One Year, 52 Songs.

An ambitious creative project by Joe Day and Jim Booth to up our songwriting game. Here are our ground-rules: 1. Style doesn't matter 2. Can be anything from a riff to a full song 3. Doesn't need to have lyrics 4. Reworks of songs already posted don't count All the music posted here is © Joe Day or © James Dean Booth/jimmyhazard

[52songs]

skeleton of a fast indie riff-fest

[52songs]

Dear Joe...

I've realized I have an incredible amount of backlog... I am about to flood the living crap out of this Tumblr for the next few weeks (maybe?)

You've been warned.

[52songs]

An Anecdote

Came up with this little acoustic thing and then hit record and started mumbling a melody overtop of it.

[52songs]

Acoustic off the top of my head

[52songs]

Rain Riff

[52songs]

So uh...

Joe and I have like totally slacked off on this. Maybe we shouldn't? haha.

I have some SoundCloud items that I'll be posting.

[52songs]

Song 13 - Blue Skies

Blue Skies by joeday

Back in the saddle again! Feels good. Needless to say, the last month was a very busy one while I was working on putting together the Good Friday music for Mars Hill West Seattle. Hopefully, the recording from that will be available soon, it features two songs written in this blog in their full-band glory and I'm pretty stoked with how they came out. 

Nevertheless, here is Blue Skies, a song about creating. Some artists go through a very long season of inactivity or writers block before becoming madly prolific again. This song is about the transitional moment that occurs between those two seasons. 

I really like this song. I like how seemingly simple it is, how the harmonies come together on the chorus, and the lyrics. Specifically, there's one line that really sticks out to me:

You've spent seventeen years in a busy-ness spin But the heart doesn't care if there's dust on the pen

What I like about this is that creating is in many ways an act of remembering. You might think that if you've had a long period of inactivity (even decades) that your talent may have vanished or that there's no way you'd be able to pick it back up. Sure, you may be out of shape, but if that talent was there, it's there because you are created in the image of the Creator. My encouragement would be to start by remembering the Creator and see what happens to your heart. You'll not lack for creativity. 

Go. Do.

[52songs]

Song 12 - In Christ Alone (Good Friday)

As a songwriter, I've always been drawn to darker themes and sounds. This has always been a source of tension for me. I remember working on the last Mindhead album explaining it to my mom, how I was proud of the darker theme's it was exploring and her response, "But you're a Christian. What does dark have to do with light?" Touché, mother. Touché.

There is one place, however, in the Christian faith where darkness is not only appropriate, but needed. Good Friday. It needs to be dark, hopeless, and jarring because we must wrestle with the implications of a dead Christ. Paul says, "If Christ is not raised...your faith is in vain." Between Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, the disciples and followers of Jesus lived this reality. Imagine the broken hope. The confusion. The total devastation. 

That was where my mind was when I wrote the following version of In Christ Alone for this year's Good Friday service at Mars Hill West Seattle. 

In Christ alone my hope was found He was my light, my strength, my song This cornerstone, once thought was sound Crumbled and crushed and crucified. Was he a lie? What could this be? What has become of Israel's king? The comforter, now on a cross In Christ alone all has been lost

In Christ alone who took on flesh Torn from his back by barbs and hooks A crown of thorns he's made to wear Scorned by the ones he loved and healed Now on that cross, Jesus has died The Son of God now cast aside Wrapped in cloth, laid in stone Placed in a cave not on a throne

There in the ground his body lay Light of the world by darkness slain What now of faith? What hope remains? Behind the stone the savior lays The broken hearts, the broken faith What hope can rest upon the slain? This disbelief, this painful awe How could he be the Son of God?

[52songs]

Widow's Walk

Here's some more lyrics written for The Battle of Midway. Song is titled "Widow's Walk".

More after the jump.

Widow's Walk

Here I stand My hands are sweating Clutching this rail held for life Watching your white sails Carry you out with the tide Your ship grows distant My voice calls your name to the wind Those beautiful white sails Reflect as they shimmer and fade And my heart beats for you So solid, pure, and new Sometimes I wish it wasn't true But what else can I do? Sunk now beyond my sight But I will stand here long into the night Journey on my love we both know This trip you take alone you must go dream of me my sweet amidst the raging sleet grow beyond the selfish and grow to complete selflessness The sun rises Will this be the day? Yet the danger of the sea Is that you might never return to me

Here's a live version of the song before the lyrics were set... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1AJI67p50s

[52songs]

Writing, but not recording

First off, so stoked to see Jim's recent posts. Keep 'em coming Jim!

Secondly, some of you have pointed out I have missed the past two weeks. Gasp! Let me just say life has been ridiculously busy these past few weeks and at the end of the day my family wins. 

However, this doesn't mean I haven't been writing, I have. I just haven't been recording. Bear with me as I catch up. 

[52songs]

Fiddling on the Gitfiddle

So tonight I sat and ran scales and just played randomly on the guitar while zoning out to Arrested Development. It felt good and it feels good having sore forearms again.

I've been having this recurring dream that I realized was about creativity and me not writing songs and being involved in music as much as I should.

It's time again.

[52songs]

Beset By Wolves

Here's some lyrics I've written recently for my new band The Battle of Midway.

The title is, surprise surprise, Beset By Wolves. I don't really like to go into what my lyrics are about because I want people to infer their own meanings and I really don't like to wear my heart on my sleeve even to close friends. I blame it all on comic book heroes and horror movies growing up.

Lyrics after the jump.

