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April 24 - Yep. That's the challenge. I'm going to record 30 acoustic versions of pretty much all my songs in the next 30 days, and I'll post them right here, starting this week! They will be recorded in one full take each (however many takes that takes), meaning, this is pretty much me live. No recording the guitar, then going back to do the vocals. These are being done as one shot deals, for the most part. I almost forgot my rule there, of never saying always, or never. Umm... the rule of... avoiding the words always and never.
April 27 - Ok, so here's the first few. There's a bit of a distortion problem in a couple of them, but it's fixable, and I will do so over the next couple of weeks. Crikey, where the hell is that distortion coming from!!!!! I've got too much new equipment and software in the friggin' chain... YARR!!
May 4 - Finally figured out the friggn' distortion problem. A couple of days behind now, but I think I can catch up. The last few days might be tricky, though.
May 13 - Better than This almost did me in. It's a song I really should have mastered by now, one might think, but I had a hell of a time trying to make it work as a live acoustic piece. I blew two nights actually trying to record it, and another two or three days backed off the whole project in frustration. In previous times, this would have proven fatal for the project, but blow me down, isn't that exactly why I joined Facebook. 80-plus people taking the occasional glance to see if I'm getting it done or not. Awesome, I'll take it! It's good pressure. Lol, I might have wasted one more night, playing Age of Empires III this time, because of this fucking song if one of my old high school hang-out buddies hadn't quoted Twisted Sister lyrics to me, re: worthless and weak, and pick up that freakin' guitar already. I was borderline grab-a-beer-and-play-video-games until that. I made good use of my time though, while waiting to get back into it. I had a killer daydreaming session today. Not daydreaming in the high school sense, but daydreaming in the recovering space cadet sense. I revamped my overall vision on how I'm going to approach live shows. You'll see. This isn't the place for that. Or the time.
I did actually need little break in there, though, to rest my tendons and ligaments, so the timing was good.
So, following, are acoustic versions of almost all my finished tunes, one per day, until May 20-something.
30 Songs in 30 Days!
| Song (a hyperlink means lyrics are available) |
Acoustic Version |
Enhanced Acoustic Version |
Full Demo Version |
Studio Version |
| So Nice |
One of my best new songs. Hope you like! |
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| My Home Town |
You just wait until I post the enhanced acoustic version of this. It will be frickin' awesome! |
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| For Once in My Life |
Holy shit did this one turn out pretty good. I just finished writing/getting a good take, a six hour session, I might add, and I'm buzzing right now from it. This is my Elliot Smith influence coming out, I guess, but whatever. Not even my best lyrics, in my opinion, but this.... This is the kind of song that's the payoff for years of trying so hard to mature as a songwriter. Yarrr!!!!!!! Me likes. |
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| Get the Lights |
Will figure out what this is about soon. |
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| Tilted |
I really like how this version is working out. Capos rule! It's an older song, but I could never play it live until now, mostly because it was origionally a finger-picker, with too many chords, etc. This version surprised me, however, so watch for it to work its way into my live shows on a regular basis. For those of you who actually know the song, and are stompin' mad about how the words "spinning around" turned out, don't worry, I'll fix it later. It ain't easy pumpin' out 30 songs in 30 days, eh?. |
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| Miracle-Prone |
One of my own fav's. The only song I have where flange is like, mandatory. This version has none, of course. Just a little reverb. |
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| It's Only Life |
Listen for me to croak on "so grey", lol. But I couldn't change it after, because, if you have bass, you'll hear that I caught real thunder from outside in both choruses. Couldn't do another take after that, eh? Also, you can hear a little bit of what sounds like a hand rubbing over the microphone. That's actually rain hitting my window 15 feet away from the mic. |
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| I'll Know You Better (than I Did Yesterday) |
Vocal might be a little bit quiet. My bad. I've posted the lyrics, too, though, just in case. Wrote this song after seeing K-Pax, with Kevin Spacey. Didn't matter what movie I saw, I just needed to see a movie. Afterwards, I went to a coffee shop and wrote this inside a pack of smokes. No, wait, that was a different song, and I don't even smoke anymore, by the way (quitter for 3 years now!). It was a phone bill I wrote it on. Anyway, it's about doing in the things that do you in. Killing off the parts of yourself that make life difficult. That kind of thing. |
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| Trouble Is |
