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contents:

  1. Good Day
      2. Straight-ahead rock song inspired by a girl who used to come by and add excitement to my life. Every time she would come to see me, it would be a Good Day! Guitars, bass, drums, and vocals.
  2. That’s Progress
      3. Pseudo-rap style ode to “progress”—the kind that makes you wonder if it’s really worth it. Ah, the future ain’t what it used to be. Drums, guitars, synthesizer, vocals in stile rappresentativo.
  3. Futile Love
      4. Borrowing (not stealing) from Reggae, this song reflects on the many frustrations of attempting to Say the Right Thing to a Sensitive Girl, who seems to hear the worst. (Note: This song is intended as humor. I do not  actually believe that women are vampire bats.) P.S., it was still a Good Day when she was with me.
  4. Dreamer
      5. A song that draws musical inspiration from tracks such as the Beatles’ “I'm Only Sleeping.” It takes  acoustic guitars,  harmonium sounds, and echoed vocals into a painfully honest self-examination in 3/4 time. The guitar break features simultaneous forwards and backwards electric guitars.
  5. On the Freeway
      6. Staight-up rock and roll powered by the adrenaline rush of hitting the accelerator—and the distortion—pedal. No-nonsense guitars, bass, drums, vocals. Naturally, it has a “driving” rhythm. What more could you ask for? Seatbelts?
  6. Traveling in Time
      7. Retro-futuristic echo-plated 60s-style pop-a-rama with twangy guitars, boomp-a-boomp bass, percolating percussion, way-cool combo organ (one of my fave Juno-60 patches) and harmonious vocals all reminding us that the future is, in fact, ALREADY HERE—like reading this on your computer.
  7. Wordless
      8. A simple and pure number with acoustic guitars, gentle bass, and vocals coming from a long way away through the reverberation. Somehow, words never seemed necessary here. Some dissonances show up, creating provocative harmonies; they are, however,  intentional.
  8. Dark Side
      9. Pounding synthesizers rule, with an accompaniment of guitar, bass & drums, in a tale about discovering something inside yourself that you wish you had not found there.
  9. My Downfall
      10. A lighter look at basically the same phenomenon, with deceptively cheerful music played by an assortment of guitars in an assortment of keys.
  10. Torturer
      11. This dark-hued song draws inspiration from “Home”-era Procol Harum, with classically-oriented piano, cathedral organ, electric guitars and bass, and stately vocals, in the tragic key of c minor.
  11. Five Jugglers
      12. Somehow this song has an English air to it. It continues in the same tragic key and feel, but has a softer sound based on piano, bass, a string section (synthetic, I must admit, but not too shabby), and vocals. A mysterious choir fades the song out on an unresolved note.
  12. Overload
      13. It’s hard to say who or what I was thinking of when I wrote this. Nevertheless, its piano, bass, drums, and electric guitars provide a tango accompaniment to an insistent vocal. (I do promise never to use such a harshly distorted lead guitar tone ever again. Perhaps you could program your CD player or iPod to skip this.)
  13. Dreams About You
      14. Acoustic guitars, a pretty melody in harmonized vocals, bass, and occasional triangle provide a gentle relief from the foregoing darkness. Suddenly, I’m dreaming all night long... (most likely caused by a Good Day).
  14. Too Far Again
      15. As in, “you've gone...”  My poetic license allows me to be ambiguous about whether this song is about the same subject as tracks 1, 3 and 13. (Tracks 10 and 12 were written long before I met her, so don’t get any ideas.)  A sixties Indian tambura drone helps out  the tremolo guitars, droning lead guitar, drum kit with cowbell beat, bass, organ, and vocals. This song turned out simply marvelously, and hence I placed it last. (Maybe I ought to check on my poetic license and make sure it hasn’t expired.)

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