either of these tasks on its own is fine, but what are the chances any one of us has had an experience with a person named Ginger or the root called ginger that warrants blame. Certainly not me. So I did the best I could, composing one of the most difficult and bitter songs I've ever written, and drudging up some of my ugliest memories in the process. I took some liberties in the same way television and movies are "based on real events" and put a disclaimer in the bridge which resulted in all kinds of scrutiny from the judges. Whatever.

The result is a pretty decent, if not a bit plodding, track. I'm happy with the florid piano performance and I think I successfully bathed my cello playing in enough reverb to make it passable. I guess I kind of based the mood and pace of the composition on Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata. It's a pretty dour song and you have to be in the right mood for it, but if you are, I think it works pretty well.

Song #237 of 9999 - Colorblind by Frankie Big Face

Two more weeks of writing about my own music (as mentioned in my post of July 20) and then back to my normal blog!

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Song #237 of 9999 

Title: Colorblind
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2011
Album: Nur Ein 6

Click here to listen!

Ah, the chorus vs. refrain debate. In Round One of Nur Ein 6, the challenge was "no chorus." In the tradition of songs like Blowin' in the Wind and Bridge Over Troubled Water, I used a catchy refrain to end each verse and this seemed to confuse everyone, resulting in the posting of dictionary definitions, hints at disqualification—it was quite the scandal. But frankly, I didn't care much then and care even less now. This was the best song I had written in over a year and I was pretty happy to be back in the songwriting business.

I'm pretty fond of taking a broad concept like "colors" and building a song from a number of phrases related to that concept. This is yet another breakup song but the incorporation of all these "colorful" phrases allowed me to build something of interest relatively quickly. I just started making a list from the very obvious ("feeling blue," "green with envy") to the more obscure ("golden years," "in the red," "white as a sheet") and then assembled them into a song that has some fairly vicious overtones before leveling out. I wish the chorus—oops, refrain—were as clever as the verses but I think it works okay. The guitar riff that opens the tune got a lot of positive attention and I was successful at remotely recording drums (i.e. with a laptop at someone else's house) for the first time so some nice things came out of this track.

Song #236 of 9999 - First Blood by Frankie Big Face

Two more weeks of writing about my own music (as mentioned in my post of July 20) and then back to my normal blog!

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Song #236 of 9999 

Title: First Blood
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2011
Album: Nur Ein 6

Click here to listen!

 

I was relegated to judging the year following my Nur Ein victory and recorded no songs during 2010. (I was writing, but those songs haven't been recorded yet.) By the time Nur Ein 6 rolled around, I was separated from my wife and had moved out of my house, leaving me sequestered from my studio and most of my instruments. But I was determined to record and brought together as many bits and pieces as I could to the house where I was staying. There, I also found some interesting instruments, including the pump organ I used for this track. (The out-of-time clicking you hear is me operating the foot pedals—I thought it was interesting but many people find it annoying.)

 

My initial goal was to record all of my Nur Ein 6 entries entirely on an iPad but, after one track, I realized it didn't allow me the flexibility I needed in terms of multi-tracking so I abandoned the idea. Although I'm sure my inexperience with the platform has something to do with it, to me this song sounds lifeless and dull. I tried remastering it in GarageBand, but I just couldn't get it to have any vibrancy. The canned drums sound terrible and even slightly out of time. So yeah, this is not a great track but, at the time, it felt like a minor miracle just to make a song so I considered it a small victory in those terms. But the track is still a downer.

Song #235 of 9999 - Source of the Light by Frankie Big Face

Song #235 of 9999 

Title: Source of the Light
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2009
Album: Nur Ein 4

Click here to listen!
WARNING: This track is also a bit on the "hot" side. Be careful with volume especially if wearing headphones!

It's kind of difficult to describe the genesis of a song. "Genesis" is really the wrong word because it's more like a "big bang." I know this is different for other songwriters, but for me, especially if there's a deadline, there's usually a lot of sitting around waiting. Sometimes that means strumming a guitar or noodling on a keyboard. Or, if the title is unusual, there may be some research involved. But mostly, there is waiting and frustration. But when it hits, it's exciting and it usually sets off a rapid chain of events resulting in the basic structure of a song. Then, everything slows down again and the craft takes over, with lyric-writing taking center-stage.

For Source of the Light, that moment came when I happened upon the chunky guitar riff that opens the tune. If I remember correctly, the first line and the riff happened simultaneously. I can't say for sure how all the parts fell in to place after that, but the propulsive drive of the rhythm guitar certainly suggests the rocket-ship scenario described in the song, yet another metaphor for trying to work through a difficult relationship and find your way back to the feelings that brought you together in the first place. The anthemic ending, with its "what we need is exactly what we have/what we have is exactly what we need" sentiment, suggests that the answers to our questions and problems are usually right under our noses. I enjoyed making this section of the song, sending a demo to some friends and asking them to come up with harmonies or descant backing vocals and was delighted with what came back as it was so different than anything I would have imagined. (Thanks Elaine and Roy!)

