Lyrico Magnifico http://michelleamador.com/songwriting.cfm Wed, 05 Jan 2011 09:50:00 GMT http://bandzoogle.com Ready or Not http://michelleamador.com/songwriting.cfm?feature=1635149&postid=679398 ready or not is a game we play, push and pull and make our way, and now go get it, before it's gone try to live your short life long ready or not. captain and castle and games we'd play, who can wait another day to see who's captain when castle is gone, it's like we tried to make a good thing wrong. captain and castle, and games we'd play. ready or not it's a game we play [we'll be] gone tomorrow but we're here today. ready or not it's a game it's a game, [we'll be] gone tomorrow but we're here today, ready or not. *** I've been singing this song all month as I thought about the many times I've told myself I'm not ready for this that or the other.&nbsp; But life is short.&nbsp; My life feels short anyway, and shorter by the day!&nbsp; What could I possibly not be ready for in a sense.&nbsp;Life is happening anyway!&nbsp; I thought of how we make ourselves believe so many different things, and really many of them are not true, but are true simply made true because we spent time believing those things, good or bad. I thought of our crumbling economic structure, of abandonement of corporations, of my friends, of my family, of living close, and of how I can realize my dream of driving and performing across the country to really understand who lives here. Not just what I see on left and right propaganda.&nbsp; Who really lives here? Interestingly when I tried to record this I had a REALLY hard time playing it in tempo. Recording a song about time and not be able to play in time. Typical ha.&nbsp; Ideally, I would like the higher interlude part to be played by mariachi trumpets.&nbsp; (I've already plotted who to enlist for this.&nbsp; <a target="_new" href="http://www.myspace.com/themikeolmos">He doesn't know it yet, but I'm hoping he'll be excited.)&nbsp; I also want a guitar in the front interlude part that repeats. I've already enlisted <a href="http://www.8leggedmonster.com/theband#mikeirwinjohnson" target="_new">Mike Irwin Johnson, eventhough he hasn't heard this song yet. He said he would be up for it.&nbsp; Now I have to figure out how to get him to record it :)&nbsp; I have to record my faulty version at home (or actually ask Tim to record it since I am not even a bad guitarist, i'm just not a guitarist!) and then send it to him. &nbsp; The great Tim Bulkley is on drums. I only wish we had it better mic'd in this room since he is sparkly. Happy New Year - Read or Not! Michelle push and pull and make our way,
and now go get it, before it's gone
try to live your short life long
ready or not.

captain and castle and games we'd play,
who can wait another day to see who's captain
when castle is gone,
it's like we tried to make a good thing wrong.
captain and castle, and games we'd play.

ready or not it's a game we play
[we'll be] gone tomorrow but we're here today.
ready or not it's a game it's a game,
[we'll be] gone tomorrow but we're here today,
ready or not.

***
I've been singing this song all month as I thought about the many times I've told myself I'm not ready for this that or the other.  But life is short.  My life feels short anyway, and shorter by the day!  What could I possibly not be ready for in a sense. Life is happening anyway! 

I thought of how we make ourselves believe so many different things, and really many of them are not true, but are true simply made true because we spent time believing those things, good or bad. I thought of our crumbling economic structure, of abandonement of corporations, of my friends, of my family, of living close, and of how I can realize my dream of driving and performing across the country to really understand who lives here. Not just what I see on left and right propaganda.  Who really lives here?

Interestingly when I tried to record this I had a REALLY hard time playing it in tempo. Recording a song about time and not be able to play in time. Typical ha.  Ideally, I would like the higher interlude part to be played by mariachi trumpets.  (I've already plotted who to enlist for this.  He doesn't know it yet, but I'm hoping he'll be excited.)  I also want a guitar in the front interlude part that repeats. I've already enlisted Mike Irwin Johnson, eventhough he hasn't heard this song yet. He said he would be up for it.  Now I have to figure out how to get him to record it :)  I have to record my faulty version at home (or actually ask Tim to record it since I am not even a bad guitarist, i'm just not a guitarist!) and then send it to him.   The great Tim Bulkley is on drums. I only wish we had it better mic'd in this room since he is sparkly.

