Music
Level up: Music in its fuller incarnation is performance, which is a thing I currently aspire to get better at more than I actually go about getting better at.
Level down: Music in its more natural incarnation for me is poetry, cos I’m a quiet person.
Draft favorites
“Shall we get married some more?” A poem from Vagabonding that has melody, but not yet accompaniment…
“Change Your Life.” Ditto.
“Stain Louis.” A song about American violence I recorded in my Boston kitchen on my second-to-last night before leaving the States in 2015. From a favorite poem in my first poetry book. Lyrics.
“Raggedy Thing.” A song about the soul. From a favorite poem from my first poetry book. Lyrics. 2016.
“Hope,” a song version of the Emily Dickinson poem. 2015.
“Warm Tidings,” a Christmas song about climate change I wrote in grad school and was too shy to ever perform live. 2008.
From Nov. 2015 through 2016 or so…
New songs in progress, mostly since I moved to Berlin in November (last November!). In reverse chronological order. E.g.,
“So We Meet Again.” Playing with Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again” and Pink Floyd’s “Vera.” A song to the secret police. Lyrics. (Nov. 2015)
“Chelsea’s Song.” A song for a truth-teller.
“Rabbit Hole.” A song for a friend from Osaka, when we were up all night worrying our own worries. Lyrics.
“The Sky Was Blue.” One of local Wildelife expert Mr. Wolf’s love songs. Lyrics.
“So Happy.” Another of those. Lyrics.
“To Dwell in Hope (Fire and Ice).” An illustrated poem-song version of this political essay about mass surveillance and other harbingers of doom. Lyrics.
“Let the Darkness (Fade Away).” Lyrics. (July 2016) A song about letting the past be the past.
“Life Goes On.” Lyrics. A song about conformity and taking time to process.
“Molly Dancing in the Meadow is Alright.” Lyrics. A song about Berlin night life.
“My High Road.” Lyrics. Again with the love songs for Mr. Wolf.
“Letters to No One.” Lyrics. A song about the importance of having friends who are real.
“Home.” Lyrics. A song about (Jan. 2017) A song about displacement.
“Baby Blue.” Lyrics. (Mar. 2017) A song for my father.
Older
Original songs recorded mostly on an M-Track in the shower from 2014 on an old Youtube channel. Best-of: “Hope” (a song version of the Emily Dickinson poem) and “House of Vera” (a song I wrote in a hotel room one night while traveling intensely for my postdoc).
“New Accusations against Julian Assange,” a political satirical stop motion video and song I wrote, memorized, and filmed over a two-day spring break lark in grad school.
Free espresso in Berlin to anyone who can turn up the recordings of some of my old songs from one of my old artist websites, like “Lorelei,” “Linguist,” “Silence,” and “Spring and Fall.” I left boxes of songs behind in the States…
Musical lives
Birmingham Southern College Conservatory training under world renowned concert pianist Patricia Perez. Over 50 onstage performances… Over 15 years ago.
Children’s piano, dance, art, drama instruction… Over 10 years ago.