And so, once again I faced off with a talented Canadian and this time I emerged as the winner of Nur Ein!

Song #234 of 9999 - Hit Record by Frankie Big Face

As mentioned in my post of July 20, I'm going to write about my own music for a few weeks as a way to get some song comments together for an updated website. My goal is eventually to have a few paragraphs written for every song on my website and I figured I'd start with all the Nur Ein songs I've written over the past six years. Nur Ein is a songwriting competition in the same vein as Song Fight!, wherein a title is presented each week and participants must write and record a song using that title. The songs are posted and listeners vote for their favorites. In the case of Nur Ein, there is a judging panel that ranks the songs and participants are eliminated each week until "only one" (nur ein) remains. There are also additional challenges that must be incorporated such as "lyrics in the form of a sonnet" or "guest rapper." Nur Ein has been around for seven years and I've entered four times and won twice. NBD. :D  This is post #18.

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Song #234 of 9999 

Title: Hit Record
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2009
Album: Nur Ein 4

Click here to listen!

When I was a kid, I listened to music that was decidedly not commercial. I wasn't anti-radio, especially since just about every style was represented on the radio in the 80s, but my friends and I were definitely focused on music that was not going to be hitting the top of the charts or even the Top 40 for that matter. So it was kind of fun to write a song with the refrain "I don't want a hit record" even if I don't feel that way at all. I would love a hit record! Please buy my album! (I currently have no albums for sale.)

Hit Record is a little bit of me trying to be Elvis Costello or even Tom Petty. It's a rollicking rock and roll style I rarely employ and I think it would fit in well on the utopian FM station the song kind of suggests. The bridge is the section that either turns people off or makes them love the song (and also prevents me from playing it live, unfortunately). Let me explain. My challenge this week was "genre hop." My approach is rather gimmicky (and–confession time–uses loops I did not create) but is tied in with the lyrics so I think it works all right. I really like the lyrics, which are simple but pretty clever on the whole. A song I had kind of forgotten but was nice to revisit.

Song #233 of 9999 - Spider to the Fly by Frankie Big Face

As mentioned in my post of July 20, I'm going to write about my own music for a few weeks as a way to get some song comments together for an updated website. My goal is eventually to have a few paragraphs written for every song on my website and I figured I'd start with all the Nur Ein songs I've written over the past six years. Nur Ein is a songwriting competition in the same vein as Song Fight!, wherein a title is presented each week and participants must write and record a song using that title. The songs are posted and listeners vote for their favorites. In the case of Nur Ein, there is a judging panel that ranks the songs and participants are eliminated each week until "only one" (nur ein) remains. There are also additional challenges that must be incorporated such as "lyrics in the form of a sonnet" or "guest rapper." Nur Ein has been around for seven years and I've entered four times and won twice. NBD. :D  This is post #17.

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Song #233 of 9999 

Title: Spider to the Fly
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2009
Album: Nur Ein 4

Click here to listen!

Spider to the Fly is a song that has grown on me over the years. Well, three-quarters of it has. That ending is still pretty lame. I found myself in a precarious position following the sonnet challenge of What Once Was Grand. This time around, we were asked to write a through-composed composition, meaning none of the sections repeat. Obviously, this is unusual for a pop song, which is typically in verse-chorus form with a lot of repetition. My issue was that the sonnet had pretty much pushed me in that very direction the previous week (there is very little repetition in What Once Was Grand) and I was concerned that repeating myself would result in my elimination. (And it almost did—I made the cut just barely). The challenge also took away my strength, which is writing catchy hooks. I really struggled with this song and almost quit in the middle but my wife basically forced me back into the studio to finish so I have her to thank for that. (Thanks Chris!)

I like a lot of things about this song. The lyrics are evocative yet it's not clear what they're about. I think it's about a metamorphosis, which seems to make sense in the context of a through-composition. The second section, with the guitar riff in 7/8 time, is interesting in that it consists of two layered drum loops, one in 7/8 and one in 7/4 so there this slight windshield wiper effect. I employed some choice Logic brass samples to serve as connecting devices between the rock sections. And then there's the ending. I was trying to create a feeling of stasis—being caught in a web—with this endless cycle of ascending major chords and ambient sound. I just never really got it to be as effective as I had hoped. I have considered returning to this song to rework it but it's doubtful that I will. I find the imperfections to be somewhat charming now. Such an odd song. Not a single, but maybe a surprising deep cut!

