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Learning to Roller Skate (Instrumental)
Roller skates are funny things. They
are heavy, awkward, and totally contradictory to the streamlined motion of
skating. Surprisingly I don’t
remember much learning how to ride a bike, but I have fond memories of being
too lazy to take my roller skates off and doing stupid things like climbing
stairs and going to the toilet while wearing them. They were more awkward
than most since they were the kind that didn’t have boots attached, so you
could adjust them as your feet grow.
Mike and I did this track immediately after
re-watching The Royal Tenenbaums, so the movie probably set the mood.
We hadn’t thought of the lyrics, so we did away with them and thought the
guitar and keyboards were enough. I found a hand-held xylophone (cheap
and a bit out of tune), and at the last minute we added xylophone and lead
guitar tracks. I had a few lines, from which we got the title, “… and
the older girls on the street, learning to roller skate/while I sit in my
room glued to the screen/smiling/and smitten by Elvis.”
The only thing I can remember about wanting
the title for this song is the funny thought of making a video where two old
lady best friends try their luck at a local town skating competition – they
start off awkwardly holding each other’s hands then after seeing these two
old men in the audience who they supposedly had big crushes on as kids (as
recalled by the indispensable flashback sequence), they break out into
acrobatic moves - tossing and turning – flipping their hair and each other
in the air – giving the ‘boys’ the occasional flirtatious wink…any pro bono
directors out there? – don’t hesitate to contact us.
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Morning After
Listen for that perfect sound
Between a dream and a lie, and let it ring.
This
could well be the movie in my mind
Where
you only read between the smiles
And
no one knows for sure
How
we ended up here
Or
how we ended up at all.
Looking for that empty space
When
all of this light around us has found its place.
Drive
away in my time machine
We
might just go fast enough so we could stay completely still.
And
no one knew for sure
How
we’d end up here
Or
how we’d end up at all
We
just waited for the morning after.
And
‘round the bend
One
day you’ll never be the same again.
Around the bend
The
horizon’s only an illusion for you
To
take the chance and stay alive.
The result of my first collaboration with my
brother was an instrumental, a “theme” of some sort, the way movies have
them. One day I came home and Mike had laid down a melody with these lyrics
that were both dreamy and down-to-earth; I never thought such a thing was
possible. We kept the melody of the wurly piano anyway, and the vocal walks
alongside this melody, traipses behind it, or does its own thing
separately. I thought doing that would normally result in confusion, yet
discovered that it created a sound which we both liked. I think this song
defined the rest in this record – knee-deep in vocal harmonies and spare in
instrumentation - and Morning After still has my favorite lyrics so far:
“drive away in my/time machine, we might/just go fast enough so we could
stay/completely still”.
I can’t really place it on a timeline, but I
remember vividly this one morning when Mick woke me up from a dream about
wild cats roaming around what seemed like my pre-school playground…the
cougar was about to take its turn on the fireman’s pole when she nudged me
into consciousness – turned out she had this crazy idea that siblings,
having lived together for most of her life and all of mine, could actually
come up with music that people would listen to without cheese streaming down
their cheeks…I really had nothing better to do that day so I figured id give
it a shot…the afternoon gave birth to the instrumentation for Morning After
and Sky High Blue…initially there really was no plan to add vocals but I
guess I just got used to how I wrote in the past, so that same night, I
penned the lyrics for morning after in my room with my mind in my car on a
long weekend drive home – I laid down the melodies and harmonies and that
became our first song….good things always happen when I fall
asleep on national geographic…
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Race to the Sky
Trying to find a wise device for counting time
Wondering where you hid your lucky stars
Been
ill-at-ease with vacant dreams of
Rainbows black and white
Traveling time to start where you began
And
tired of shooting high at the breeze
And
proud of sailing the colored seas
In a
race… to the sky!
Dreaming away
Chasing the starlight
A
race to the sky
Paint
the clouds a hazy shade of silver
Swallow sun, get drunk on liquid weather
Ride
the winged taxi cabs on moonlight highways
Travel space to find where you belong
I was thinking about a book we had that had a
poem called Wynken, Blynken and Nod. They were pretty popular, I think. I
loved the illustration where these three small “boys” were sailing through
the sky in a shoe. Or those cartoons where the character gets on some kind
of magical flying object and looks around in wonder, while sort of cornily
laughing at the same time. I guess this song has a bit of Great Space
Coaster inspiration in it… a
get-on-board-step-inside-soaring-through-a-magic-ride kind of thing
happening. Yet I was also thinking of Air’s Ce Matin La, which is my
favorite track in the Moon Safari album. Though the lyrics are about
a grown-up experience, I thought it would be fun to have images go along
with it. Mike and I never grew out of watching cartoons. Though mainstream
cartoons for kids these days are far more stylish, there were some old gems
that had a charming brilliance that you don’t really see anymore.
