My new album He Said She Said has just been released. It is available streaming everywhere.
My last two albums, Tales of Love and Death and Many Sides of Love, were simply collections of songs. This album is more concept driven, like my first two albums The Elusive Farm Girl and Breakup City. This album is a series of mini song suites, each about a different significant relationship in my life in chronological order. The biggest difference between this album and the previous ones is that I attempt to incorporate the words and thoughts of my former girlfriends into the narrative.
I've always been a pack rat. If you wrote me something, I can pretty much guarantee I have it stored somewhere around this house. A number of songs on this album were inspired by something one of my former girlfriends wrote or said to me. That's why I called the album He Said She Said. Don't worry. I don't let myself off too easy. My heart gets broken quite a few times over the course of this album, but it has a happy ending with me meeting my wife and, supposedly, putting the past behind me.
This is my most personal album to date. I don't know how anyone else will respond to it, but it chokes me up in places. Not the sad moments. I relived them far too often already. It's the happy memories that get to me. They make me remember what I lost....
Then again, if I didn't lose what I had, would I have gained what I have?
Here's the song list:
1). CELEBRATE US. This song was based on a letter my first girlfriend Kathy sent me from college on our third anniversary. We were very happy as a couple at the time. There's a lot of joy in this song.
2). 156 MILES TO YOU. This is an answering song to Celebrate Us. Kathy was the subject of my second album Breakup City. That album was very bleak. I don't think it expressed anything positive about our relationship. I believe this song captures some of the joy and excitement I felt during our time together.
3). YOU HOLD THE KEY. When I first told Kathy I loved her, she wasn't prepared to reciprocate. She said she only wanted to say those words to her husband. However, a few days later, she sent me a card which I encapsulated in the chorus of this song. The rest of the song is drawn from things she wrote to me when she went away to college leading up to our breakup. I had already released this song on YouTube and it proved to be one of my most popular ones.
4). TIME CAN'T TAKE IT AWAY. This is my answering song to the our breakup. I recognized that Kathy's feelings had changed, but that didn't affect how I felt about our time together. I still look back on our relationship fondly. She changed my life, and she was there when I needed her most.
5). MOUNTAINTOP. This song is based on one of the first poems I wrote to my elusive farm girl. Before we met, we spent a long time getting to know each other through emails, instant messages and phone calls. Things seemed to be going so well that I feared we had nowhere to go but down....
6). BEFORE THE MOON GOES DOWN. The chorus of this song is based on the personal ad my elusive farm girl posted on America Online that initially attracted my attention. The verses capture her perspective on our relationship based on her emails. This is one of my favorite songs.
7). THE WHITE KNIGHT. This song is my retrospective look back at my relationship with the elusive farm girl. This was my woman whisperer phase, where I believed I could solve any woman's emotional problems with a direct application of love. I was wrong, of course, but I don't regret trying! At the very least, I ended up with a wonderful and wise friend.
8). OUR SECRET LOVE. During one of my long breaks with the farm girl, I met a sweet, flirtatious girl online who I will call Tammy. There was only one problem with our relationship: Tammy was married. I still thought it was emotionally safe to flirt with her. Afterall, I lived in Maryland and she lived in Florida. What was the chance we'd get involved? I didn't think we'd fall in love, but that's where we found ourselves. This song was inspired by an email she sent me as we considered our dilemma.
9). ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT. This song was not written specifically about Tammy, but I feel it captures the lustful yearnings she inspired in me. I was going to write a song about her lustful thoughts toward me, but I couldn't figure out how to capture them in a song without being too explicit.
10). WINDSWEPT MEMORIES. This was the decisive moment in my relationship with Tammy. She flew to Baltimore so I could take her to Ocean City for a wintery weekend vacation. This song was drawn from an email revealing her expectations and other emails about the actual aftermath. Would we cross the line? Listen and find out.
11). A FRIEND, YES FOREVER. This song was based on the last poem I wrote Tammy before we finally drifted apart after she met the lucky man who would become her second husband. Fortunately, thanks to social media, our friendship has been renewed. She has always been a very kind and sweet woman to me. I will always be grateful for the moral support she gave me when my sister Laura died, and the support she gave me recently when my granddaughter Emma died. God bless you, Tammy.
12). THE FRIDAY NIGHT SWING DANCE. Finally, after all the heartbreak, a happy ending. This song describes how I met my wife Deborah at the Friday Night Swing Dance at the Tall Cedars Hall. What a great night!
13). I'M HERE TO STAY. At first, my wife wanted to be friends only, but, as she was leaving the car after our first date, I asked her to stay for a second so I could give her a kiss. After that kiss, there was no more talking about being friends. I sang this song to my wife at our wedding.
14). FADED VERSE. The lyrics to this song tell the whole story. I found a poem I wrote to my first girlfriend in one of my college notebooks. I originally wanted to turn the poem into a song, but the theme was inconsistent and the sentiment was too maudlin. Therefore, I only used part of the poem for the chorus. The rest of the song is about finding the poem and how it affected me.
I hope you enjoy the songs and the album. You can listen to He Said She Said on these and other streaming services:
He Said She Said
Many Sides of Love
Tales of Love and Death
Breakup City
The Elusive Farm Girl
He Said She Said
Many Sides of Love
Tales of Love and Death
Breakup City
The Elusive Farm Girl
You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 2, The House
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 3, This Is Us
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 4, Arrival
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 5, Methodology
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 6, Clara's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 7, Clara's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 8, My Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 9, My Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 10, My Tale, Pt. 3
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 11, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 12, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 13, John's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 14, John's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 15, Come Inside!
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 16, Marion's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 17, Marion's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 18, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 19, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 20, Lisa's Tale
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 21, Recap, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 22, Recap, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 23, Recap, Pt. 3
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