Song #232 of 9999 - What Once Was Grand by Frankie Big Face

As mentioned in my post of July 20, I'm going to write about my own music for a few weeks as a way to get some song comments together for an updated website. My goal is eventually to have a few paragraphs written for every song on my website and I figured I'd start with all the Nur Ein songs I've written over the past six years. Nur Ein is a songwriting competition in the same vein as Song Fight!, wherein a title is presented each week and participants must write and record a song using that title. The songs are posted and listeners vote for their favorites. In the case of Nur Ein, there is a judging panel that ranks the songs and participants are eliminated each week until "only one" (nur ein) remains. There are also additional challenges that must be incorporated such as "lyrics in the form of a sonnet" or "guest rapper." Nur Ein has been around for seven years and I've entered four times and won twice. NBD. :D  This is post #17.

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Song #232 of 9999 

Title: What Once Was Grand
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2009
Album: Nur Ein 4

Click here to listen!

Poetry and lyrics are not the same thing. I think they each have their advantages and disadvantages. You can get away with the most insipid lyric if it is backed by a brilliant melody. (This couplet from The Beatles' Something always comes to mind: "I don't want to leave her now/You know I believe and how.") With poetry, you can use words that would rarely work if sung and you don't have to worry about hooks or repetitive devices like refrains or choruses. There's a lot more freedom there.

So any time I'm faced with using a poetic structure as the basis for lyrics, I find it challenging but also pretty satisfying when it works out. My goal is always to make the poem work without the music but still have it work as a pop song. For What Once Was Grand, my challenge was to write the lyrics in the form of a sonnet and I chose the Italian or Petrachan form, which has the rhyming scheme a-b-b-a a-b-b-a c-d-e c-d-e. The first eight lines are supposed to be one sentence and many poets employ semicolons for the sake of readability. Ultimately, I knew I was writing a song and allowed myself to let it run on a bit, knowing the musical setting would break it up. The ninth line is supposed to be turning point, a volta if you will, moving the poem from proposition to resolution. I don't know if mine is obvious in the poem, but the dramatic shift is evident in the music. I cheat a little bit in performance by repeating the first word—it's all supposed to be iambic pentameter—but again, this is a pop song and there needs to be some leeway. For the sake of rhyme and meter, I also lied about the 8th Mazurka being Opus 29; it's actually Opus 7! (our protagonist's memory, like mine, is suspect)

Lyrics below in their entirety.

Song #231 of 9999 - Schadenfreude by Frankie Big Face

Song #231 of 9999 

Title: Schadenfreude
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2009
Album: Nur Ein 4

Click here to listen!

This is me complaining about the title and challenge for Nur Ein IV, Round 2:

I know I promised 50% less whining this year, but I can't think of a title I have less interest in writing and the challenge makes it even worse by putting a stranglehold on the lyrics. I can "think outside the box" as much as the next guy but I will find it an unsatisfying chore to fulfill this round's requirements. 

And then I wrote one of my most popular songs so I guess I should shut up. Said one reviewer:

[The song] takes you on this delightful, bizarre and at times touching journey about two odd strangers, their separate, broken worlds and how their unchecked emotions lead to true Schadenfreude. Musically it’s as amusing and fascinating as it is lyrically. Awesome.

What else can I say? It's fun writing comedy because you can allow yourself to be clever with lyrics and music in  ways that hardly ever present themselves in serious music. (Like rhyming "spleen" with "property lien"!) The hardest part is being concise with your lyrics while telling a story in a linear fashion. This was a lot of fun and always makes me think I should try my hand at writing a musical. Someday!

Song #230 of 9999 - Bullets and Lovers by Frankie Big Face

Song #230 of 9999 

Title: Bullets and Lovers
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2009
Album: Nur Ein 4

Click here to listen!
ATTENTION: This track is ridiculously loud. Turn down your volume before listening. Especially if you are using headphones. Sorry.

Sometimes a song leads you down paths you would ordinarily resist. I'm very happy with my song Bullets and Lovers but I don't agree with or condone the lyrics at all (they seem to be encouraging suicide or homicide or both!). At the same time, I don't sing them ironically or sarcastically. So it's a little touchy because I think a lot of people automatically assume that every song reflects the opinions or feelings of the singer (even more so than the songwriter!). I believe this to be truer for pop music than literature, poetry, visual art, classical music, etc. So take it from me: not every song is autobiographical. They're just songs.

My challenge for this song was to come in under two minutes and include two verses, a chorus, a repetition of the chorus and a solo! This was a fun challenge and, although I didn't win the round, I feel like I really nailed it. My song is kind of an homage to Pavement or maybe Built to Spill. It's noisy but melodic and it has some tricky little meter changes that accommodate the lyric in a very organic way. The song is also well-balanced, I think.

