aaronwrixon.com

Speaking of Seussian slackery…

I took a lot of inspiration at the time from the Flaming Lips, things like Hit To Death In The Future Head, and Mercury Rev’s Boces (still really good listens, if you’re into that sort of thing.)

If I’d had the balls or brains to orchestrate this one the way I wanted, I think it would have had a great big “Day In The Life” orchestragasm in there somewhere. That and floots. I luv floots.

P.S. Incidentally, Hit To Death is the Lips’ album that features “You Have To Be Jokin’,” a cover that’s still in my book all this time later.

Be careful not to step on a crack
For you might break an unsuspecting mother spider’s back
And that would leave her spider babies all alone
Little spider orphans in their little spider home
Before you tell me you don’t care
Think of the babies wond’ring why their mother isn’t there
How would you tell them mommy’s dead?
I’d hate to have that kind of pressure pressing down upon my head…

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Well look at that…One of the interesting things about rooting through all my old shit for this blog is finding the occasional truffle. Here’s one that I like.

Not because of any lyrical prowess, mind you. So much of what I was doing 15 years ago was just Seussian slackery that it’s hard to pick anything from that time as a favorite.

But I like this one because, independent of any environmental consciousness — and trust me, I didn’t have one — I seem to have nicely articulated the global warming panic we’re living under these days.

Not like it took a genius to figure out in ‘94 that the world was in a bad way. It’s just funny to see that even yours truly noticed.

P.S. I can state with reasonable certainty that the reference to Mother was cribbed from Soundgarden’s “Hands All Over.”

The trees are gone
And the ground is broken
The kids are mad
‘Cause their dogs are chokin’
The stacks are up
And they’re smokin’ smog
Can’t see for lookin’ in this fog

The sidewalk’s cracked
And it’s hurting my feet
The swimming pools are drying up
With all this goofy heat
The sky is sick and it’s falling to bits
Too many chemicals in our armpits

I guess we should have listened
When they said
Take care of Mother or 
She’ll end up dead
How were we to know?
We thought they were crazy
I guess we could have seen the signs
If things hadn’t been so hazy

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The music for this dark little beast was written about ten years ago, but it took me much longer to pen some words, obviously.When I wrote it I tried to contrast Jerome and Leo disposing of a body with the absolute banality of their talk over the trunk about Michelle cheating on Jerome. For me the fact that it was nothing out of the ordinary was a very Sopranos-y thing.

When I showed the lyric to a friend, however, she misinterpreted the story — to her it seemed the men were burying Michelle.

I like that version a lot better.

Let’s head out now while the clouds are still over the moon
It looks like rain, but we can’t wait much more
I’ll go get the lime, you get the shovels from the barn
Meet me with the car at the cellar door

Give me a hand; lift on the count of three
Get in the front and let’s get gone, Jerome
I know it’s a risk, but we’ll have to take the highway
We need to be back before Kate gets home

I don’t want to hear another word about Michelle
She did what she did, now focus on the task at hand
People will talk, but Jerome you need to let them
Sometimes shit happens… be the bigger man

Tell me again you’re sure that you weren’t followed
Tell me again that no-one saw you come
You shoot off your mouth when you’ve been drinking
Tell me one more time that you ain’t been dumb

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This would be the first of many attempts to grapple with my fear and loathing of organized religion, done up in that passive-agressive way that I have of couching the uncomfortable in the ridiculous (viz “Penguin’s In Love,” for just one example). Roger Ramjet as Jesus, get it?As far as lineage goes, “Save Us Roger” begat “Lied To” which begat “Men And Brethren.” How ironic that my most blasphemous song led to my most reverent.

Have you come to save the day?
To make our problems go away?
If we get down on our knees
Will you come and save us please?
Can’t you see we need your help?
Come and save us from ourselves
We need you right now more than ever
Help us get our act together
Save us, Roger
Will you save us?

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The original version of a song I ended up releasing as “Kristin and the New Day.” Written at a cafeteria table in McMaster University’s Togo Salmon Hall, under the watchful eye of Danielle Grant and the obvious influence of both T.S. Eliot and Dr. Seuss.

Let’s take the day off and ride out to the beach
We’ll watch the fish just out of reach
And count the mermaids each by each

We’ll find a hundred dollars in the sand
Digging with our hands
So that we don’t hurt the clams

Ride out with me

We’ll play in the needles that wash up on the shore
Listen to the ocean’s roar
And dig in the sand some more

And as the sun sinks down into the deep
We’ll jump into the back of the Jeep
And fall asleep

Ride out with me

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For Love and Marine Biology, I wanted to write a combination of Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn’s “You’re the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly” and the Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me Baby?”. This is what turned out.

