MY DAD IS DEAD

Missing Pieces

TRACK NOTES

(So as not to repeat myself constantly, I play all instruments unless otherwise noted)

PARODY Recorded during the sessions for Let’s Skip the Details. Vocals were added several years later, (“She said all your life is a parody, you’re a chameleon can’t you see, how your colors are ever changing”) but the version that had them is lost to the ages. DARK AGE REVIVAL Recorded specifically for John Flansburgh and Marjorie Galen’s Hello CD of the Month Club. http://tmbw.net/wiki/Hello_CD_Of_The_Month_Club and released in April 1995. The Hello Club CD originally contained 5 songs. Taxi Driver, Always and Forever, and Bittersweet later found their way onto the Shine(r) CD in 1996. This one and “Shades of Blue” had not previously been re-issued. Lyrically this little post-apocalyptical tune presents the viewpoint that there is always the opportunity to exploit tragedy. Written in 1994, it clairvoyantly imagines the YouTube generation. MYSTERIOUS WAYS Recorded during the sessions for Everyone Wants The Honey but Not the Sting in 1996/1997. Lyrics for this one had their germination in a piece written originally for a performance at the Blue Circle in Cleveland in 1986. Growing up Catholic, I had always been fascinated by the oft repeated phrase, “God hears your prayers, he just doesn’t always answer them”. It always seemed like a convenient excuse for those who advocated the “power of prayer”. Matt Swanson plays the bass. Shayne Ivy the drums. TIME AND AGAIN Recorded during the sessions for Chopping Down the Family Tree. It didn’t really seem to have a place on the album, and didn’t seem fully developed enough lyrically. The line “Time to open up, free the demons and it’s…” became jokingly repeated as “time to open up, eat the demon sandwich”. Not the strongest horse in the stable, but I still liked the song enough to let it appear on Robert Griffin’s Hotel Cleveland Vol II compilation in 1992. 43 CANDLES Recorded during the sessions for A Divided House. A simple song really, about feeling old approaching my 43rd birthday. Again, didn’t feel lyrically developed enough to make the final cut. Scott Pickering plays the drums. HURRY UP Recorded for Divided House. Another one of those that just didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the LP’s songs. Lyrically it comes from the long periods of separation Jeanne and I had during our long distance phase, while I was still living in Cleveland. I love Scott’s drumming on this. THE QUIET MAN (Revisited) Recorded specifically for a local (Durham) compilation album (Compulation 2) in 2007, which just came out last year. At the time there was recently another one of those “quiet man” killers uncovered in the region, so it seemed apropos. Is there ever any shortage of them? Seems like this song unfortunately will never be obsolete. A Boss DR-880 plays the bass and drums. There are some pretty good instrumental tracks recorded “revisiting” some of the other songs on the first LP. We’ll see if they slip out there someday. JUST PRETENDING Originally released on Vital Cog “Pet Sounds vol 1”), which ended up coming out in 1999, this was recorded sometime between 1996-1997. Specifically was going for the super happy Casio pop sound with the exceedingly depressing lyrics about being on the verge of giving up. This was a weird time in my life after my divorce, when empty Crown Royal bags littered my apartment. A borrowed Casio provides the keyboard and drum sounds. SHADES OF BLUE More post divorce “blues”. The “keyboard” is actually a synth plug in on an old Mac Quadra played live into the tape deck. Drums are played by an Alesis SR-16. OLD TOYS OR A BOAT Recorded during the Taller Your Are sessions in 1988/1989 and originally released as part of a split tour single with Prisonshake in 1991. When trying to come up with a name for the song, I asked Jeff Curtis (who plays bass) and he said, “I don’t know, it sounds like old toys to me, or maybe a boat” An Alesis HR-16 plays the drums. TIME HAS COME TODAY In preparation for our big upcoming European tour in 1989 we wanted to have a couple of covers to pull out of the well in case the crowds weren’t responding well to our stuff, so we learned this and VU’s What Goes On to add to our repertoire. We also tried “Magic Carpet Ride” and there is a studio recorded version of this that is so bad I promise it will never see the light of day! This song (Time) was one of my early childhood favorites. Both went over very well in Europe. You can get a copy of the live version of What Goes On at the MDID website. When Gerard Cosloy asked me to contribute a song for Homestead’s Human Music compilation, it seemed like a natural choice. I always liked doing something “special” for comps that wouldn’t end up getting released on a regular album somewhere. Unfortunately, this song got cut from the CD version, ostensibly due to length. I was told straws were drawn. WHERE’S OUR REASON Recorded during Chopping sessions (1990) Originally released as part of Simple Machines Records “Working Holiday” single series in June of 1993. http://www.simplemachines.net/whol.html. The end of the song is supposed to give you the impression of a burning, crackling fire. Would that there were video back then. Jeff Curtis plays the bass. SECOND THOUGHTS Recorded during Chopping sessions. 1990. Originally released as part of Jim Ellis’ CLE Magazine sampler CD in 1995. I was single at the time it was recorded and single again by the time it came out. It’s about all those silly self esteem issues that arise when “dating”. Jeff Curtis plays bass. John McEntire plays drums. FLESH COLORED HOUSE Recorded as a one off for a split single with Bastro for Clawfist records in 1991. http://www.discogs.com/label/Clawfist Bastro covered our Nothing Special on the A, while I threw together (literally) a “medley” of Bastro tunes for the B side, including the title track. Also mixed in some samples of their own song “Shoot me a Deer” and some Public Enemy, which was maybe too obvious. Dave Grubbs was a lyrical genius, but just like Louisville bands of the time always seemed to release 20 minute records, his lyrics often took up mere seconds of the song. NOTHING SPECIAL The closest MDID has to a “signature” song, this one was often our most requested on tour, and was covered by at least 3 bands that I know of. As such, many different versions exist. I think this one, recorded for the John Peel show in May of 1990 was one of the best, with Doug Gillard on beautiful lead guitar, Chris Burgess on Bass, Tim Gilbride on rhythm guitar. I was playing drums along with the Alesis HR-16. This was the same lineup throughout our 1990 European tour, which was probably a high point in terms of live band quality. HERE TO STAY Recorded for A New Clear Route. Didn’t seem to fit on the record thematically, and musically a little “rough” for the sometimes clichéd lyrical content. but it still has one of my favorite lyrical lines from the whole set of tunes.. “There you are looking out at me, from a captured piece of history”, and a nice rollicking feel throughout. Billy Buckley plays bass. Scott Pickering the drums. THE HOMECOMING Recorded during Details sessions. The crazy guitar was added a few years later. My brother had a Vietnam War story regarding the sinking of his boat during enemy action near Saigon. He knew someone who died in that event that was scheduled to rotate home the next week. I often wanted to write something about the ultimate sense of regret and sadness, and what must have echoed in the mind of that man’s last moments, but never quite found the vehicle to make it all come together lyrically and musically. This came close to what I wanted, but not exactly, hence never released it...