I have the most fun playing this song. Each
note in the plucking pattern relates to each note in the vocal melody in a
way that makes singing and playing equally enjoyable. Mick and I had the
same idea about the thematic Great Space Coaster likeness and that brought
about the kind of harmonies we put into the track. We’re really big on
those 80’s shows. My secret ambition is to establish a tv network that
plays only reruns of shows from the 80’s…..
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Boy Who Could Fly
I
step out to meet him, this boy who could fly
Strangely resembling one familiar with the sky
Perched on the rooftop, he surveys the city below
I
look over his shoulder and wonder if we’re focused on the same spot
The
sidewalk that bends home is light-years away
A
hundred flights down seems like a fraction
Despair and delirium play hide and seek
But
the boy remains oblivious when he says…
I
could take you with me
Across routine turns and forgetful streets
We’d
go through each daydream and won’t miss a single beat
My
window was a canvas of painted wishes
That
got washed away whenever the sky fell
I
rushed out to see him, this boy who could fly
Straight from a dream I knew he called me that night
Perched on the rooftop, we survey the city below
Looking over everyone’s shoulders and wondering if they know
This is my youngest brother Bobby’s favorite
song on the record. Once again there are images drawn here – foggy little
fellow perched on a rooftop, forgetful streets as opposed to memory lanes, a
canvas of painted wishes. I like how Mike illustrated time as sidewalks and
flights of stairs. I really don’t want to dissect this song… I think it’s a
good thing that the first person is in the dark too, and nobody really knows
what to make of this unlikely hero. Listening to it now, I hear the guitar
scratching surfaces and the piano steadily pacing back and forth, and we’re
lazily singing in a two-part harmony almost the entire time – I wouldn’t
have wanted it any other way. The Everly Brothers harmonies our mom taught
us when we were kids are tucked away neatly in the back of my head, and to
this day we think there’s no one like Simon and Garfunkel.
The imagery for this song started with my
memory of the 80’s flick with the same title. Through her window, a young
girl would witness this boy mysteriously appear on the roof with his arms
spread out like he was about to fly. I remember the actor’s face had the
ability to seem lonely yet content to be alone at the same time. Watching
it as a kid, I couldn’t quite decide whether it was depressing or glorious
in the end when he finally proved that he could fly. Looking back, that
could’ve just been a metaphor – but seeing as it was made in the 80’s, they
were probably being literal. The thing with man wanting to fly is that it
shows both ambition and desperation. I’m not sure the song has decided
which story to tell.
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Another Daybreak
Sat
himself down for what he thought would be routine
A cup
of joe, his Camels and a magazine
Another daybreak, another waitress burns his toast
But
he resolves to remember that it wasn’t always so
Patterns on every page unlock stories yet to be told
Of
catchers in the rye and streets paved with gold.
Under
the table a little boy wears daddy’s boots and dreams that someday…
A
little girl catches up with mommy’s stride and dreams that one day…
Drove
the car out into a yellow brick highway
Passed the signs that would catch your eye if it were an ordinary day
We
were young then, and couldn’t care any less
Tell
me how would you resist cornfields and rocket ships
They
fell in love with the headlights on and the stars in her hair
Joni
was singing her song while the wind danced like Fred Astaire.
This was a song written by Mike about 4 years
ago. I just helped out with the melody that time because it was meant for
female vocals. We did a swingy, groovy piano part this time, which gave it
a slightly different feel. I wish I could play this kind of music better.
I like the images here… the man smoking in a diner and later driving through
an urban Oz. I remember spending breaks at my former workplace smoking
alone, taking a minute to be careless, sick of the daily routine, and
everything seemed wrong. I think I spend about half my life daydreaming I
was somewhere else.
I’m probably the most nostalgic guy I know.
The fun part of reminiscing is mysticizing the missing pieces in your memory
– almost convincing yourself that it happened a little differently – somehow
the gaps from one event to the other, the parts of the conversation you
can’t seem to remember, that person whose name you seem to have forgotten –
they all justify the probability that it was a lot more glamorous than most
people believe it was. I sat myself down on my mythical diner thirty years
from now – but fifty decades back in history – recreated my past and my
future simultaneously – then asked a girl to sing about it for me.
Originally, that girl was Michaela Tatad from my previous band Fiddler’s
Green - my sister and I recreated the song with her piano and vocals this
time around for Outerhope. The swing emphasized by the keys really lifted
the song and I feel like this is how it was really meant to sound.