[BOY]
Saturday night, my paycheck was heavy in my pocket.
I went to the bar to make the scene.
I saw you and my eyes flew out of their sockets.
And I said “Watch and learn fellers!
Tonight I’m going home with a beauty queen.”
[GIRL]
Saturday night at the bar with my girlfriends…
Talking about what to talk about.
I saw you and said “Well, there goes my weekend:
Ten bucks says this joker asks me out.”
[BOTH]
But something drew me to you.
I felt like I knew you, baby.
[BOY]
I bought you a drink.
[GIRL]
Yeah, you bought me one drink…
[BOTH]
And the rest was history.
Something drew me to you.
I felt like I knew you, baby.
[BOY]
I took you home.
[GIRL]
You took me to your parents’ basement.
[BOTH]
And the rest was history.
The rest was history.

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After my Dad said “You could have a hit if you record that song better”, I re-did an old number called “The ‘Why Am I Here?’ Song”. Obviously its shadow has still never darkened the Billboard charts, seeing as Love and Marine Biology sank like a stone on its release.

Sometimes I feel like I’m in some kind of movie.
I control so little in my life I might as well be.
This acting business isn’t what I was expecting.
I guess, given the choice, I’d rather be directing.

I don’t like my character and I don’t like the plot.
I can’t tell if my performance is believable or not.
Sometimes I feel like just a puppet on a string,
bowing and scraping because you find it amusing.

There must be some way out of my contract.
There must be some way of getting my life back.
There must be some way of just walking off the set,
but I’m still here. I haven’t found it yet.

There must be some way out of getting out of my contract.
I’ve made a big mistake and I’d like to buy my soul back.
There must be some way of just walking off the set,
but I’m still here. I haven’t found it yet.
I’m still here. I haven’t found it yet.

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It’s never the big things that lead to break-ups. As the lead-off song on Love and Marine Biology will attest, it’s the little ones.

The really, really infuriating little ones.

Today I woke up to the sound
of you messing around
in the sink with the coffee grounds
and I thought I loved you dear,
but then you started to yell
about how you can tell
when I use your hair gel
and I pretended I couldn’t hear.

What happened to us?
This is getting ridiculous.
Let’s make up and start again.
What happened to us?
The ties that bind grow tenuous.
How ’bout another day to pretend
we can’t see the end?

Why do we fight like we do?
We scream ’til we’re blue.
This can’t continue.
It’s just about killing me.
They told us that life would be tough —
that love would be rough —
but I’ve had enough.
I’d give it up willingly.

What happened to us?
The atmosphere here’s poisonous.
Let’s make up and start again.
What happened to us?
When did love get so dangerous?
How much longer can we pretend
we can’t see the end?

When we stood up and pledged ?’Til death do us part?,
I never dreamed we’d be the ones to do the killing.

What happened to us?
The ties that bind grow tenuous.
Let’s make up and start again.
What happened to us?
When did dreaming get dangerous?
How much longer can we pretend
we can’t see the end?

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Inspired by an actual dream about… a girl.

(You didn’t think I was going to tell you who, did you?)

Last night I dreamed about you

And as the dream began
Through jasmine fields we ran
The sky sang your name, Lianne
And the trees and flowers too

Last night I dreamed about you

We came upon a wishing well
And hiding in the willow bell
We found an abalone shell
Colored pink and white and blue

Last night I dreamed about you

The sun shone on the mere
And as the mist began to clear
You whispered in my ear
Of forgotten love once new

Last night I dreamed about you

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In another life I was friends with Matthew Barber. Well, I’m sure he’d be kind enough to tell you we’re still friends now, but I feel we were once better friends, you dig? Anyway, I wrote this chorus after a conversation Matt and I had one night at the Casbah, about how — just like every other musician ever — he was starting to get pressure from his label about the supposed ‘quality’ of his songs.

Now that I think about it, this one could be as much for Matt Thompson as Matt Barber. Funny that. Come back, Matt Thompson. Planet Wrixon Mission Control misses you.

your songs are great, they’re really great,
but they just don’t make us tingle
the kids’ll download something else
if they don’t hear a single
go back and write a number
like the coca-cola jingle
and while you’re at it write another ten, my friend
while you’re at it write another ten

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