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Contemplation (Givens)
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Bert - If timing is
everything, then this is the epitome of what happens when you let time
catch up to you. Some times I listen to this and can't decide if this is
a realization or a good bye. It is a great song, but it shows how Scot
is when he is pissed off in general. Scot - Well this is about an elderly lady who has found herself to be the last living member of "The Ol' Gang". I didn't make it very clear but she does end up committing suicide and walking through the streets of Heaven with her old pals. So I guess it's a happy ending depending on how you look at it. This used to have a cool intro but I used too much copyrighted material and it had to be scrapped. Nick - Yes the intro was quite interesting, and I would love to put a version of that up here for people to hear...Scot worked hard on it, and it really set the tone for the song, and was a cool intro for the album itself. I dunno about Albert's comment about how this song shows how Scot is when he's pissed off...but I have a feeling that as I read through the comments on the rest of the songs this will become a dialog between Albert any myself about what these songs are "about"! ;-) |
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Privileged Youth (Mitchell) |
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Bert - Privileged Youth is a description of generations in debate. The old looking at the middle
aged looking at the youth of society. The comments continue to work today and will work still tomorrow. The song is a walk
with the band doing what they do best. As Frank Zappa would have said to the band, “Boys, shut up and
play".
Scot - Kids these days. We spent a fair amount of our lives in an upper class neighborhood. Rich kids are just as fucked up as poorer kids but their drugs are better. Given a leg up and blow it anyway. And I love the 7/8 break. And the organ line was really Nick’s idea. Nick - While the lyrics sound like I'm on my high horse lamenting the spoiled youth of today, I must admit that this song is partially autobiographical. I always had a great relationship with my parents, I had a fantastic childhood and can hardly think of any really negative things that happened to me...that said, I certainly had a lot of freedom handed to me, and at times was certainly a lot like the ungrateful, self centered upper middle class punks described in the song. Musically, this is one of my favorite songs, I love the textures, and the 7/8 instrumental break is mind tickling, thanks to Scot's beautiful Rhoades work. |
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So, You Want to be an Activist? (Givens)
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Bert - It seems that everyone these days is jumping on the “CAUSE” bandwagon. Well
its time some one addressed the thin veil of the activists pulpit preaching. There are times when I just want to go out
and beat these fools senseless....er more senseless, with a baby harp seal.
Scot - Posers. Nick - 'Nuff said. |
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Child's Play (Mitchell)
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Bert - Child's Play is life as it really is. See, they weren't kidding when they sent home the
gold star telling Nick's parents that he plays well with others. Now shut up and get back in the box.
Scot - I love this song. We really need to relearn it and play it live sometime. Nick does a great job of going between a pretty straightforward verse into a rather twisted chorus. And all the effects are really cool too. Nick - Very much the story of the band, I think...the song is full of metaphor, all in an attempt to describe being in a band and making records as something really rather insignificant, mere "child's play". "All of my friends come over to my house to play/We share our toys as we go peddling to Make Believe Land/Make castles in the sand of Tunes Conceived Land/Me and my friends" |
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Pearl Harbor Day (Mitchell)
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Bert - How the mighty have fallen. From a generation of warriors liberating Europe and the
Pacific to generations buried in pills, thrills and stills. An old man looks back at life as it has
passed him by and unloads it
all at once… By the way, if you see Nick, let him know where he is...
Scot - I always said I wish I had written this song. A cool idea for a song topic and a rocker on top of that. Nick - Well, Scot, you have about 50 songs that I wish I had written! Specifically, this song describes a guy waking up on his birthday, TV news in the background talking about how today is the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Lying in bed he trips through those 50 years and concludes that "not that much has changed since Pearl Harbor Day". This is one of only 3 times that a song just rushed to me, and was completely written within a few minutes. A Reason To Sing and Dream Together are the other 2. |
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A Reason To Sing (Mitchell)
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Bert Sometimes it takes more than 2 words to say “Thank You”, enough
said... Scot There was a point in time when I didn't really care for this song. But I was a lonely, bitter man. I'm much happier now and I get it. Nick - Simply put, my song for Pam. More to come, babe. |
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Not For Sure (Mitchell)
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Bert -
Is it philosophy or religion? This is the conundrum that man has
faced since he realized that if God didn't want us to eat animals
he wouldn't have made them taste like meat... Scot - Religion. Surely inspired by someone other than God. Nick - I feel the need to be very clear on this one...I have always had faith in God and believe that we will face some sort of judgment on how we've lived our life. That said, I've always been a very skeptical cat when someone proclaims to know all of the "details" about God, which religion is "right", which set of rituals, or what denomination is "correct". Not For Sure, you don't! To me, the Devil Is In The Details. Disagreements on the details is the cause of most wars. Have faith, follow your bliss, and all religions come down to the golden rule. Follow the rule, religiously. Pun fully intended. |
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Dream Together (Mitchell)
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Scot - This is the only track I can remember all of us actually being in the same building at the