Happy New Year - Read or Not!

Michelle

]]> Wed, 05 Jan 2011 09:50:00 GMT 355C0F9054578207F7BFB3DB56BEB016 Orphan http://michelleamador.com/songwriting.cfm?feature=1635149&postid=586496 sometimes an orphan, sometimes is me, sometimes a problem can set you free. a thousand voices across a sea. a thousand choices and one will be. amaze yourself again amaze yourself again. --- My computer died this week, and i also have a bad cold.&nbsp; Both of these things contribute to this recording. Orphan is recorded w/ an Edirol with too much level going in, but I liked the static it created in the end.&nbsp; Thoughts behind the song?&nbsp; paradigms, self-imposed limits in order to spur creativity, and the concept of expanded freedom in discipline. sometimes is me,
sometimes a problem can set you free.

a thousand voices across a sea.
a thousand choices and one will be.

amaze yourself again
amaze yourself again.

---
My computer died this week, and i also have a bad cold.  Both of these things contribute to this recording. Orphan is recorded w/ an Edirol with too much level going in, but I liked the static it created in the end.  Thoughts behind the song?  paradigms, self-imposed limits in order to spur creativity, and the concept of expanded freedom in discipline.
]]> Fri, 19 Nov 2010 11:13:18 GMT CF951C99CA6DE3812181192DDB28C8AE Gossip (1st version) http://michelleamador.com/songwriting.cfm?feature=1635149&postid=546706 I wonder a lot about repetition. Why so many television shows lazily begin again with repetition of where they left off when the image and sounds are so clearly still in one's mind, what repetition of body means to me, what repetition of my own lyrics and chords can mean, negative and positive, and also repetition in relationships with other people and what that can mean positive and negative. Gossip Don't you find yourself gossiping? Or you find yourself going over and over and over? Or you find yourself saying that same old story... just because you are not resolved. but you you're not confused, you hear things once and you comprehend.
Gossip

Don't you find yourself gossiping?
Or you find yourself going over and over and over?
Or you find yourself saying that same old story...
just because you are not resolved.

but you
you're not confused,
you hear things once and you comprehend.


]]> Tue, 02 Nov 2010 08:10:00 GMT B0AD3EA1E8544DCC7E4AF43BB7040B14 C'est la Vie http://michelleamador.com/songwriting.cfm?feature=1635149&postid=529991 I've been thinking recently about the shared feeling and instrumentation of french folk music, american country and folk, and hawaiian music, and also humor in music. In this song I am trying to have conversations with phrases and their failure, making a few jokes using tonality and embellishment here and there, while at the same time singing to you very sincerely about my life.&nbsp; I am reminded of a theater teacher in college who advised a writer friend of mine that serious drama is not without its humor and it made me think of the funny colors in this song.&nbsp; &quot;C'est La Vie&quot; you failed again... disappointed someone's vision with decisions of what's meant to be, Que sera as happens again you realize the setting sun is just as much a foe as it became your friend. After the marathon was over, I thought I'd crumble, I'd tumble to the ground. I saw it clearly, my heart was so weary, my muscles shaking from the martyr rounds. But after the marathon was over, I didn't falter, my feet firm on the ground. See I been running, been running a long time now. The miracle? The miracle was mine. C'est La Vie.
"C'est La Vie" you failed again...
disappointed someone's vision with decisions of what's meant to be,
Que sera as happens again
you realize the setting sun is just as much a foe as it became your friend.

After the marathon was over,
I thought I'd crumble,
I'd tumble to the ground.
I saw it clearly,
my heart was so weary,
my muscles shaking from the martyr rounds.

But after the marathon was over,
I didn't falter, my feet firm on the ground.
See I been running,
been running a long time now.
The miracle? The miracle was mine.
C'est La Vie.