Short song, short post. See you tomorrow.

Song #229 of 9999 - Sleep Tight by Frankie Big Face

As mentioned in my post of July 20, I'm going to write about my own music for a few weeks as a way to get some song comments together for an updated website. My goal is eventually to have a few paragraphs written for every song on my website and I figured I'd start with all the Nur Ein songs I've written over the past six years. Nur Ein is a songwriting competition in the same vein as Song Fight!, wherein a title is presented each week and participants must write and record a song using that title. The songs are posted and listeners vote for their favorites. In the case of Nur Ein, there is a judging panel that ranks the songs and participants are eliminated each week until "only one" (nur ein) remains. There are also additional challenges that must be incorporated such as "lyrics in the form of a sonnet" or "guest rapper." Nur Ein has been around for seven years and I've entered four times and won twice. NBD. :D  This is post #14.

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Song #229 of 9999 

Title: Sleep Tight
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2009
Album: Nur Ein 4

Click here to listen!

 

There's really almost nothing special about my Round Zero entry for Nur Ein 4. Someone called it a "90's Brit-pop b-side" while another said "some rhymes...are too lacadaisical (sic) for the music." Everyone seemed to agree it was "breezy and pleasant." And one person was astute enough to recognize the bass as the "unsung hero." (The bass, not the bass player. ;) My favorite comment is that it sounded "effortless." That's just about the greatest compliment ever.

So what do I think? I pretty much agree with all that stuff. This is a throwaway, but a fun throwaway. It's an exercise in building a pop song and really understanding how the parts fit together in a pleasant package. The bass was really fun to play and I made sure to feature it prominently in the mix. The whistling is there to fulfill the challenge but I worked a reference to it into the lyrics so it didn't seem so random. In fact, the whole lyric is directed toward the kind of person who "whistles (his/her) way through life" with no regard or concern for the damage accruing in his/her wake. One of the fun aspects of Nur Ein is that I often write songs about things I would never think of without that little spark.

Fun fact! I cannot whistle. It's true. Getting a song challenge like "must include (human) whistling" was very stressful for me! Luckily, I have a friend who is a whistle master and it takes very little to get him to share his gift.

Song #228 of 9999 - Whale, Parts 2 & 1 by Frankie Big Face

As mentioned in my post of July 20, I'm going to write about my own music for a few weeks as a way to get some song comments together for an updated website. My goal is eventually to have a few paragraphs written for every song on my website and I figured I'd start with all the Nur Ein songs I've written over the past six years. Nur Ein is a songwriting competition in the same vein as Song Fight!, wherein a title is presented each week and participants must write and record a song using that title. The songs are posted and listeners vote for their favorites. In the case of Nur Ein, there is a judging panel that ranks the songs and participants are eliminated each week until "only one" (nur ein) remains. There are also additional challenges that must be incorporated such as "lyrics in the form of a sonnet" or "guest rapper." Nur Ein has been around for seven years and I've entered four times and won twice. NBD. :D  This is post #13.

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Song #228 of 9999 

Title: Whale, Parts 2 & 1
Artist: Frankie Big Face
Year: 2008
Album: Nur Ein 3

Click here to listen!

 

My participation in Nur Ein 3 came to an end with Whale. I was basically disqualified for not adhering to the "prominent use of a kitchen item (such as a pot, pan, glass, mixer) as an instrument" challenge. I misread the challenge, leaving off the "as an instrument" part, and instead went with a scene from a restaurant where silverware clanks in the background and an egg timer lets the ridiculously loud band with the ridiculously shy frontman know when it's time to start and stop. I deserved to be eliminated and it prevented me from having to write a song the following week called "Brain Trust." So really, who lost?

In order to make this gag work (and admittedly, it only works once, so if you like the song(s) but don't want the gag, download this edited version), I had to write two songs named Whale. Writing one song in five days is challenging enough; writing two....well, it's at least as challenging! ;) Actually, if I remember correctly, this is one of those situations where I had two ideas and I couldn't decide which one to develop so I decided to record an homage to the power pop band Superdrag, who have a tendency to begin their records with a diptych of songs that overlap or run without pause.

I really like both of these songs. I play Whale, Part 1 (the second song—I regret that titling decision frequently) live a lot despite the fact that it loses something by going acoustic. I'm really proud of the lyrics. It's hard to come up with new and interesting ways to deliver a breakup song and I think I hit the mark with this one. Whale, Part 2 (which seems to be preferred by most people) is essentially just a list of politically-incorrect things I've eaten while traveling. It's all true except, ironically, the whale. I tried, but it was too expensive or the restaurant I went to was closed or something. I settled for reindeer. Don't judge me!