same time. A one take "moment" with Nick sitting at the console and singing along while we played it in a totally different
way than we ever had. Nick - Scot's right, and it's funny because the song was written that way too. Pam had written a poem a few months before I wrote the music...I had just read it, sat down at a keyboard, and the chord change just happened. Changed the order/phrasing of the poem bit to fit the frame of the chords; the melody came instantly. The whole process took maybe 30 minutes. I love it when that happens! I really like this song. Scot's piano solo is just stunning, and Albert's tone and feel on the bass line is beautiful. |
From the 1997 release, RECORD RECORD
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Upside Down (Givens)
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Scot
- I get some crap about this being a They Might Be Giants
rip off and I guess it is. It wasn't intentional but I
listened to them a lot (and still do). It's about those
people who can never seem to leave a college campus. Nick - I think the thing that made a few people comment that it sounded a lot like TMBG is where Scot is singing an octave lower than I am on the quiet part...that part sounds a LOT like the tongue in cheek vocal style that the John's are famous for. But aside from that, the music is just wacky and more Syd Barrett than TMBG, in my view. |
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Scot - One of our best. Tight rhythm, weird chords and a break with more sounds that you'd hear
in a full song elsewhere. Nick - Definitely one of our best, and one of my top 3 favorite songs that I've written. Lyrically, it's a guy talking to the clock on the wall, trying in vain to convince himself that he's got plenty of time for life, that he can "catch up" with the clock. Musically, I'm really proud of what everyone did on this one, including the engineering. |
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Whiskey Breakfast (Ramnath, A)
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Bert
- I could write a book about this song alone. It covers everything that happened for 2
years in Bowling Green, Ohio. Good and bad, the only appropriate comment I can make is,
"wow I really did piss away a couple
years for naught!" If you listen to the lyric you will get the message. If you don't then you either are a responsible person,
or a social miscreant. Scot - Albert at his best. Great lyrics and some mighty fine chordin'. Took me forever to learn. I still screw up the bridge a little. And it's a true story. Nick - So many people can identify with the story here...it's funny, Ben Folds wrote a line in Army, 10 years after this song was written, about money wasted on college--"2 sad semesters, it was only 15 grand". Great minds...fail out of college.
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Chasing Butterflies
(Ramnath, E) |
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Bert
- There are times when the most minor incidents in your life spawn ideas that become the
catalyst for greatness. Nick getting his VW broken into was one such event. Nick loses a guitar, Erik writes a song, its all
good. Scot - What can I say about Erik. He had never really sung much before this (that I can remember) and this recording amazed us all. One of my favorites from the whole disc. Nick - I don't know about the "it's all good" bullshit! I lost my favorite strat that I've ever owned, a bass that wasn't even mine, and a box of cassettes of old shows, demos practices that I would just LOVE to have back. Erik really turned a sad event into a great song! |
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Do Well (Mitchell)
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Bert - This is a great tune that, as is with
the case with many of our songs, has grown over the
years. Whoever said hindsight is 20/20, was a
genius. Scot - Something positive from the Skeptical Cat. Nick wrote this for his sister and it should be played for every young one about to venture off on his own. And how about that piano solo? That only took about 10 takes. Nick - One of our live show favorites. Scot *almost* nails that solo every night! |
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Sour Grapes (Ramnath, A -
Mitchell)
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Bert - Boy now here is one that has been around the
block a few times. This song was
originally written in the Winter of 87. I was home with pneumonia and couldn't tolerate
the idea of being in bed any more. I grabbed the old Fostex and headed to the basement. After 2 hours, the first iterations
of this debacle reared its ugly head. With the help of my cohort in crime, what you get now here is almost what we wanted.
See the band live and you might just hear what it is supposed to sound like!
Scot - I remember Al coming to my house and playing a 4-track version of this many, many years ago. All about the schmucks who make a fortune out of mediocrity and the dopes who support it. Sad to say this really isn’t the version that does it justice. We do a better version of it now. Nick - I totally agree, this version sucks compared to what it has evolved into now. |
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Quadrennial
Circus
(Givens)
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Scot
- Election time again in the USA. Or anywhere I imagine. Anytime politicians are involved a
circus setting seems to be appropriate. Nick - This song is just brilliant, one of Scot's best "quirky" songs. We had fun trying to pull this off live from time to time.
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Opaque (Mitchell)
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Bert - I remember the night this was recorded
originally. It was
one
of those times you just start playing and everything falls together. It was almost a bad stab at being "Jazz" musicians.
Regardless it was a great time. It is songs like this that allow you to see where you can take an idea.
Scot - Very jazzy-very trippy. A great headphone song. I have listened to this many times in a row. Nick - Definitely one of my favorite Skeptical Cat songs. I just love the music, the recording, the atmosphere of this version. A dreamy, flowing song that just happens to be alternating phrases of 6/8 and 5/4. |
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Bert - A great way to interpret the greatest warning known to man...Be careful what you ask for,
you just might get it...You know what gets me? We cant get Scot to sing. HOW IRRITATING!!!
