Ten For Tuesday Episode 044

For this episode I first came up with the middle group of songs and then added from there. I became aware of The Dopamines and Rumspringer from the Kpunk podcast. The Peter Hook song was already sitting there waiting to be used. Avenged Sevenfold came from a friend on Facebook and they are a band I've overlooked before but I like the song so there they stayed. The last song added was this very catchy one by Superchunk that I got after seeing the video for it. rock. So it came together rather quickly and is mainly a rock, metal and punk show and I hope it resonates as it did for me.

Superchunk - Crossed Wires
Peter Hook - Pictures In My Mind
Bob Mould - Spiraling Down
Newsted - ...As The Crow Flies
Avenged Sevenfold - Hail To The King
The Evidence - Crossing The Rubicon
Helmet - Seeing Eye Dog
The Dopamines - 10 Stories
Rumspringer - Killer Boots, Man
Redd Kross - Choose To Play

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Lyrics And Lunch, Is It Podcast TIme?

I came up with a few lines last night after I came home from work. Not enough for a song unless it's a rather short one but that's okay. Maybe Tommy can flesh it out. Strange how I can go for weeks with nothing moving me to write and suddenly I get sparked into creativity and it seems to flow forth. I'll take it for as long as it lasts.

Talking head with a machine gun mouth
Drive by spraying innocents with hatred
Taking aim out of context
It doesn't matter you don't believe it anyway

Bobbleheaded yes men so quick to agree
Who knew the populace has such hostility
Believe what you hear not what you learn
Deceived and seduced by false piety

Tomorrow I'm having lunch with Tommy, Henry and Jimmie, the three guys that I went to see Journey with in Oklahoma City back in 1983. I'm leaning towards taking my recorder and using what we talk about as an episode of notmovingpictures whether they realize it or not. That podcast certainly needs the content. Henry is coming from out of state and he and I pledged Sig Tau together back in the day. We didn't always get along perfectly but you know what? None of that junk matters anymore. We're a bunch of old guys who have a lot of history. Bobby's death and funeral certainly put that all into perspective.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Answering The Call

Right. So I came home last night and as I wound down by surfing the internet (this is pretty much standard operating procedure for me) I somehow linked over to an interview that had been done with Michael Been, the singer/bassist for the band The Call. The interviewer was talking about how with Been's music you were left wondering if his lyrics were about God, a woman or the dichotomy that existed with wanting both in your life. I felt inspired and didn't even finish reading the interview. Instead I decided to try to write in a similar vein. Now, Tommy and I do already tend to write rather ambiguously about our subject matter so it wouldn't be much of a stretch except for the fact that I usually don't write about personal things like love, lust and so forth.

After an initial burst of creativity I backed off and finished reading a book that I had and then was drawn back to what I had started. What followed was a process of me writing and revising as I recognized the lines that I didn't like or felt as if they didn't fit. After about forty-five minutes of this I was done and I posted the results on my Facebook account. After doing so though I realized that I wasn't finished after all and ended up editing it all over again and adding two final lines. As much as I like this now I know that when Tommy sinks his brain into it there will be change and perhaps it will be drastic. He has a tendency to see through my hyperbole and draw out the core ideas and help sharpen them. That's if he feels this is something that will fit with the band. So that's the plan at least. You tell me if it's any good.

           The Call

Bring me up the right way
Teach me about what is wrong
Straining for a little glimpse
These battle hymns are just a song

Build me up then let me down
My conflicting emotions rage inside
Set my heart on fire with a look
Tell me rules in which we have to abide

I still need you in my life
You help keep my feet on the path
The friction's burning up my mind
How long until I feel the crash

That smile has filled my dreams
My lust for learning still grows
Drawn closer by shared feelings
Kept apart by what we know

I turn to you in best of times
Then away when in distress
Will you give me what I need
Will I earn only nothingness

The left and the right can't agree
What future remains for my humanity
I no longer believe in what they say
The glory boys still preach insanity

Every place I go every face I see
Yearns to draw you closer to me

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

New Podcast Episode: Ten For Tuesday 043

This is another of those Ipod podcasts. I'm not trying to be so silly as if to make everybody believe that I just turned it on and hit shuffle and these ten songs came up in this order. No, several of them did and I wrote them down, then I'd skip a few for various reasons like I've already played them on Ten For Tuesday before or they just didn't seem to fit. Pretty soon I had the ten songs and the order of procession came rather quickly afterwards. I actually had the entire thing done and ready to upload by at least four days ahead of time. That never happens. As for the next episode, well I've already got nine songs selected and am waiting for a tenth to make itself known. Strange feeling, this being ahead of the game. On to the music:

Bad Religion - Only Rain
Rat City Riot - Signs Of Distress
Chris Murray & The Slackers - Rastaman Rock
Radio 4 - Everything's In Question
Jaya The Cat - Two Ships Passing
Matt Mays & El Torpedo - Ain't So Heavy
Sugar - Believe What You're Saying
Paul Westerberg - Waiting On Somebody
School Of Fish - Unrecognizable
The Godfathers - Cause I Said So

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

New Lyrics/Poem - Starting All Over

Here's something I wrote yesterday but I guarantee that it isn't about what most people will think it's about. I've been in a pretty dark place in my head lately as I contemplate life and it's problems that always seem to crop up but I'm on my way out of that....for now. At least when life seems unfair or that it sucks we can console ourselves with the thought that while true it's also pretty much that way for everybody. At least I hope so. Otherwise that could be rather depressing. At any rate maybe this will turn into a song that I can console myself with.

Starting All Over

Starting all over yet you swore

It would never happen again
Trying to make a go of it
Make all the pieces fit
I’ve been down this road
Too many times to comprehend
The details all run together
Names and faces where and when
How much is too much
How long before I give in

Call it a midlife crisis
Not even sure what that means
Afraid that life is more
Than halfway over
Or are my eyes finally open
Recognizing what is real
Tell me it will all even out
Just the nature of the beast
How long til I give up
How long til I’m worn out

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

New Podcast Episode notmovingpictures 018: Road Trip To Iron Maiden

A few weeks back Tommy and I (and his son Chris) took a road trip to Kansas City to see Iron Maiden and Megadeth in concert. While there, we met up with Shane (guitarist/vocalist for Alloy) who has been working in the area. We went to book stores, music stores and ate lots of good local food. Although there was a good deal of talking going on it wasn't until we started our drive back that we decided to record this episode. We talk about the concert and how the experience differs from when we were Chris' age (a lot more orderly and a lot less of a smoky haze enveloping the venue) my summer vacation to Peru, our old fraternity friend Bobby who was in a Hospice, society changing away from personal responsibility and Alloy's next show. It's basically a recap of what has been going on since our last episode was recorded in June. Forgive the rough sound, that's what happens when you record in a moving vehicle.



Opening music: Alloy - Live To See The Day
Closing music: Iron Maiden: Can I Play With Madness

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.