Two new solo videos, and the stories behind the songs
This week I made two new home videos revisiting the title tracks from the Humming My Way Back Home and Stop, Drop, and Roll albums. The studio versions of both songs feature band arrangements, so these videos brought the songs back to the way I wrote them.
Humming My Way Back Home
"Humming My Way Back Home" was the first song I wrote with the funky little three-stringed instrument known as the Strumstick, which years later also gave birth to "Eight Days in January." As mentioned in my post about "Eight Days," singer-songwriter Jennifer Kimball inspired me to pick up the Strumstick in the first place, and in particular her gorgeous Strumstick song "My New Vow" opened my ears to the possibilities of using the instrument for a lyrical, emotional ballad like "Humming." Where her song marks a relationship ending, mine is about reuniting and renewal.Here's the solo video.https://youtu.be/S0wrwni0S4AFor comparison, here's the album version, on which I played cajón, guitar, and bass, and Hanna Richardson sang harmony vocals.In concert these days with my duo or band, Wendy Sassafras Ramsay adds a lovely flute part to the instrumental bridge.
The lyrics
Stand by the window and raise it wideOpen your ear for a songI’m turning the corner and coming insideWeary but never so strongI’m humming my way back homeHumming my way back home to youHumming my way back homeTo rest with you, as night rolls throughLiving is longings and lessons half-learnedOur words tangle up in a knotLet’s forget what we’ve given, forget what we’ve earnedGive thanks for the love that we’ve gotChorusWinter is coming, the leaves blow downDaylight is slipping awayStoke up the fire and gather aroundThere’s no place where I’d rather stayChorusTo rest with you
Stop, Drop, and Roll
The initial spark for this high-velocity acoustic rocker came from my son when he was in elementary school. His teacher had shared "stop, drop, and roll" as a lesson for what to do if your clothes ever catch fire (!). I'd never heard the phrase before and loved it—it sounded like a song to me.Eventually I connected the phrase with a hard-driving minor-key guitar groove, and this song was born. (If you ever happen to catch me in concert in late October, you may hear me play a goofy story song called "A Dark, Dark Night of Halloween" that uses the exact same fingerings in a different rhythm. Always great to steal ideas from yourself when you can!)In the lyrics of "Stop, Drop, and Roll," I tapped into images drawn from a recurrent nightmare, in which I find myself in an unfamiliar dark room, alone, with no idea how I got there, and can't find my way out. As suggested by the title phrase, there's a fire in the building too. To add to the feeling of urgency and emergency, I wrote the lyrics so they drop into the middle of a thought, without explanation or setup; the first line is "Because the spark falls," which seems to answer a question that is never posed.As with many songs, writing these lyrics was all about translating into words the movie I could see in my head.Here's the new solo video.https://youtu.be/-RManB_6QzQI recorded the album version with drummer extraordinaire Josh Dekaney—just the two of us, live in the studio. I love the raw intensity of the acoustic guitar and drum combo. For me, it's so much more visceral and powerful than electric instrumentation (or a bigger band) would be.
The lyrics
Because the spark fallsThe wires are crossingAnd the heat is thickYour mind is tossingYou’re alone, awakeA figure on the frayBecause the smoke rollsA slow train comingAnd you can’t recallWhen you left home andIn the room the linesAre blurring into grayOne small window swollen tightCan’t crack open to the nightYou feel the singe, the choking airNo more wondering when or whereYou’ve got to stop, drop, and rollThat’s allBecause the flame licksThe paint is peelingAnd you can’t escapeThe headlong feelingOf the tick, the tockThe chances slipping awayBecause you bang and bangAnd bang your fistAgainst the wall and stillThe hard resistanceAnd there’s not a dentYou can make todayOne small window, can’t jump downToo far distant from solid groundYou feel the singe, the choking airNo more wondering when or whereYou’ve got to stop, drop, and rollThat’s allBecause the spark fallsThe wires are crossingAnd the flame licksYour mind is tossingAnd the tick, the tockThe chances slipping awayBecause you give untilThere is no givingAnd you lose the lifeInside the livingAnd there’s not a shredOf reason to delayOne small break and you roll on throughYou choose the exit that chooses youWhen you do the thing you do not dareYou find yourself in the clearing airYou just stop, drop, and rollThat’s all