lonely from rock and roll

lonely from rock and roll is a song tim lannen and i were working on together in 2002 but then that version of beat radio broke up and i never really felt like the song was finished. i'd pick it up from time to time, i sort of never really let go of anything. anyway, a couple weeks ago i picked up a guitar and randomly started playing it and before i knew it i'd written a new bridge and chorus and i think i can finally put it down. here's a demo i made in my basement:

beat radio - lonely from rock and roll (demo)

here are the lyrics, some of them ended up going into other songs i've written in the last few years, but i guess it doesn't matter:

I got a broken heart
So come and cover me with wings
I got it in my mind
To turn away from everything
I'll sing a song for you
About the shape that I was in
When all your basement clothes
Are wearing thin

this feels like something's missing
i'll talk but no one's listening

but if you feel like hiding out
i know a place where we can go
i changed my mind i miss the life we used to know

I got a broken heart
So come and carry me away
I got it in my mind
To fall down to my knees and pray
But I'll sing a song for you
About the shape that I was in
When your designer clothes
Were wearing thin

In all my dreams too long to tell
I hit the ground with broken wings
And when the morning comes
I can't remember anything

(instrumental)

but if you feel like hiding out
i know a place where we can go
i changed my mind i miss the life we used to know
In all my dreams too long to tell
I hit the ground with broken wings
And when the morning comes
I can't remember anything

hope you guys like it.

here's and old blurry picture of me and rob at the mercury lounge:

closing scene

here's another new song i finished up this week. kind of a sad one:

beat radio - closing scene (demo)

hope you like it. here are the lyrics:

you could storm through a wasteland, believe what you want to believe
set your sails on a ship that could carry you over the sea
you could fold paper airplanes that fly to the edge of the world
close your eyes and imagine a beautiful girl

maybe i bet my future on the dreams i chased
but you traded your dreams for a safe safe place
and i don't feel free
and you don't feel safe
now the colors are flashing in a fever dream
and the tension in building for the closing scene
and i miss the way
that we used to be

there is no security
there are no mistakes
there is only destiny
there is only fate

you stayed home for weeks with your records alone in your room
so i said "let's go out cause it's springtime, the world is in bloom."
and we can go walking the backstreets we once knew so well
i can still hear the sound of the church tower bells

what if i bet my future on the dreams i chased
you traded your dreams for a safe safe place
you've got your fears
i've got my faith
now the colors are flashing on your tv screen
and your senses unravel in a fever dream
and i miss the way
that we used to be.

there is no security
there are no mistakes
there is only destiny
there is only fate

this photo was taken by our drummer brian ver straten. you can find more over at his vacant photographs myspace page.

the lion and the lamb

here's a demo for another one of the new songs, i've been working on this one for a really long time, for some reason i kept coming back to it.

i put that picture of kerouac here because the title of this song reminds me of his essay "lamb, no lion."

beat radio - the lion and the lamb (demo)

here are the lyrics:

in the morning i was walking where the ocean meets the land
i was thinking about the lion
i was thinking about the lamb
i guess i hoped you'd see the truth that i disguised inside these lines
i hoped that i could take your blues and make them mine

i'm feeling listless
i'm shiftless i don't know what to do
i've got no religion
but you
but times gonna change us
we're never gonna feel this way again
so lets let the candle
burn at both ends

i was caught up in the moment
i was safe inside the sound
i could see the castles burning
i didn't let it bring me down
but now my record players broken
and my blankets on the floor
and i can't tell which way i'm turning anymore

there was a moment
i wasn't feeling anything at all
i was the sound between heartbeats
i was the ghost in the hall
everything changes
when i was in the basement making noise
and my fears unraveled into joy

i used to think
i could go on this way forever now i know
it's now or never

i'm feeling listless
i'm shiftless i don't know what to do
i've got no religion
but you
but times gonna change us
we're never gonna feel this way again
c'mon let the candle
burn at both ends
there was a moment
i wasn't feeling anything at all
i was the sound between heartbeats
i was the ghost in the hall
everything changes
when i was in the basement making noise
and my fears unraveled into joy

i used to think
we could go on....

hope you like it. i'd love to hear what you think. the comments and emails people have been sending are really great and inspiring. i love how having this blog has contributed to and sometimes driven the creative process for me over the last few months. more soon.

thanks. brian.

my shadow falls for you

can't get enough of that song "shadow falls" by Hello, Blue Roses.


been listening alot to Destroyer's Rubies again also.