]]> Tue, 26 Oct 2010 10:05:00 GMT 7196BB2919BCBA473CA49F40E3FE0358 Fortune http://michelleamador.com/songwriting.cfm?feature=1635149&postid=508313 Long ago, a fortune teller told me. 'money is not your problem, but you'll make it be.' won't struggle with friendship won't lose your way in love, won't lose your independence, you won't fight with god above, but you see money comin' you get frozen in your tracks, like&nbsp; money is a demon, and you forgot the axe, money's not your problem, you know exactly what i mean, money's not your problem, you see. long ago... a fortune teller told me.
'money is not your problem, but you'll make it be.'

won't struggle with friendship
won't lose your way in love,
won't lose your independence,
you won't fight with god above,

but you see money comin'
you get frozen in your tracks,
like  money is a demon,
and you forgot the axe,

money's not your problem,
you know exactly what i mean,
money's not your problem,
you see.

long ago...


]]> Mon, 18 Oct 2010 06:55:00 GMT 5CA0265E7E1AB68CA37D50A73070FFEE Dedication http://michelleamador.com/songwriting.cfm?feature=1635149&postid=477194 Wow. Where did September go? By my count I owe folks a few weeks worth of posts, so I'll be making up for it with double posts in the coming weeks. I've had a few songs rolling around in my head with themes ranging from society's addiction to repetition, to the concept of practice, to this song, Dedication, about the act of commitment to oneself and goals. See what you think. The audio junks out on the attached at points, but I liked the dusk coming through the windows, the treetops in the wind, and the tiny airplane light in the right window, so much that I didn't want to re-record it. I basically love everything in that right side window.&nbsp; Dedication i've got a window wheel talking to me, says i can't be free til i can get over. deep in this window wheel looking at me, is the smallest seed to a four leaf clover. Sin upon sins for me, how could I let my life become... Sin upon sins for me, how could I let my life become... Deep in that window wheel talking to me, is the smallest seed to a four leaf clover... Sin upon sins for me, how could I let my life become... <a href="http://vimeo.com/15513585">Dedication (note: audio junks out at points) from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2370920">Michelle Amador on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo.
Dedication

i've got a window wheel talking to me,
says i can't be free til i can get over.

deep in this window wheel looking at me,
is the smallest seed to a four leaf clover.

Sin upon sins for me,
how could I let my life become...

Sin upon sins for me,
how could I let my life become...

Deep in that window wheel talking to me,
is the smallest seed to a four leaf clover...

Sin upon sins for me,
how could I let my life become...


Dedication (note: audio junks out at points) from Michelle Amador on Vimeo.



]]> Mon, 04 Oct 2010 05:22:03 GMT D5CA3BAEFD4C0A7162747AA2E2EE5685 Brave Grace http://michelleamador.com/songwriting.cfm?feature=1635149&postid=443802 My friend Goh Nakamura is in town and helped me record this. Goh is playing guitar on this track and this fact couldn't make me happier!&nbsp; This song brings me great relief. I hope it brings it to you too. Best, Michelle Brave Grace Guess I'd been unconscious for four or five years until I saw my shadow in the rain. Guess i broke my heart again. Guess it is a fine line between joy and tears, a finer line between my hopes and fears. guess I lost myself again. Brave Grace, won't you carry me to the water and set me free cuz I can't live in regret. I can't live in regret. Last night in that concert my hair turned 5 feet long, and I became the dancer in the song. timeless and complete. Brave Grace! You gone carried me, to the water and set me free, and I don't live to regret. I don't live to forget. I don't live to regret. I don't live to forget.
Best,
Michelle

Brave Grace

Guess I'd been unconscious for four or five years
until I saw my shadow in the rain.
Guess i broke my heart again.

Guess it is a fine line between joy and tears,
a finer line between my hopes and fears.
guess I lost myself again.

Brave Grace, won't you carry me
to the water and set me free
cuz I can't live in regret.
I can't live in regret.

