Perfect Circle

The games are over

The stadium lights go out

The lot is dark, everyone has gone home

I wear three layers

But the air still chills my bones

I can't keep warm until we're in each others' arms

I don't care if my entire body goes numb

All I need to feel right now is whole

We are a perfect circle of fabric and limbs

Legs and arms tied up and tangled in an elegant dance

The speakers sing words

Specifically for me

Your voice rings out in such a beautiful melody

I don't care if my tired jaw goes dumb

All I need to say before is "Don't go"

We are a perfect circle of fabric and limbs

Legs and arms tied up and tangled in an elegant dance

Our hearts protected by an autumn blanket

A wall of ribs and skin defending our beating romance

I can't explain this enchanting scene and sentiment

This attraction and attachment is all that makes sense

We kiss like legends stolen from old fashioned pages

Adapted, then translated for the camera lens

Forgotten/Rough Draft Youtube

Break out your markers and connect the dots

Along my cut and corroded chin

Draw a long, broad, crooked line

Highlight the flaws and potmarks in my weathered skin

My closest friends have always been masks and disguises

My greatest threats have always been cameras and reflections

I tell myself "I can do better than this"

I tell myself "No need to settle for less"

Break out the camouflage and hit the deck

Because poison's pumping out of these pores

I try to conceal imperfections

Always screaming for attention

These two sides are at war

My complexion is two shades of color: fragile white and irritated red

I cover up these blemishes with liquid paper and red pens

I am a rough draft

Proofread by the professor

He sent me back smeared with corrections and a note that read:

"Stop kidding yourself, you can't do better than this.

It's time to settle for less."

I forget as much as I am forgotten

New Song/Video

This was a song I just recorded tonight...It was written maybe 4 days ago. I've been pretty happy with it. Forgive the poor audio qualtiy/poor performace. I just wanted to have SOMETHING to show you guys. So this is a watered-down, late night live recording. The song doesn't have a title yet...it'll be "Burning Bridges" for now.

Our cease-fire treaty has no signatures

It's smoldering with the ash and embers

Our doves of peace don't flap their wings

They don't bring serenity and they don't sing

I am the only one to blame

Our olive branch sits inside a garbage can

Next to discarded gifts and our old plans

The cure to our disease is swirling down the drain

Bite down on your knuckles, try to numb the pain

I'm tired of burning all these bridges every time I am afraid

It's my own fire

I'm tired of being the victim and villain in this game of mine

I am the only one to blame

Our reunion's cancelled due to violent hail

Your invitation was lost in the mail anyway

Our binding contract was rendered void

When your trust and confidence were both destroyed

I am the only one to blame

Remember that whole thing about REAL recording?

...well things haven't gone as smoothly as planned. Having a house to myself didn't provide as much free time as I had hoped. Most time was spent moving things from Provo to Highland, then setting up.... then dealing with pets....then picking people up from the airport...then it's suddenly the weekend and I have shows....and so on.

Once things settled down the beginning of this week, swine flu hit me. I've been doing nothing but playing Plants vs. Zombies for 4 straight days. Quarantined to a bedroom upstairs without any equipment. So how much progress has been made? Hardly any. It's what I get for writing a blog about recording before I STARTED to do any recording. From now on, let's talk about what I HAVE done and not what I PLAN ON doing. Because no matter what you have planned, it doesn't always work out. Then you look foolish for talking about it. Anyway, I'm rambling.

This is what I have done:

I was able to get to my desktop yesterday and do some mixing. I was surprised at how much I was able to refine/improve the mixes with only the same tracks I had from before. I squeezed as much as I could out of them. Trimming some songs down, tinkering with the order, revising lyrics. I'm pretty happy with how some of the mixes are shaping up. Right now, my favorite is "Perfect Circle." I think I finally finalized the lyrics to that song as well. Still not set on the title thanks to the Tool side-project of the same name.

Oh yeah, and "Forgotten"...very excited about that one. I'll get to work on putting together more slideshows.

Finally getting to some REAL recording...

I've got a few days off from work and a house to myself, so I'm hoping to get a lot done and have something to show you guys in a week or so (though the upcoming Brand New and Straylight Run shows might distract me a little...).

I'm most excited about a new song titled "Rough Draft/Forgotten" right now. Anyone who made it to open mic at Velour tuesday or the show @ Muse Friday, got to hear it. I've received some good feedback, so I'm excited to get vocals and electric guitar added to it. Anyway, hopefully October will be a productive month for me. Stay tuned.

Dave

P.S. Hey Chance, I'm "in the studio"!

October First

I know I'm technically posting this on October SECOND, but I don't care. I'm still going to pretend this was posted early enough to be on the same date as the song title...

Last year, I was living temporarily in Guthrie, KY (near the border of Tennessee, about 45 minutes from Nashville). I was there with "E for Explosion." We stayed in Guthrie in between tours and had a lot of down time.

In Guthrie, we didn't have cell phone service, the internet was slow and spotty, and it was too hot and humid during the day to do anything outside. So most nights, I'd take a late walk down a 1 - 1 1/2 mile sidewalk/bike trail to the grocery store (to buy a coke from the vending machine).

These nightly walks were about all I had. But I have to admit, there is hardly anything creepier than a cornfield at night. And with all the Guthrie folklore and ghost stories (Flea Market, the Bell Witch, The "Beast"), it made it even worse. With my iPod, I was usually able to ignore the fear enough to make it there and back.

Anyway, now to the song...this is about one of the night walks on 10/01/08. It was just a particularly bad night. But due to the circumstances, I felt reckless as opposed to scared like usual. That's what the song is about...

I took some pictures on one of the walks and put them in this slideshow with the rough instrumental demo of "October First"...I'm hoping the imagery can help enhance the story in the song.

Lyrics:

Follow the trail

The bike path I have walked along 100 times this year

I want you to know that I feel no fear

But the fields have been cut down since I was last here

Continue on the shoulder

Heading for the stateline

I'm not sure what I expect to find

But I want you to know that it's cold for the first time

It's time to turn around now

Because nothing turned out the way I had not planned

Caution lights flicker behind me

My shadows dance on the road

...which one am I?

I want to stare death in the eyes

I want to look down on that great "beast"

I want to laugh in its face and say

"There's nothing left for you to take from me."

Standing in these empty parking spaces

The only places that I can be reached

I need to hear a voice

I need a comforting noise