shipwrecks

So here’s a song that’s been knocking around in my head. I thought it would be kinda cool if I wrote a song that had lyrics in a certain poetic form. These lyrics in particular are in pantoum, which is probably my favorite form to write. I was going to add some more instruments but I ran out of tracks and space on my 8-track recorder :(. Once I get a new audio interface, I think I’ll come back to this and maybe flesh it out some more.

Anyways, this song has guitar and banjo like always and it’s about girls LIKE ALWAYS.

Shipwrecks - A Valuable Commodity

Fertile and cleared free of weeds, the wheat sways.
With a wave, shortened like an odd-yeared February.
The tree your acorn left is gone
but the stump remains.

With a wave, shortened like a last breath,
I push the shovel into the earth and begin digging.
Your stump remains.
Its roots running deep beneath the Maryland grass.

I push the shovel into the earth.
Enfeebled, I try to remove you.
Your roots running deep beneath the Maryland grass.
A battered fortress protecting something I want.

Enfeebled, I try to remove you.
Placing your mementos in a shoebox.
A battered fortress protecting something I want:
The land that it lies on.

I place your mementos in a shoebox, out of sight.
The tree your acorn left is gone
and I want the land that it grew on.
Fertile and cleared free of weeds.

Okay, I recorded a new song. It’s actually the first song I’ve recorded with my nicer mics in a while. Same setup as my EP. It’s a song about girls, obviously. It’s got guitar, banjo, organ, and piano and maybe some other stuff. Check it out?

Shipwrecks - Wherever, Whenever… Whatever

wherever you are, i’ll be here
waiting for you to come home
or i will join you
ahead in the unknown with love

and you were driving down i-95
with a smile on your face and me by your side
and right there, i knew i should told you how i felt
but instead

we let it melt

this drying ink tells a story
of a straight path never changing
i set my stones
now i have to walk alone

Okayokay. I recorded another QUICK AND ROUGH demo of another song I’ve been sketching.

This one has banjo, mando, and guitar. Unfortunately, since this is a quick demo and I don’t have EQ abilities, the vocals get a little too quiet sometimes. That’s probably a good thing though.

Shipwrecks - I Can’t Breathe (demo)

you’re pointing your camera at me
telling me to strike a pose
i’m not sure i know what you mean
so i keep my eyes closed

the clouds roll in from the west
as the wind lifts up your hair
and sunlight explodes on your dress
as it ripples through the air

i am looking at you
and i can’t speak
with a smile you tell me this is what you want
and i can’t breathe

i don’t know how to handle unmitigated beauty

i follow you down the dark stairs
as the light escapes from view
and i tell you that i am scared
as footsteps echo through the room

sensibility
is bubbling up through the cracks
a bird hiding in a tree
or a lion turning his back

i can’t look at you
because i know i’ll lose my mind
with a smile you tell me that this is what you want
and i can’t breathe

i don’t know how to handle unmitigated beauty

Okay, I recorded something. I know I’ve been really bad with music lately so I decided to record a demo of this song I’ve been sketching.

This demo is really rough! I don’t have any EQ and I’m a little sick and I’m using my crappy mic. I know, I know. Excuses. 

It’s about a girl, obviously.

Shipwrecks - An Old Power Plant (demo)

with the careful placement of my foot 
i step onto the steel beam
forty feet above the concrete floor
covered in white serpentine

and all around me are the circling ghosts
bound to a place so far decomposed
reminding me of perils that should cause me fright
but you’re right behind me, so i feel alright

with the careful placement of each foot
I inch across the steel beam
surrounded my maundering pipes
like a fever dream

and if it’s not the fall that kills
the mesothelioma will
but that doesn’t matter in this light
because you’re behind me and i feel alright

with the careful placement of my foot
i’m easing down on the gas
forty miles from our little town
as the trees fly past

and all around me are questions unasked
wonderings of how long this will last
and as i turn my head and you’re out like a light
but you’re right beside me and i feel alright

shydigs:

I covered a gorgeous song by Shipwrecks (also known as Johnny) and I can’t do it justice. I sound like a little girl and my vibrato was somehow not working. The levels are wonky but I didn’t have the energy to polish the editing.

Oh, and go to his blog and listen to the original demo because it’s much much better.

But yeah, this is for Johnny. <3

okay, holy crap. this is way better than my demo. i am in total awe and flattery. i love dsgiuoh