Last night in that concert my hair turned 5 feet long,
and I became the dancer in the song.
timeless and complete.

Brave Grace! You gone carried me,
to the water and set me free,
and I don't live to regret.
I don't live to forget.
I don't live to regret.
I don't live to forget.



]]> Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:46:13 GMT 77DAFBCFB1846A65DCB7ACDC5EED4537 Birthday http://michelleamador.com/songwriting.cfm?feature=1635149&postid=421395 Normally I title songs using some part of the lyrics, but I wrote this song a few weeks ago and it has been brewing in my head, in the halls, on my bike, in the car :) I had a chance to play through it today with Tim (drums) and Ben (bass) who will be joining me for Wednesday's show which felt good. So my birthday show and hang is Wed Sept 1 @ Pete's @ 11pm, but my real birthday isn't until Saturday Sept 4, and I've been looking forward to it all month. (BTW if you are up for a birthday excursion, on the 4th I'll be heading to Governor's Island. Meet at the Atlantic Ave stop at 1:30pm, potluck picnic in the Hammock Grove. All welcome.) I've been thinking a lot about this cycle I seem to have gone through every few years since high school...develop my artistry, move with confidence to pursue some other level of it, get stifled, work really hard on something seemingly completely unrelated *but not really unrelated* and wonder what happened to my confidence, what happened to my art? I feel excited that I finally saw some kind of pattern. It's like I solved a big mystery. Happy Birthday to me! Anyway, that's where this song comes from. I also notice that I am Queen of the I and IV and V these days chord wise. I would feel self-conscious (or maybe I do right now, like 'you know I do know more chords than these three I swear') but what can I say...it feels good people. So here goes... Birthday. Hope yours is great! Oh my life in change, I won't be the one to hold me down. Look me up again, you'll find me on a new road, a new plane, swimming in an ocean again. All my life in change, I have always been a rolling stone. Where a summer ends, you'll find me rolling, moving, traveling, gathering more. My life in change, My life in change, come to smile at me again. To remind me: middle is a part of whole life in change, life in change, life in change. Come do smile at me again, I can take your summer's end this time around.
So my birthday show and hang is Wed Sept 1 @ Pete's @ 11pm, but my real birthday isn't until Saturday Sept 4, and I've been looking forward to it all month. (BTW if you are up for a birthday excursion, on the 4th I'll be heading to Governor's Island. Meet at the Atlantic Ave stop at 1:30pm, potluck picnic in the Hammock Grove. All welcome.)

I've been thinking a lot about this cycle I seem to have gone through every few years since high school...develop my artistry, move with confidence to pursue some other level of it, get stifled, work really hard on something seemingly completely unrelated *but not really unrelated* and wonder what happened to my confidence, what happened to my art? I feel excited that I finally saw some kind of pattern. It's like I solved a big mystery. Happy Birthday to me!

Anyway, that's where this song comes from. I also notice that I am Queen of the I and IV and V these days chord wise. I would feel self-conscious (or maybe I do right now, like 'you know I do know more chords than these three I swear') but what can I say...it feels good people.

So here goes...

Birthday. Hope yours is great!

Oh my life in change,
I won't be the one to hold me down.
Look me up again,
you'll find me on a new road, a new plane, swimming in an ocean again.

All my life in change,
I have always been a rolling stone.
Where a summer ends, you'll find me
rolling, moving, traveling, gathering more.

My life in change,
My life in change,
come to smile at me again.
To remind me: middle is a part of whole
life in change, life in change, life in change.

Come do smile at me again,
I can take your summer's end this time around.