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Five Miles
We were just playing around and came up with
this piece that had a restless tone to it. We thought the instrumentation
already captured the feeling of anxiety that we wanted – going somewhere,
having no idea where, traveling and stopping and going again, running out of
fuel, finding a fork, losing the map, being almost there but not quite –
that all we needed were a few words, and a lot of humming.
Five Miles is our tribute or I should say
royalty to the novel that provided our name Outerhope. The least we can do
is rip off the entire title right? No, but it just fit us perfectly and if
anything Nicola Barker should feel nothing but delight at the thought of
encapsulating the lives of two frustrated musicians in just four words. I
think the general feeling of restlessness that the song gives is amplified
in the sparing lyrics “five miles to go…five miles more” – you’re given a
definite distance but you really can’t be sure what that number means to you
– most of the time we can’t decide whether we’re relieved that we’re almost
there or frustrated that we’re not there yet.
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Moving Away
She’s
walking away from days in the sun
To
light up the sky with a million more
She’s
drifting away and like a child she dreams
Of
pennies and rainbows and a million more
Someday you’ll wonder where the tides come crashing down
Girl
lay your weary head.
She’s
longing for days that sent her wandering
To
bridges and highways under sunlit skies
How
hazy and blinding now, the lights before her eyes
Who’ll pick up the pieces when we fall apart?
Someday you’ll wonder where the tides come crashing down
Lay
your weary head.
I originally did not want to include this
song on the record. However, some of our friends really liked it and said
it reminded them of The Sundays, which is one of my favorite, favorite
bands. I used to listen to the album
Reading, Writing and Arithmetic
day and night. Harriet Wheeler has a very distinct, sparkling voice.
Another singer I really like is Suzanne Vega. When I was little and first
heard the song Luka, I was enthralled. She has this very shy, nearly
indifferent tone, and I think of her as an outsider, an observer. And I
really like Karen Peris of The Innocence Mission – her voice childlike and
sudden and almost out-of-breath, like a fizzy whisper. I think these girls
have amazing voices, despite the air of self-consciousness that sometimes
surrounds them. My mom used to sing Astrud Gilberto songs all the time,
which probably explains why I lean toward this type of singing. I think I
identify more with these singers because I’ve always had a sort of wimpy,
regular-girl voice and I never could relate to the Arethas of our time –
though I think they’re incredible and I’m probably just jealous. Still, I
love all these shy introverted singers, imperfections included, and I think
I finally got to an age where I no longer mind sounding like myself.
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Makisama
Naniniwala bas a sariling pag-aalangan
Inukit na kaligtasan
Ang
pagtalikod mo’y pa-kanan
At
ang naiwan mong mundo’y pa-kaliwa naman
Nagpapadala sa tadhana
Ang
kawalan ng pangarap
Pipiliin pa ang nakasanayang pang-karaniwan
lang
Makisama
Panaginip:
Naglalakad, nagpapanggap, tinatanggap
Nag-iisang
naglalakad
Naiiba, nag-iisa.
These are the only lyrics we actually sat
down to write together. We were thinking of the Beatles’ Nowhere Man, and
about how everybody becomes one at some point. I think everyone finds it
difficult to resist choosing safer paths. The “panaginip” part creeps me
out a bit. A whistling vocal part would have underlined the thought, but
it’s a shame that neither of us knows how to whistle. I can whistle about
three notes max. We used a chorus
rhodes voice on the keyboard instead,
and a lot of vocal harmony.
This actually started off as a potential
English song – I already had the chord progression done - but we were
challenged by the idea of writing in Tagalog just because we’ve never tried
to. We worked on the words together and I hogged the vocals on one
harmony crazed night. I’m not sure Mick has forgiven me for that.
I wasn't too comfortable with the sarcasm in this song. I didn't
really want to seem self-righteous. Anyway, i guess i just want it to
be personal rather than social.
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Sky-High Blue
You
and I on a roller-coaster ride
That’s making you high, making me blue
Walking down the street and the cars are passing me by
I’ve
made a whirlwind of my life just following you
I’m
trying to find you baby while you walk the world in circles.
I
know it’s a battle of ever-changing minds
Walk
the world in circles into a fever-high
Cross
the distant spaces through a maze of lives
Where
can I find you under this sky- high blue?
You
and I spend our days in tangled ties
Will
the sidewalks end in shadows dark with an impossible hue?
Walking down the street, kicking ladders and changing signs
The
roads are slippery wet with lies and I’m following blind.
This song was written in the same day we did
Morning After, and was supposed to be an instrumental as well. We found
this odd strobe sound on the keyboard. It took forever to do the lyrics,
silly as they are. The image of a bewildered person deliriously chasing
someone around was probably brought about by that persistent strobe sound
and the out-of-place sevens in the chords. This song just seems to ramble
on and on, wearily. And I thought about that feeling of being relentless
while doing something that is at once urgent and futile. I realized that
there is such a feeling as getting a buzz on perplexity, and found that it
wasn’t easy to describe.
