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!