"Beset By Wolves" They wait in the dead of night, just beyond the fire's warming light I cower in horror, feeling their cold bright eyes Temptaion so near to end my own life They number many and I am only one My spirit darkens with the setting of the sun And I can feel them, I can feel them drawing close And I can hear them grinning at such easy prey Their goal, my total destruction Subdued and consumed by dread My soul, asphyxiation Could this dark night be my end? Wave after wave, they all fall before me Crimson claret viscera muddies the ground Each dying breath, brings euphoric release And as my eyes look up, a grinning crazed ghoul is all they will see And they can see it, they see this beast they have created And they will fear me, fear what their own wrath has done My goal, their total destruction Broken these binds made of dread My soul, birthed reformation Beyond this dark night I will send "Look what we've done, look what we've birthed!" Now I'm the beast, the one who stalks the night Just close your eyes because everything will be alright

[52songs]

Song 11 - Gethsemane's Prayer

Gethsemanes Prayer by joeday

Good Friday is coming in a few weeks. 52 Sundays per year, we focus on Jesus' life & resurrection, but one Friday night we remember his death; his bloody, violent, gruesome, murderous death. 

The best Good Friday service is the one that calls us to look deeply at fullness of what murdering Jesus means for us. Naturally, the general focus when it comes to worship songs is the Atonement & the resurrection because the great news is that we are made new because Jesus conquered death. But, before the gospel is Good News, it is terrible news: if you have sinned, you have driven the nails through his hands and his feet. You have nailed him on the cross. You have mocked him as he died. It was the sin of the world, past, present, and future that hung Jesus on the cross. You and I are to blame. How many songs put the hammer in our hands?

Another layer to this is the perspective of the disciples who misunderstood the role and meaning of the Messiah thinking primarily he would be a political savior. Imagine their confusion, disappointment, and hopelessness seeing their savior dead on a cross. Have you ever wondered what a dead Jesus means for your faith? If he's dead, your hope is also dead. Paul says that if he is not raised, your hope is in vain. How many songs place us in utter hopelessness?

It has long been my opinion that the church has a severe lack of Good Friday songs, and for good reason: we celebrate our risen savior 52 weeks of the year. But, for one important Friday, we remember what a dead Jesus would mean. Exploring his death widens the gap between hopelessness and the greatest news ever, leading to a deep, affectionate response when we celebrate Jesus resurrection on Easter Sunday. 

In short, we need more Good Friday songs that leave us there with the hammer in our hands, or in the shoes of the hopeless disciple. 

So, this song explores the time Jesus spent in the Garden of Gethsemane praying, sweating blood. The song is not complete, the beginning is not yet written, so this is the big ending focusing on the absolute wonder of the obedience of Jesus. I can't help but wonder what was running through Jesus mind as he prayed. Did he remember creating this earth with the Father? Did he remember creating Adam? Either way, he knew exactly what was coming and he counted obedience to the Father as greater and more valuable than himself. This is the ultimate worship.

[52songs]

Song 10 - The Well

The Well by joeday

This song is a critique of the type of criticism prevalent in the church especially amongst my reformed brothers and sisters. There are moments where it seems natural to us to form tribes for the purpose of criticizing someone we disagree with. I've done it in many ways, whether over something theological or something musical. What is inside me that decides I need to always be right? Well, this song explores the carnage that results from those of us who have picked fights for the sake of being right. It's written from the perspective of an observer, and it has caused me to take a deep look at my own heart in the process. I hope it can do the same for you. 

Peace.

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There’s poison in the well You didn’t know the taste and had your fill And marched up on a hill Thought was a mountain 

Symptom of the disease Growing blind to similarities Confuse the enemy The fog descending 

We’d all do well to lay our weapons down for a spell The poison’s in the well 

Cold war theologies Fog descending over boundaries Unnamed anxiety Fear made blindness 

Among the mustard trees We miss the seeds, the seeds within the leaves Cold wind and autumn breeze The leaves are falling 

(chorus)

Through a door the righteous peek A theologian caught between the sheets All down a darkened street Is where you’ll find them

The saddened songs we sing Broken hearts and broken families From the fog a shot does ring A brother falling down

[leftrightleftbrain]

[52songs]

leftrightleftbrain:

Mindhead Interview, Seattle, March 5, 2011

When I started this Tumblr blog a few months back, I used 20 words to describe myself. Twenty. That’s not a lot. Still, I found a way to talk about one of my favorite bands: Mindhead. Yes, they’re not together. Yes they’re on “hiatus”, which is not as scary as saying “broken up”, but it means the same thing. So you can imagine my immense excitement to hear that after four years on hiatus, they booked a Seattle show at The Showbox. I had the distinct privilege of spending the evening with the Mindhead boys, (yes, all of them. Even Jeff) as they reunited to play the last minute gig. Here is an impromptu interview in the green room after the show with a few clips of onstage footage.

[52songs]

Song 9 - Mephistopheles

Mephistopiles by joeday

This is the song my band Mindhead debuted on Saturday night at the Showbox SoDo opening for Lifehouse. Since it was received so positively, I figured it'd be appropriate to make it the song of last week. 

Meet sweet, simple, Sarah who has her heart broken by a crafty dude. What begins as a story of a broken heart turns into a big reveal of the heart and character of Satan: to deceive, hurt, destroy, confuse, and then ultimately to leave you thinking he's really not that bad. 

[52songs]

Song 8 - February Sun

February sun by joeday

February Sun is this week's plan-b. I was originally working on another song that has a very complex melody and needs a bit more care even for this project.

last Friday was one of the most beautiful winter days I can remember in all the years I've lived in Seattle. The odd thing about it is Thursday and Saturday we had nasty snowy weather, but Friday was sunny, epic, gorgeous like a winter oasis. 

I think about seasons a lot and that will probably be pretty apparent by the end of this project. This song is really about that winter oasis in the midst of a tough season. The February Sun is really the first sign of hope that spring is on its way, a new season.