Coffee = good

It's a pretty good day, in spite of the fact that I got 4 hours of sleep and feel like I fell down a flight of stairs because, well, yesterday I fell down a flight of stairs.

Not good times. No broken bones, luckily, but some pretty bruised arms and hands.

Anyway, my mood is buoyed by the fact that I got to have breakfast this morning with my friend Pete, who was in town for a few days.

Incidentally, Pete's biweekly restaurant review in the NY Times can be found here.

Although it was early (6:45 am!) and far too brief, it was good to see Pete. We ate at the newly transplanted Al's Grill in Oak Park, a staple of our high school years. After that, I got a chance to ride the Green Line into the Loop, which is a much more interesting ride than the Red Line and brings back childhood memories of Thanksgiving morning.

Good times.

My mood is also up because of a great rehearsal last night. We are busting our asses to get our album done and not playing out much, so we've been kicking around some new material, specifically a tune called Canary. I wrote it after listening to nothing but Wilco for about a month, so I didn't think it would be a good BRB tune... but everyone really seems to love it.

We've played it live twice, at Double Door and House of Blues, but last night we got down to some serious work on it and the result was a pretty kick ass arrangement. The key was that we spent the entire rehearsal on one tune. Trying subtle changes, throwing out ideas... it was pretty cool, and I hope it is the future all of all things BRB.

Canary is about how everybody's got a relationship that was kind of a sacrifice and a test, like sending a canary down a mine shaft. In print, the lyrics seem a bit too... obvious, but they work really well with the overall vibe of the song, which is almost that of a nursery rhyme. And a bunch of the songs I've written lately have this same type of almost Orphean imagery... which I find to be a pretty compelling story.

CANARY Went down the open hole Into the dark black coal And even if you're there for years Every spring I'll shed your tears Don't look back it's no remedy A sweeter song won't set you free And even though your eyes may bleed No blinding light will let you see No blinding light will let you see Chorus: If you love it, let it breathe If it breathes, it'll let you love But if that mockingbird don't sing Just go on and pull off its wings You were once the golden prize So it should come as no surprise That you're still on my mind And I think the night is falling So you sit in your broken cage Until your feathered voice gives way You didn't give your life in vain 'Cause you made me so happy I'm so happy Chorus Bridge: And I see the yellow streaked with black And you're like a train upon my tracks So don't come round here looking for sympathy 'Cause we've all got a bird like you Yeah we've all been a bird like you Chorus X2

jbg