It's a harsh day in new york, but anything seems possible.


the snow rain sleet is coming down.


going to see the diggs at southpaw tonight, opening for the most serene republic.


it seems like everyone is fighting for their lives.


i posted John Darcy's original liner notes for When it Comes on Like a Dream at our myspace blog yesterday. i still think they're pretty great.


i went to see the jack kerouac exhibit at the new york public library the other day. really awesome. all sorts of good vibrations resonating around those halls.

sunday matinee

here's a demo for a new song i've been working on this week. i hope you like it. i feel like the sound and themes for what the next beat radio record is going to be is starting to come in to focus for me, between teenage anthem for the drunken boat, stranger flowers, and this song:

beat radio - sunday matinee (demo)

hope you like it. here are lyrics:

i met all your friends today
i couldn't think of anything to say
everybody seemed so lonely
but we could play our bad day down
hide behind a wall of sound
communicate with our our eyes only

and we're alone we're alone when we're together we're alone and we don't wanna stay here but we can't go home
and there's so much we've lost along the way
but your the sweetheart of the rodeo
the queen of the all ages show
i saw you at the sunday matinee

you're everything that i'm not
drinking in the parking lot
and then we hear the band start up and then we rush inside
and when the bass drops out and the singer screams and shouts you say "this is that song that i was talking about."
you push your hair behind your ears and you close your eyes

and when you lean in close
when tell me it's the part you love the most
and you pull me out into the light
i don't care about the song
but i could watch you listen all night long
and i feel fine i feel alright i feel alright

cheers.

i've got you in my mind's eye

i'm not one of those year end list making types. i have been reading lots of lists and thinking about what music really resonated with me this year, and what art in general i guess. there were alot of records that i loved and listened to for a few weeks and then sort of forgot about them. am i the only one who did that? is this a function of the ipod and the new way we connect with media? i went back to a few of these records over the last week or so. the national is definitely awesome. the arcade fire is too. i liked the ryan adams record but his work hasn't really resonated with me as deeply over the last few years the way that his first record did. one record that i was sort of blown away by when i revisited was josh ritter's the historical conquests of josh ritter. I like all his records, but this one to me feels like a huge leap. when i first heard it i was taken by the more rocked out songs like "real long distance" and "mind's eye." also, there's this amazing song called "the temptation of adam." i must of missed it initially, due to too much hyper caffeinenated ipod shuffling, but it's really just a staggering song. it totally knocked me out on the train yesterday morning.

anyway, i do think it was a great year for music, despite the fact that the record industry seems to be in shambles. it's sort of a revolutionary time. an axial period. a watershed moment??

whatever happens, i'm super excited about what comes next.

Josh Ritter - Mind's Eye (mp3 via lines through lines)

Your Midway Host

We recently had some great shows in Pennsylvania with along with Your Midway Host. I've been meaning to tell you about Your Midway Host for a while. For me, most of the time, life feels like a movie. Sometimes people float into your life like they just stepped off a cloud. This past summer, this guy Nich Bazik started hanging out at Phil's alot, working on his first full length record. We' see him when we got to rehearsal, he'd hang out, sometimes poring over old history books, sometimes running out to grab beers. Nich is sort of timeless. He did Civil war re-enactment as a kid. He's both young and ancient at same time. His wardrobe is like a cross between Dylan's rolling thunder review regale and the costume of some hipster robin-hood.

His record, Our Cities Could Grow, is a really wonderful debut. I love it. I'm particularly enamoured with a song called "Josephine." You'll have to wait till the album drops to hear that. There's also another still unreleased song called "Red Shirt" that i had the pleasure to sing on, and i haven't been able to get it out of my head since. Nich has made several tracks available through his website. You should go download "Oak Tree" now. It's the kind of song that stops time when you listen to it, when you really listen. It reveals more each time. I don't know too many people who can do that.

Your Midway Host - Oak Tree

Your Midway Host - Sevilla

Your Midway Host - John's Song

There's lots of wonderful performances on the record from people you'll surely know if you read this blog often, including Phil Jimenez, Vanesa Alvero Jimenez, and Brian Ver Straten, and some more of the Easy Anthems crew. It's an exciting time to be around Phil's place. Phil and Brian are also playing in the Your Midway Host live band. Nich also sings on the Easy Anthems Holiday record. We're hoping to bring Nich up to NY and do some more shows together soon. There's a pretty wonderful review of our Philadelphia gig over at Lost in Your Inbox and also a cool review of Our Cities Could Grow over at Herohill.

Your Midway Host Official
Your Midway Host Myspace