Latest Update
January 16th:
This weekend, I had the honour and pleasure of playing at the wedding of Kimberly and Stephen McCormick. They had me do what I think was a brilliant idea: as they signed the registry, my friend Benjamin Cecchetto and I performed Jack Johnson's "Better Together". If this becomes a 'thing' I do, all credit and thanks goes to these two newly weds.

November 4th:
I've become the Website Coordinator for the Songwriters Association of Canada, so I've taken a supporting role towards song writing and performances. I'm still working on songs, but my free time is more devoted to their website than my own.
I'll figure out a good balance soon.

July 29th:
A lot has happened! All in the span of a week! I attended SongStudio - a wonderful week completely immersed in the art of songwriting. Last year, for me, it changed songwriting from being a lonely pursuit to a community effort. We workshop songs in the morning, hear from established songwriters in the afternoon, and share our songs at night.

April 25th:
Take a listen tomorrow, April 26th @ 8 pm to Meghan Morisson's webcast and interact with the performers during the show! It'll be recorded for later consumption, but it's a live show because there's live interaction with the performers! Come out and practice making us dance with your persuasive chat room skills.

Write me: david@dstbe.com

UPCOMING SHOWS
* TBD: Regrouping! Expect another show some time soon in summer! Some bar/restaurant, Toronto-or-nearby, ON Yay-day, Smarchober 14th, 2012
PREVIOUS SHOWS
* Let Them Eat Cake Free Times Cafe, Toronto, ON Friday, April 15th, 2011 * Something Different Smiling Buddha, Toronto, ON Thursday, March 10th, 2011 * yes, please and friends @ the central The Central, Toronto, ON Friday, September 17th, 2010 at 8:30pm * Bursting With Fruit Flavour Free Times Cafe, Toronto, ON Friday, April 23th, 2010 at 8:30pm * I'm never gonna give it to you Free Times Cafe, Toronto, ON Friday, March 18th, 2010 at 8:30pm * The Livin', Breathin' Experience Free Times Cafe, Toronto, ON Friday, October 17th, 2009 at 8:00pm * Surprise! Last Minute Performance Harlem, Toronto, ON September 19th, 2009 at 8:00pm	* Nick, Dave, John Free Times Cafe, Toronto, ON Friday, July 10th, 2009 at 8:30pm * Smiling Buddhas for Everyone! Smiling Buddha, Toronto, ON Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 8:00pm * You Don't Know Me At All Free Times Cafe, Toronto, ON Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 8:30pm * After the Meltdown Free Times Cafe, Toronto, ON Thursday, January 15. 2009 at 8:30pm * Toby & David, together at last The Rearview Mirror, Toronto, ON Sunday, December 21, 2008 at 8:00pm * I Just Hate August Eight, 08-08-08 Free Times Cafe, Toronto, ON Friday, August 8, 2008 at 8:30pm * The April 19th Show Free Times Cafe, Toronto, ON Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 9:00pm
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David St Bernard is a builder and performer who loves a well-constructed song.

Over the past two years, he has become more focused in his efforts, thanks to having found a wonderful community of talented, self-driven songwriters, all looking to transform from wooden dolls into real artists, with character and vision and *.

David loves performing, and is a karaoke enthusiast. He frequents several of Toronto's late night karaoke scenes, including karaoke night at the Fox and Fiddle and Hip Hop Karaoke at Revival.

Ultimately, he hopes to someday hear others perform his own tunes at karaoke. :)

Chryckie!

Provided courtesy of:
http://chryckie.tumblr.com/

Perfecting the Science of the Idiot

Driving Lessons

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:59:12 -0400 -

Driving lessons are sweet, when you don’t have a car of your own. Some people drive everyday to get places. I just drive for the experience.

I got driven home by my instructor’s next student, and it made me feel a lot better about my own driving. She had a heavy foot, and veered to the right of the lane consistently. I gasped a number of times, even though I was trying to keep quiet.

She reinforced a lesson for me about attention: you may know to stop at a stop sign, but you won’t notice the signs if you’re preoccupied with something else. I could tell by her response that she knows to stop at stop signs. Still, she slides through each one.

The trick is: what’s going on in her head, and how do we push it aside to make room?

Vipassana Meditation

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 23:51:22 -0400 -

So, another retreat leaves me with a refined outlook on life. I went on a ten-day silent meditation retreat out of town, where I lives like a monk and learned the practice of Vipassana meditation.

If you’ve ever wondered what life would be like out of the rat race, if you’ve ever wanted to be able to focus your mind, if you’ve ever wondered if you could last ten days without communication, this is the thing to do! My friends all joke about it in public, but they ask me in private how to sign up.

