Song #25: Strychnine (2015 52-Song Project)

This is one of the many songs I wrote in the wake of my longest relationship.

In 2008, I recorded an entire album of those songs, called Love Bites. And then I wrote an entire second album worth of songs. That album has not yet been recorded, but in my mind it is entitled "(un)Mutual Street".

This is one of the songs that will go on that album, if I ever record it.

The idea for this song comes from two true stories: the story of Lorena Gallo Bobbitt and a amazing true story that one of my dear friends told me about one of his university friends who was actually poisoned by his girlfriend. She put strychnine in his coffee after she found out from someone else that she was not his only lover. He almost died, but did not. He did not stop having multiple simultaneous lovers, but he did switch from a don't-ask-don't-tell policy to a full-disclosure policy. She sought professional help.

Combined with these ideas, this song explores the difference between using our angry feelings to create art and using them to inflict pain on another person. What this song is trying to say is that there is a big difference between wanting to kill or harm someone and actually doing it. And that creating art can provide the type of catharsis that enables us to resist the urge to harm another person.

Another theme explored in this song is the merit in deciding to leave a difficult situation.

This reminds me of one of my favourite stories. Years ago, I used to play squash at the St. Lawrence Community Recreation Centre. There was an after-school program there and one day, as I walked up to the counter to pay for my court time, I overheard the recreation worker at the desk and a pre-teen after-school participant talking:

Preteen: But she said–

Rec Worker: I don't care what she said. When–

Preteen: No, but she started it. She was–

Rec Worker: I don't care who started it. I know you know what you're supposed to do when something like that happens. I know you know that you are supposed to Remove Yourself From the Situation.

Preteen: But, she was–

Rec Worker: No. I know you know enough to Remove Yourself From the Situation, and you didn't.

Preteen: You don't understand.

Rec Worker: Yes, I do. It doesn't matter what she said or did. You hit her and that's why you are up here with me.

Remove Yourself From the Situation has been one of my mottoes ever since. When something is really getting my goat and making me angry, I know that I have to remember what that preteen was struggling to learn:

If you can't do or say something nice, get outta there.

P.S. I can't believe that in 25 songs, this is only the second one that I have felt I have to age-restrict because of inappropriate language. Who knew I had so many "PG13" songs?

Song #17: Tecumseth (2015 52-song Project)

Tecumseth is a short street in Toronto that runs from Queen West to the railroad tracks.

When I lived in Toronto, I often used it as a cycling route/shortcut from downtown to the west end.

I never lived on Tecumseth, but about 20-odd-years-ago, I had a dream that I had lived there in an old abandoned church with my most recent ex at the time. (That should be an acronym. My MREATT.)

That dream resulted in this song:

This is not a song I've performed very frequently. It's a bit more jazzy than my usual vibe and it never seemed to fit into my sets. I like it, though.

And I can still vividly remember that dream. Even after all these years.

*Because I'm super-busy and traveling and homeless this month, I'm pre-scheduling these posts. That means that I can't provide a link to the song on YouTube, because it doesn't exist yet, at the time that I'm writing this post. But here's a link to my 52-song Project playlist where you can find the song with the final version of the lyrics.

Song #16: Queen Street Coffee (2015 52-song Project)

This is a pretty old song which I wrote in my early 20s when I lived in Toronto.

This song was composed on my back back when I was an avid cycle commuter.

It's essentially about a "relationship hangover", the experience of one relationship hanging on and overshadowing the beginning of the next relationship.

I am often a vivid dreamer and this song describes the experience of my unconscious mind holding on to longing after a person even after my conscious mind has moved on.

Song #13: Four Walls (2015 52-song project)

This song was written in Spring 2014, shortly after I moved into my Tiny Home, just in time for five long, miserable days of snow, rain and sleet.

It's part love song for my house and cat and part break-up song for a relationship that had ended shortly before my move. The references in the song are to off-grid living in a converted trailer. No electricity. No running water.

My Tiny Home c. March 2014

I added a third verse to the song in the fall of 2014.

Here's the song:

Song #2: Shadow of Your Shadow (2015 52-Song Project)

The first song in this project was one of my newest; this second song is over 20 years old.

I wrote it in October 1994 in the wake of a bad break-up. I was 23 years old. I was just in the process of defining my identity and that is essentially what this song is about.

The first verse of this song is inspired by Jacques Brel's song Ne Me Quitte Pas, which ends with the lyrics: "Laisse moi devenir / l'ombre de ton ombre / l'ombre de ta main / l'ombre de ton chien" – which translates in English to: "Let me become / the shadow of your shadow / the shadow of your hand / the shadow of your dog".

 

The relationship that ended in 1994 had consisted of a great deal of Jacques Brel and also many shadows.