]]> Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:05:00 GMT A4C66B3E5067D7B1DCB6FB736D032A9D Some Folks http://michelleamador.com/songwriting.cfm?feature=1635149&postid=409784 Some Folks is a song I wrote a few years ago when I first moved to New York. At the time I was in a space where I was trying to write all of my songs specifically for a group of keyboard, bass, guitar, trumpet, saxophone, and me. Eventhough I like a lot of the songs I wrote during that time, for the most part, I never play them anymore because it almost felt like they were written from the outside in, using the band sound to spur arrangement, instead of my imagination to spur the arrangement and choice of instruments. I now realize that the songs weren't written outside in, it was just the arrangements. I still like the songs themselves. Anyhow, the other day I remembered this song but suddenly heard different chords underneath the first part of it. In its finished form I hear this as a song with drums and bass. Here it is solo... Some Folks: Thought I heard a change in the night, Thought I heard that coming from you, Thought I heard a change in your voice, Thought what I heard was the truth. See, some folks have tried before and where they failed... some folks have tried before and where they failed... some folks have tried before and where they failed you will succeed. Even if it's only because there's nothing left to believe, Brings a kind of strange and un-lonely relief. Brings a kind of strange and un-lonely relief. What a kind of strange... Some folks have tried before and where they failed, you will. some folks have tried before and where they failed, you will. some folks have tried before and where they failed you will succeed. Even if it's only because there's nothing left to believe, What a kind of strange and un-lonely relief. What a kind of strange and un-lonely relief. What a kind of strange... Thought I heard a change. Thought I heard a change coming from you.
Anyhow, the other day I remembered this song but suddenly heard different chords underneath the first part of it. In its finished form I hear this as a song with drums and bass.

Here it is solo...

Some Folks:

Thought I heard a change in the night,
Thought I heard that coming from you,
Thought I heard a change in your voice,
Thought what I heard was the truth.

See, some folks have tried before and where they failed...
some folks have tried before and where they failed...
some folks have tried before and where they failed you will succeed.

Even if it's only because there's nothing left to believe,
Brings a kind of strange and un-lonely relief.
Brings a kind of strange and un-lonely relief.
What a kind of strange...

Some folks have tried before and where they failed, you will.
some folks have tried before and where they failed, you will.
some folks have tried before and where they failed you will succeed.

Even if it's only because there's nothing left to believe,
What a kind of strange and un-lonely relief.
What a kind of strange and un-lonely relief.
What a kind of strange...

Thought I heard a change.
Thought I heard a change coming from you.


]]> Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:06:33 GMT AFF29C816B65D26C00B71512D98B61D7 Lucky One http://michelleamador.com/songwriting.cfm?feature=1635149&postid=401272 This is a new song I wrote last week about perspective and how easy it is to lose yourself when you don't have it or aren't grateful for the main thing that keeps you going. I tried to add in some layers in Garage Band but then it got really weirdly distorted when I exported it, so I went back to iMovie and tried to import the files that way. They're there in the end, really soft layers of background vocals in the last part of the song. In a way this song is also influenced by other songs. Smile Though Your Heart is Aching is a song that I always felt was a weird one, like &quot;Why smile though your heart is aching?&quot; what kind of crazy idea is that! And it's also only peripherally influenced by Somebody Done Somebody Wrong (song), which I'm trying to talk about in a reverse sense of worrying about what nobody has done yet. I'm excited about this song. Hope you like it too. Best, Michelle ----- Lucky One If just the sun is shining, You keep smiling, Don't you let tomorrow become yesterday... If that same old sorrow keeps you hollow, [with] &quot;Nobody done nobody wrong&quot; [just yet] If you just can't take it, Just can't make it, Don't you know I'll carry you on? But once your heart is stronger, oh I'm on you... Just to walk with me awhile. And as the sun is shining, All my life I've known myself to be a lucky one. I know you have not forgot yourself, Just forgot you're in the sun. If the sun is shining, you keep smiling, don't we let tomorrow come undone. I know we have not forgot ourselves, Just forgot we're in the sun. All my life I've known myself to be... All my life I've known myself to be...
In a way this song is also influenced by other songs. Smile Though Your Heart is Aching is a song that I always felt was a weird one, like "Why smile though your heart is aching?" what kind of crazy idea is that! And it's also only peripherally influenced by Somebody Done Somebody Wrong (song), which I'm trying to talk about in a reverse sense of worrying about what nobody has done yet.