Warning: you’ll be surprised to see just how wild and unruly the mind can get without all of modern day life’s distractions. For a full disclosure of my experience: http://www.dstbe.com/blog/?p=864

Chryckie!

Provided courtesy of:
http://www.dstbe.com/blog

Perfecting the Science of the Idiot

Post #153: Occupy What?: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:01:09 +0000 - The Occupy Bay Street is being evicted from St. James park. I’ve heard good things about the protesters. Mostly about the character and heart of the people involved. I hope they made friends, and stay connected to do more after the city outs the Occupancy fire. I think it’s risky to do what they did [...]
Post #152: The Murder Mystery Halloween Costume Birthday Party: Sat, 05 Nov 2011 15:50:04 +0000 - It’s 11:30 am, and I’m taking the day to myself, hopefully. There is always something going on around here, and I hate missing out on fun. My birthday party was last weekend. Halloween weekend. I usually gloat that the world holds several house parties in celebration of MY birthday, and I just need [...]

DStBe

Provided courtesy of:
http://dstbe.bandcamp.com

Feed for DStBe

Before We Get Down To Business: 1. Stay Home: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:00:04 -0000 2010-08-27T12:00:04Z -
Before We Get Down To Business: 2. The Dead End Of Loving My Lust: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:00:03 -0000 2010-08-27T12:00:03Z -
Before We Get Down To Business: 3. The Seven Books of Harry Potter: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:00:02 -0000 2010-08-27T12:00:02Z - There was a time when I was waiting patiently to the sixth book of Harry Potter....
Before We Get Down To Business: 4. Colour My Numbers: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:00:01 -0000 2010-08-27T12:00:01Z -
Before We Get Down To Business: 5. Weather Vane Woman: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:00:00 -0000 2010-08-27T12:00:00Z -
Demo Tape: 1. The Distance: Tue, 01 Jan 2008 12:00:01 -0000 2008-01-01T12:00:01Z - "She" is Angela "Angel" Sinclair.
Demo Tape: 2. You Make Me: Tue, 01 Jan 2008 12:00:00 -0000 2008-01-01T12:00:00Z - First DStBe song ever.

i thought i'd tell you you're beautiful. i thought it's time i should let you know
although i meant it, you'd read too far into what i said
you fit my arms perfectly and you're one step beside me in everything. at this pace, we'll step into forever
inside, i'm screaming. not ready for this ain't right

why is it an effort to want to call you? why are you so hard for me to miss?
why do i avoid saying that you're my girl? why is my heart still unconvinced?
you saw me first a long time ago. i saw you later and we based it all on this
we saw the error, we stayed together, we played the weather, let it rain upon our kiss

you make me want to hold you closer. you make me want to play with fire
you make me want another moment alone with you. you make me empty when we do
but there were times i felt us being true and i was glad to be seeing you
but rendezvous brought nothing new. thought i, denial; said you, confused
just promise me as i promise you not to run into someone again

i'm glad to finally have let you go..
you make me want my arms around you. you make me so confused. i have to write about you
this started as a love song, but it didn't start with you

Lyrics | Close

now that's the third time i heard your name. dear god, i didn't clear my mind to be already set on you. i mean, from what i know, you're not my type, but when i close my eyes, you always come in sight. so fine, i called, you said, "come by." i went to find the common ground we shared. we really hit it off that day. i wished your kiss had left a mark for me to never wash away.
now i feel drawn to where you go, but i cover it with friends and perhaps i'll have a good time. yet all i seem to do is keep watching you with that blond-haired and blue. i leave way before you do. oh, i leave before i find out he's coming home with you.
i still remember when you broke the chain. how can i forget the sound? with my head down, it hit me.
you pass me by without a look when days before we were dancing. have i been too much? was i so obvious? 'cause she found out when i wasn't trying. so i confront and i confess and apologize for liking her if that's what caused this mess. you say you never knew. oh, you smile for you never knew.
and i feel stupid, but for an instant, 'cause she seems to be telling me that nothing's changed. so, the hand you let drop from mine, and the eyes that now stray from mine, and the way that you seem to mind me standing by your side was all a projected lie?
you say hello, i wave goodbye. and i smile with an empty mind 'cause it hit me and i've moved on from the rebound

Lyrics | Close

above my work i see her chewing on her pencil in thought
i love her in that sweater. i tell her every time she has it on
although her eyes are on her paper, she's still smiling at the statement
I take a sip to taste the warmth and lean back just to take a listen
to the shuffling of the leaves and the whisper of the breeze - i never 'spected a kiss on the cheek
by the time i look around, she's already looking down.. but the giggle gives her away

she likes to nap on the weekend with a book on top her head
i like to sing to myself while i'm busy in front the dishes
i usually wake her when i'm done but this time she's the one with her arms around me..
"And a good morning to you, too."

it's all routine that keeps me from wanting to leave you
it's all routine that's so easy for a little change to feel so good
we still have some nights that last and some mornings that just don't start
i roll over to look in her eyes but she still hasn't woken up - or so she's pretending
by the magic of her name, her eyes, closed, flutter and open.. "peek-a-boo!"

