Surprisingly, this song made the karaoke books, probably through my distribution deal in Japan for this record.
This is probably the most pop song I ever wrote during one of the darkest times of my life. There is something about the happy-sad combination that I am hopelessly drawn to, that sometimes makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time. So this is the classic story of unrequited love, with one sitting on a broken heart and the other conflicted yet committed to a seemingly perfect union with a “perfect girl”.
Musical touchstones include Stevie Wonder, Patti Page, and Groove Armada. This was sequenced on Reason and done on ProTools Free, added drums and vocals at Studio G Brooklyn. The video was done in Rotor.
In light of the impeachment hearings, I am releasing a new video of an older tune.
I wrote this song after being inundated by news of bad politics, dysfunction in society and social media, climate change, and police brutality. I messed around with Garageband and came up with the arrangement, with a bow to Herbie Hancock on the keyboard riff, Nina and Aretha on the vocal lines, and some 6/8 electric blues. I created this video through Rotor using stock footage.
Stand back no more to see
But an unrevised history
It’s an unsteady world
But why we gotta act like dogs to live and let die
Picking fights with each other
Precious loser, you can’t love another
Zero sum he gain you lose
But you can’t pick and choose, pick and choose
(Chorus) Can’t look me in the eyes as you take your shots The blood on your hands will come out in the wash
How can you stand by and watch your brother
Fall and suffer at the hands of another
How far are we from done
From disconnecting, thinking we’re the only one
Na-na-na-na-na. hey, yeah
This ship of fools gonna sink with nobody steering us Safe and sound, blind leading them blind as we run aground Who’s there to save us when we gonna drown The water keeps rising as we all go down
(Chorus)
Na-na-na-na-na. hey, yeah
Spend your life, break your back for a system that bruises you Twenty lashes in jail when it fails you accuses you Don’t exist in the eyes of the law, they can do with you as they please You stand up for yourself and they bring you to your knees
I uploaded some more tracks from my last season playing in Antigua, Guatemala. Pardon the background noise, these were recorded on my phone but the performances should come through. Duo and trio work.
Today I’m dropping the third installment in a series of videos I’m making of my past tunes. This week it’s one of my favorite songs, “Last Night”.
This song was inspired by a visit to Kilmainham Gaol in Ireland and is about a prisoner’s conjugal visit the night before execution.
Dancing lends such kinetic energy to a song, but I was never one to work with a choreographer and backup dancers. So for this video, I grabbed all the stock footage on dancing and threw it together, and – surprise! – it actually worked. More vogueing than you can shake a stick at, and my favorite one so far.
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Alice Lee 