Scot - A little trip to San Francisco inspired this one. I loved the place but still imagined Hippies to be hanging around Haight-Ashbury. And no matter how great our destination is our troubles always seem to follow us. And it's in 6/8 (for the most part). Nick - This song deserves a new version. It's definitely one of Scot's prettiest songs, I like the music, but the idea of purposely trying to make the background vocals at the end sound like a bunch of drunken bums standing around a barrel fire on a street corner is probably lost on the listener...and just sounds like out of key vocals! (It WAS on purpose, I swear!) |
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Soup For One
(Ramnath, A)
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Bert - No reason for excessive comment, Thanks Jennifer.
Scot - How about that Flugel horn? Nick - Certainly one of Albert's best, and a damn good guitar solo. |
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Starting Over
(Ramnath, E)
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Bert - A nice documentary of
life in the Ramnath household. When Erik talks about starting over,
he wasn't kidding. Phoenix picked up a great man, when they stole my brother from the "Mirrors" <-- See History...
Scot - Erik again. This song has had many versions and it comes out well in different styles. A true test of a well-written song. And the Dobro was a nice touch on this version. Nick - This is still a staple of our live shows; it's one of a few "core" songs of our career that has a deep meaning to all of us...a real coming of age story that can apply to anyone. This is Erik's 2nd best song from the "old days" (see below for the 1st!). |
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Bert - Sometimes you go to a place that brands a picture into your head that you will never
forget. I have had several of these. One of these was in Bombay India. From the apartment where we stayed you could see a
little mosque that would submerge at high tide. When the sun set over the bay, you could see it reflecting back from under the
water. That was 26 years ago. I can still see it as if I was there. Well that image is what created Moonrise.
Scot - Sorry about The Doors organ. This song is very moving and Al did a beautiful job of painting a picture of a place I've never seen. Another one I always screw up the bridge to. Nick - I have mixed feelings about this version, mainly because of the sounds that were used. This song would be much better represented with authentic, acoustic instruments, or played a little bit heavier/grittier the way we currently play it live. This version is in between the two of those...certainly paints a picture like Scot says, but another example of a song that has evolved over the years into something better. And Scot, to me the Doors organ and Don's clarinet are the best parts of this version! |
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Don't Call Us
(Givens) |
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Bert - Take a walk in a day with any band in modern America. Night after night playing to an
uninterested mob in a bar that should be condemned. The modern music scene is an abysmal shadow of what it was. What makes it
worse is that the same line recurs over and over, "Don't call us. We'll call you."
Scot - Oh yes. The life of a bar band. “Do you think you can fill the place?” instead of “Are you any good?” Nick - I love the musical arrangement of this song. We did a pretty good job with the orchestra sounds, especially at the ending. And yes, anyone in a band has experienced what the subject matter is referring to...things are a lot better for Skeptical Cats since those days! |
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The Border
(Ramnath, E)
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Bert - This very well could be
one of the best tunes I have ever heard. Some times
the little brother even impresses me. This should be
listened too very loud on a good stereo because this
is sonically HUGE, and the song is damn catchy.
Scot - An epic tune-in a good way. This song sticks in my head for days at a time. Sean - Man, I remember finishing this song with Erik in the studio and deciding to go out afterwards cause it was my birthday. That's when I learned what the Heisman was. We were denied entry at the strip club. Who gets stopped on the way in to a strip club? Nick - Hands down, Erik's greatest song and one of the two strongest songs on this album. Erik, you've set the bar high with this one brother. |
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Seasonal Airwaves (Mitchell - Givens - Zellers) |
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Bert - Scot - Sean - Nick - This is our Christmas song, written and recorded in one night in the studio for Tony Peter's local music show on WTUE back in 1997. A fellow is walking down the street during Christmas time, gets into his car (freezing his arse off), and when he starts the car, the radio is blasting Christmas songs. He's tuning through the dial trying to find something, but just keeps getting different Christmas songs. Fun stuff for sure. |
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Bored and Self Destructive (Mitchell, N) |
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Bert - We all remember being 16 and angry
about everything from why the sky is blue to
the car we wrapped around a tree. Sometimes
these old thoughts have to be dredged up and
forced down your throats. Recorded live at
Trolley Stop - Dayton Oh. The Surgeon General
has stipulated that loud music is not only better
for you than wine, it's a social imperative. Nick - A better recorded version of this will be on our forthcoming release. This is an outright RAWKER, it's fun to play and we will be pushing it as a single on college/indie radio soon. |
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Whiskey Breakfast (Ramnath, A) |
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Bert - Performed live at Trolley Stop - Dayton Ohio. |
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Solstice (Ramnath, A) |
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Bert - Its what every musician likes to happen. You sit down with or at your instrument, and you puke out something that makes you smile. Solstice is such a case. There is nothing special about this piece other than it makes me smile. As the song progresses, I will keep this link up to date until we get back in the studio and record something valid. |