I'm excited about this song. Hope you like it too.

Best,
Michelle

-----
Lucky One

If just the sun is shining,
You keep smiling,
Don't you let tomorrow become yesterday...

If that same old sorrow keeps you hollow,
[with] "Nobody done nobody wrong" [just yet]
If you just can't take it,
Just can't make it,
Don't you know I'll carry you on?
But once your heart is stronger, oh I'm on you...
Just to walk with me awhile.

And as the sun is shining,
All my life I've known myself to be a lucky one.
I know you have not forgot yourself,
Just forgot you're in the sun.

If the sun is shining,
you keep smiling,
don't we let tomorrow come undone.

I know we have not forgot ourselves,
Just forgot we're in the sun.

All my life I've known myself to be...
All my life I've known myself to be...




]]> Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:38:18 GMT 1B6B0EEB6381098856A022031B0F68D1 Lillie Ruth http://michelleamador.com/songwriting.cfm?feature=1635149&postid=399381 Lillie Ruth could easily been Billie Ruth. Like many of my songs it started as a melody and a lyric &quot;Billie Ruth is gone again.&quot; and was intially about a boy who seemed to lose everyone just as soon as he had gained them.&nbsp; I started thinking more about emotions and how they are, at times, real just for the person who holds them.&nbsp; This made me think about about schizophrenia and the reality of mental illness, of anger directed at no one.&nbsp; Love truly and deeply felt and then forgotten. Suddenly the song transformed from Billy to Lillie. It is also about reality itself and the hope that we all share some part of it together somehow. The lyrics are below. Please let me know what you think.&nbsp; I enjoy talking with friends :) Michelle ---- Lillie Ruth Lillie Ruth is gone again, lost her love and lost her friends and there is no making ammends, there is no making sense. Try to find a window, but there is no way to get in. Her river comes undone. Her river comes undone before you. Lillie Ruth is gone again, and there ain't no telling how, and there ain't no telling when. The river will begin again. Her river will begin again. Lillie Ruth is gone again, Got a new love, got new friends and there is no making ammends, there is no making sense. Try to find a window, but there is no need to get in. Her river is within know. River is within you now. These little bits of time, that I hope are more than mine. Lost in a river now...washed up in a river now. Lillie Ruth is gone again, and there ain't no telling how, and there ain't no telling when. Her river just begins again. Her river just begins again. -- This recording was made at Open Path Music in May 2010.
The lyrics are below. Please let me know what you think.  I enjoy talking with friends :)

Michelle

----
Lillie Ruth

Lillie Ruth is gone again,
lost her love and lost her friends and there is no making ammends,
there is no making sense.

Try to find a window,
but there is no way to get in.
Her river comes undone.
Her river comes undone before you.

Lillie Ruth is gone again,
and there ain't no telling how, and there ain't no telling when.
The river will begin again.
Her river will begin again.

Lillie Ruth is gone again,
Got a new love, got new friends and there is no making ammends,
there is no making sense.

Try to find a window,
but there is no need to get in.
Her river is within know.
River is within you now.

These little bits of time, that I hope are more than mine.
Lost in a river now...washed up in a river now.

Lillie Ruth is gone again,
and there ain't no telling how,
and there ain't no telling when.
Her river just begins again.
Her river just begins again.

--
This recording was made at Open Path Music in May 2010.
]]> Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:29:57 GMT 16628BBC73465208C9B3A0D92AB1F1C5 coming soon... http://michelleamador.com/songwriting.cfm?feature=1635149&postid=397027 Hello!&nbsp; I accidentally deleted my recent post &quot;Lillie Ruth.&quot;&nbsp; Stay tuned as I retrieve it.&nbsp;&nbsp; Also will be posting a new track on Tuesday. Best, Michelle
Best,
Michelle
]]> Sun, 15 Aug 2010 06:51:01 GMT 7BEC0A968C8270D2284E52D674BE25E7