Feb 2022 banjo haunted spoken-word
Last song this FAWM. I may do the lyrics later this week as spoken-word. And the lyrics tell the story of how the song came to me.
March 3 - updated with spoken vocal. First time I think I've ever updated one of my demos post-FAWM.
I have this recurring place I go to in my dreams.
It’s a small community of shacks on stilts, down by a river.
Sometimes it feels like Ohio, other times
like Florida – like last night, there were gators
in the dream.
The shacks are all connected through hidden rooms
and trap doors, and often I wander from shack to shack
until I wind up in a waterfront tavern.
And usually the tavern doesn’t have what I want
and I wind up settling for something else.
I wake up from these dreams unsettled but not scared,
and I go out to the kitchen for a glass of water, unsure if I’m still
in the dream or not. And then I go back to bed and
the dream starts up again.
This happens about once a month or so. (I’ve never told
my therapist about it.)
Last night, I was just sort of strumming, stringing chords together,
and this song appeared – just guitar, no words.
I wrote down the chords so I wouldn’t forget them, because
it’s not quite what I usually come up with.
This morning I picked up the guitar again, and had a wow moment –
If my recurring dream had a soundtrack, this song
would be it.
@mikeskliar Mar 2022
This is something new for you- and really inventive and compelling! I love this. Feels like (not that I really believe this, but its a good story) some good musical and creative ghosts have you in their sights, wondering how their whole ghostly ethos can get reflected in your unique and down-home musicality. Chords, by the way, remind me of some 'recent-era' Bob Dylan (some of those more tin pan alley-sounding things on 'love and theft' , like 'moonlight' for example?) Love how you bring it all back home in the end :)
@wylddandelyon Mar 2022
I have recurring places in my dreams too, and they aren't real-world places. They're mostly a lot more interesting than real-world places. Hidden rooms and secret passageways for he win.
Nice soundtrack for your dream and fun words.
#tit4tat
@berni1954 Mar 2022
I can really identify with this one.
Dreams are really one of the weirdest aspects of our sub-consciousness. Several times in my life I have had dreams where I am convinced I have woken from a weird dream and I go about my daily life until somethign strange happens and I realise I am still dreaming. I then desperately wake up, relieved and then to my horror something else supernatural happens and I realise I still haven't woken up. When I eventually do wake up, I spend half the day waiting for something to come out of a wall or whatever that will show me I am still in the unconscious matrix.
@andygetch Mar 2022
A very cool weaving of storytelling with banjo and guitar. I especially smiled at the line 'I've never told my therapist about it'.
@hmorg Mar 2022
I don't know why, but the music seems to go perfectly with spoken word vocals, like there's something storylike, even prosaic about the music itself. I mean, of course I might think otherwise if you'd sung the lyrics instead, but this feels like a perfect match this way.
@cts Mar 2022
Something about reoccurring dreams; I tend to think of them as a consistency about a particular aspect of me. I'm glad you were able to come back to this track (I love the instrumentation) and expound on the wow moment. Always a good feeling when that happens.
@danvaillancourt Mar 2022
I love this spoken word story about a reoccurring dream. Great story that keeps me interested all the way through. I have written songs in my dreams before and occasionally I remember them when I awake. Nice soundtrack... with haunted banjo of course!
@timfatchen Mar 2022
Applause for the banjo. Lyric:, metaFAWM recursion! I think the serious matter of fact recitation adds to the flavour. Concept is interesting. Given that so many people seem to think I create storylines out of my fevered imagination, instead of them actually relating to realities in my existence, I'm not even going to ask! Oddly, none of my dreams have soundtracks. but are you quite sure your haunted banjo sn't, in fact, haunted?
@odilongreen Mar 2022
What a cool recursive meta dream song. What is a dream, what is real, and where do we lie on the spectrum? The rustic, folksy backing adds to the slightly disquieting Appalachian charm, and your recounting of the story feels very personal and immediate, with a dash of magical realism thrown in.
@elainedimasi Feb 2022
This is extremely enjoyable as a narrative to silently read while listening to the music. Somehow " I go back to bed and the dream starts up again" matches to a chord change and feels real; "I wander from shack to shack" matches to a section of the music and feels real; yeah, I don't know. Maybe I get to also have this dream tonight!
Durn haunted banjos strewn all through this year's FAWM! Have they always been here, and I never noticed before?
@darcistrutt Feb 2022
Spooky how it came to be but a very enjoyable listen. I like the way you play banjo.