One of my staples when I play live these days, but this version is the first time I tried it with a capo. For those who don't know, a capo is a barring tool, a way of pressing down all the strings on a particular fret to move the open position of a guit... yeah, I can't imagine that's helping. Google it. The next four were all done with a capo, not as they were originally written, in an effort to make them easier to play live, and settle them more into a vocal "sweet spot". |
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| Levels Rise |
One of my favourites, and one of everyone else's favourites. An ex-Beatle actually commented on this song! And they were great comments!!! The guy played keys for them around the time when they were just starting to explode. He's an amazing character today. Lives kinda quiet-like here in Toronto. Funny nobody here ever talks about him. I saw a picture of him playing with them in Paris, or something, so I know it's all true. |
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| Better than This |
Ok, I gotta tell ya. This song has been pissing me off. It's the single biggest roadblock I've encountered so far in my 30 songs in 30 days challenge. It's hard to strum so fast without shaking your voice, first of all, let alone trying to really hone in on what really is a good tempo for it. The Jimi Hendrix, Voodoo Chile thing I do before I start is just to give me the right speed. I've been playing live lately, but it's totally sucked every time I've done it. I seriously can't tell you how frustrating it's been... lol, oh, wait. Maybe I can! I got a good take here, but it's not the first take you hear. The first take started off kind of okay, but then a guy on a motorcycle goes by my window and it was just too friggin' loud, and it threw me off. The window was closed, by the way, lol. Man, I was getting so close, and my voice was getting hoarse, not to mention other interruptions, and my fingers getting raw. GEEZ FRIGGIN' LOUIGI! This song was hard to nail. Took me two nights, but I think I finally found the right "feel" for it. We'll see in the coming weeks. It's supposed to be such an easy, carefree piece. A good driving song. My "Beautiful Day", without the driving bass line. |
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Go ahead and compare! This version was done over the winter, just before I recorded the acoustic version posted here. I love the fact it has percussion and stuff in this version, but I'm overjoyed that I finally can play a decent version of it live. For this reason, I'm liking the acoustic version better right now. |
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| Gone |
Kind of another Kevin Spacey reference here. Weird that I have two songs where I have to explain them by talking about Kevin Spacey, but anyway, I heard him talking one time about Jack Lemon and how he used to say "magic time" when he was directing, before every shot. Sounded pretty cool to me, and I always liked him, so I referenced him in the song. The song itself is just about cool people we can let slip through our fingers sometimes, before we have a chance to realize it. It's not a sad song at all. It's pretty upbeat, in fact. Everyone comments on the "girls are smarter than boys" line. |
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| Drive |
Can you hear the Pearl Jam influence, or is it just me? |
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| It Works Out Like That |
Slow song. It's about having a little in your process. Do what you love and stuff shows up kinda thing. |
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| 13/15 |
I wrote this sometime after Columbine, back when Eddie Vedder was totally my hero. The two kids who did all the damage were given crosses on a hill alonside everyone else, if I recall, but some people kept tearing them down and/or vandalizing them. I'm not of the school that labels these kids as monsters, and I think most people today would pretty much agree. I think this song was relevant when I wrote it, but people today are more likely to catch this kind of time bomb before it goes off than they used to be. Awesome. It's still relevant, I guess, but I feel like Maynard when I sing it, preaching to people who probably don't need to be preached to. |
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| The Other Side |
Formerly titled, "Change (Much Later). This one is gettin' pretty old now. Written in the mid-nineties. I think I played it way too fast, maybe, but it's a long song, and the middle part can be draggy if it's too slow, so, whatever. It's not one of my masterpieces, in my opinion, so I'm not too worried about it. |
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| Got it Made |
One of my oldest, and simplest. Three chords, no variations. Just lots of stuff happenin' with the melody. Everyone digs the last line. |
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| Waiting... Slipping |
Ok, I'm cheating a little bit with this one. Turns out I had a copy of it already. It's not very old, but old enough that I would sing it differently today. When I eventually post the enhanced acoustic version, we'll compare! |
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| Wherever I Go |
Just a lot of fun to play. Do I sound like Gord Downy, at all? Tragically Hip ripoff in the verses, or is it simple, genious influence? Hmmm... You have to decide. Maybe it just sounds Canadian. Grab yer beers and boo everyone off the stage until the 'Hip come out! Woohoo! Frosh Week! |
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Copyright 2007, Darryl Erickson.
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