Sky High Blue was probably the most
frustrating to record because of the uncooperative strobe we chose from
Mick’s Roland – playing this live in our first gig at Conspiracy, virtuoso
musician friend Joon Guillen salvaged the song when he replaced the strobe
with a guitar riff which I think was inspired by my breaking into a Guns N’
Roses song in one of our practice sessions. Now you know our roots. I
really like the lyrics my sis wrote. I don’t think I can ever pull off
using the word “baby” in a song. The melody is meant to drag you across the
floor, spin you around in circles and make you forget whatever it is you’re
looking for.
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Nth Noon
Hear
beyond these hollow walls
The
footsteps of familiar hours
And
run away into the halls of time
Hand
me the keys we’ll step into
The
unexplored, until we find
A
hideaway like nothing we have seen
Take
my hand we’ll cross the sand dunes
Through the doorways of the nth noon
Echoing across our minds
The
drifting waves of distant seas
We
float awake our heads upon the tide
Take
my hand we’ll cross the sand dunes
Through the doorways of the nth noon
Take
my hand we’ll cross the sand dunes
Our
stroke of luck around the nth noon
Light
the paper matches that make fireflies
Strangely paired like you and I
Where
things we’ve lost grow on trees
This was originally “Nth Moon”. Someone sent
me an e.e. cummings poem about eight years ago, and it goes:
who
knows if the moon's
a baloon,coming out of a keen city
in the sky--filled with pretty people?
(and if you and i should
get into it, if they
should take me and take you into their baloon,
why then
we'd go up higher with all the pretty people
than houses and steeples and clouds:
go sailing
away and away sailing into a keen
city which nobody's ever visited,where
always
it's
Spring)and everyone's
in love and flowers pick themselves
I was thinking of this poem, and I thought of
wanting to be in that place an infinite number of times, which makes an
endless number of moons and keen cities in the sky that “nobody’s ever
visited”. It started as a song about an odd couple, but it no longer is. I
think this song may be for me and my siblings and the giant transitions we
went through the last couple of years. I think we were forced to grow up
overnight, with a great deal of reluctance. Now that I think about it, this
album may just be about our resistance to adulthood, and trying to escape it
in vain.
I was also thinking about a Cocteau Twins
song title: “Theft and Wandering Around Lost” that interestingly makes you
wonder where all the stolen things go.
Mike misheard me and thought it was “Nth
Noon”, which works with “our stroke of luck”, and this utopia became a time
and a place.
This is probably my favorite among all the
songs written by my sister. I just like how the haunting lyrics are
playfully laid out over the melody. This might not exactly be what Mick was
imagining but (well, that’s the beauty of collaboration i think. My imagination
depends on me – while our collective imagination in this case, depends on you) I was in my Last Unicorn, Flight of
Dragons, The Labyrinth, Twelve Months, Fire and Ice, etc. setting when i did
the guitar parts for this track.
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Final Hour
I
rode the bus though you’re sitting in the parking lot
The
sun rays shine and it’s lovely outside
Blue
is the air surrounding me and while I see through
The
haze of cars and lights I finally try
To
steer clear of you
What
can I do
Today’s a new day and I’m only half-gone
This
is how it happens every time, I feel just fine
Til
you charm me, til you find me
Today’s the strangest day
Spent
too much time dreaming
I’m
here and half-awake
Today’s the finest day
Until
I count the final hour
I’m
only halfway
I’m
in a reverie swimming slowly half-blind
My
mother says my heart sets my sleeve on fire
Move
towards tomorrow I must try
But
half of me won’t leave this hiding place
I’m
split in the middle, won’t be whole ‘til dark
The instrumentation of this track was done by
Joon Guillen, who had written it some time ago and emailed me the file. We
collaborated entirely through mail. I did the lyrics and melody for this.
Mike put in the harmonies and we got a bit carried away. It really is just
about trying to get over someone. We did not lift a single finger to add an
instrument here; Joon played everything. The guy’s a genius! The
instrumental supposedly had a trumpet solo part, and sounded like an old
caper flick, which underlined the idea of trying to get away quite nicely.
We recorded this at home, and I think it came out pretty well. I couldn’t
get it out of my head for a whole month.
The only thing I’m responsible for in this
track are my harmonies. Joon outdid himself here and Mick surprised us both
with the early 90’s sounding melody which I think fits the song perfectly.
This is our only song with beats and a phantom full band – too bad Joon
decided to remove the trumpet in the instrumental part though. We’re still
trying to figure out if we can play this live.
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