Happy to share the story behind this new little ditty written in honor of my friends Nikki and Janet, and their new little bundle of joy who will be arriving on planet Earth very shortly! I wrote the original "Net & Key" (a play off their names) for their wedding a few years back, so I decided to continue with the theme. The lyrics are pretty straightforward and simple since I was going for a lullaby feel. I just wanted to highlight how sometimes kids grow up to absorb so many of their parents' traits, yet they still develop completely unique personalities. I also wanted to express how happy I am that Nikki and Janet are the kind of people who I know will commit to parenting with total grace and support for each other, and total love and encouragement for their child. Can't wait to meet the baby bean!

Lyrics:
1. Maybe you’ll like telling jokes
Maybe you’ll like reading poems
Maybe you’ll like something we don’t

We’ll probably mess something up
Like misplace your best sippy cup
If it gets hard enough to give up, we won’t

CHORUS
We’re building a home for you
A place you can grow into 
Anything you want to be
You will be safe with us
We’ll earn your faith, your love, your trust
Give you our heart, net, and key

2. Maybe you’ll cheer for the Bears
Maybe speak French, eat Eclairs
Maybe you’ll do something brand new 

We’re gonna learn as you grow
We’re gonna teach what we know
If you wonder who loves you the most, we do

The other day I was looking through the "Notes" app on my phone and saw one that said "Play dead for a bear, fight a squid." That's literally all it said. I had a long wtf moment, and then I remembered a conversation I had a few years ago with a neighbor who was listing ways to survive animal attacks. I'm about 99% sure alcohol and/or weed was involved in this conversation, which probably made me think it was hilarious, which probably led to me writing down two phrases before being distracted with something else. Years later I'm sitting on my couch, guitar in hand, idea in mind, Googling about wild animal attacks. You know that whole "you're your own worst enemy" thing? That's pretty much me in a nutshell, so that's what I was going for in this song. I wrote a similarly-themed tune called Hunting Season a million years ago. I'd like to think I'm making some progress because at least this song ends on a slightly positive note. Maybe in another 10 years I'll write an even more positive version, so stick around for that.

Lyrics

1. back away from a snake
play dead for a bear
howl at a wolf
climb a tree for a deer

i know all the protocol when something wild’s coming at ya
got no clue what to do when i’m the attacker

CHORUS
do i run do I hide
do i dig a big hole and climb down or 
stand my ground and lock eyes
do I demand apologies or do I apologize
when it comes to my beast
I’m just doing my best to survive

2. eat for a cold
starve for a flu
ice for a sprain
take an aspirin or two

i know these remedies for the sick and bed-ridden
got no clue what to do when I’m the affliction

CHORUS

This song is what happens when you have 2ish chords and 3ish beers. All last week, I kept running into the phrase "don't overthink it" so I thought I'd sit down and figure out how to write a song around it. The end result mimics my typical anxiety-driven thought pattern. I'm constantly telling myself to just chill out and be in the moment, but somehow I find myself surrounded by a swarm of worry and doubt and endless questioning. It builds and builds until I have to tell myself to chill out all over again. I kind of dig the chorus and first verse, but was stuck on the last part. So I went out for a few beers with my friends and then came home to write the shitty slurry second half. I might revisit that part. Or maybe I'll just leave it alone and not overthink it. 

Lyrics:
​
CHORUS
don't overthink it, don't overdo it
sometimes it's good enough to get up and get through it
you don't have to kick every single wall down
sometimes it's good enough to get up and walk around

1. what's all this talk of getting on the saddle
what's all this talk of climbing back on the horse
what if the saddle's not compatible
what if the horse threw you off your course

what if the thing that you need currently
is to stop indulging worry so repeatedly
question marks circle like sharks in your anxiety
but their fins are only figments of the swim you see

CHORUS

2. what's all this talk of persevering,
all this outrageous talk of getting ahead
If persevering's too severe today,
it was courageous just to get out of bed

what if the thing that you need currently
is to stop indulging worry so repeatedly
question marks circle like sharks in your anxiety
but their fins are only figments of the swim you see

CHORUS

So, my incredibly talented friend Connor Garvey invited me to take part in a weekly songwriting group, and even though I am scared shitless to write songs at this rate, I accepted! While I've participated in similar projects (like my songwriting book club and The Game), this is slightly different because a) there is no prompt, and b) finishing a song in 7 days is wayyyyyy different than finishing a song in 30 days. To keep us accountable, we're not allowed to skip deadlines all willy nilly (though there there are af few get out of jail free passes). Now you know the context, so I'll get on with the content.

This week's song is called "A Way with Words." It's primarily a commentary on our relationship to technology. Awhile back I read this artcle about how mainstream songs are now being written at a 2nd grade reading level. The piece points to an intentional "dumbing down" brought on by corporations, as well as the "intellectually dimming" culture of our test-focused education system, but it doesn't really hit on technology's role in what sometimes feels like an assault on language, genuine human connection, and access to the truth.I wanted to examine that relationship in this song, but I also wanted it to stand alone as as a modern breakup song. So in the verses, the "we" can either mean all of us or both of us.

The chorus is a little bit more abstract. In the breakup analogy, it could fly as the final altercation between the couple. But to be perfectly honest, it's just me yelling at myself. If you've been following my personal journey, you know this year has been emotionally traumatic. I wake every day and try to do my best "rise from the ashes" impression, but I'm so mentally fatigued that the ashes are starting to feel like a bed I just want to lie down in. I get so irrationally impatient with my circumstantial depression, I can't help but scold myself for clinging to it. And when I can't possibly bear another word of this self-imposed lecture, what do I do? I grab my phone and stream the next episode of something-or-other in hopes it will drown out the sound of my own abuse. Welcome to the fuzzy fucked up track meet that is my brain, where having "a way with words" can be helpful or harmful depending on the day.

​Lyrics:
We used to have a way with words
Now we don’t say too much
We used to unwrap like verbs
Now we just tap to touch

We used to have things to do
Now we got screens illuminating
We used to attach like glue
Now the connection’s isolating

CHORUS
What’s the hold up, girl?
You got something to say?
You got a way with words
And they had their way with me

We used to just rise and shine
Now we just duck and cover 
We used to breathe words like wine
Now we delete each other

We used to have a crush on truth
Now we’re ablush with fabrication 
We used to rely on proof
Now we bat eyes at lie’s flirtation

CHORUS