Lyrics | Close

you and i end the night on a cup of joe's.
on the table: two cups, yours not full
you downed it before leaving. squeezed the feelings before they froze
they will. as much as you tell me no, i've played that game and they all end up the same
you'll forget in time. maybe not my name, but its meaning will die
but for now, the roof of your mouth is on fire and all that you can taste is bitterness.

i'm the glow around the streetlight through the misty rain
i'm the street sign you're searching for but you're not close enough to read my name
i'm the words on the tip of your tongue. the quote you don't know where i'm from
i am the last song. the last song you'll never learn
so you'll have to hum until the order goes wrong and some other song takes its place
but for now, the back of your throat is so sore and on everybody's face you see is me.

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that Harry Potter Series has potential..
it's got a book, got movies, got a card game, a song,
got a bad actor money just because he's got glasses and brown hair

7 BOOKS in the HPS. they claim they're there, but I know it's not the truth.
6 BOOKS in the HPS. JK hasn't written the seventh yet.
5 BOOKS in the HPS. I haven't read the sixth one yet.
but I've read the fifth one. its got Harry whining and someone Serious dying.
they say it needs a second read, but I burnt the only copy that I got..
4 BOOKS in the HPS, they say they're good, but I'm sure we could improve.
3 BOOKS in the HPS. the fourth so long, it's a series on its own.
2 BOOKS to the HPS. the third so good, it can stand alone.
but I can't say the same about the second one
I can't remember, but my brother read it said he'd never read another
never gonna even bother looking at the third one
so, I'm only doing a favor telling her to take it out,
take it out, take it out! maybe burn it..
1 BOOK in the HPS, but obviously that cannot be..
NOBOOKS in the Potter series.. because one book don't make a series
NOBOOKS in the Harry Potter, NOBOOKS in the Harry Potter Series has no books: only potential.

I'm gonna write the Harry Potter Series for myself

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i must look stupid with my face against the window
but the glitter of the city lights is like the glimmer of the busy life
where the neon signs compete with graffiti; the streetcar's a billboard, the billboard's a TV
sooner or later the traffic lights be more than a signal

there's a cafe every corner, for the world works on caffeine
and rests on cigarettes while they scare our kids from weed
and I pinch my pennies here and there just to blow a buck on alcohol
at the bars that keep me awake 'til half past three

where the stars you meet on the street outnumber the ones in the sky
and the trees in cement boxes hang their heads in shame
it's everything i asked for. it's everything i didn't ask for. in the city

i can't sleep at night.
i can't turn off the white noise, so turn up the music, like everybody else
and now, with all this music memorized
i can't hear myself think, so i just scream whatever's on my mind!

we're crazy like a million broken hearts on a sleeve
but you must be stupid if you think I'd rather leave
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i believe in something beautiful but she don�t feel it�s safe to put her faith inside a dream
i believe she�s got a point but i'd rather be proven wrong than wonder who was right

at the corner of queen st. and spadina, an angel's busing tables on her own time
she sings me songs with my name, i tell her stories of a day where all we�d need is our voices
she says if she had the kind of drive a thousand others do,
she would be the first in line for disappointment.
but if she found that open door to go through.
"well, that�s one less for the more deserving few."

oh, i�m throwing planes up on your rooftop, thinking
oh, i�m screaming names out by the highway, singing
oh, i�m watching waves wash away these castles that were never meant to stay

i believe in something beautiful but she don�t feel the same, and i know what she means
and i admit i�m afraid of all the poetry nobody cares to read.
but so is every book here upon this shelf covered in dust..

that's when her eyes fell. that's when her wings spread
that's when the roof came down, we flew out in the distance

oh, i�m throwing planes up on your rooftop, thinking
oh, i�m screaming names out by the highway, singing
oh, i'm watching castles raising

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you're a weather-vane woman blowing in the wind
we'll be spinning in this town waiting for the world to end

i could trust your rules, i can call it a night
get a plan, get a job, get a place, have a kid, with a wife
give 'em all that i can 'til he's grown up to ask
"i've been given this world, what do i give it back?"

well, I got some rules, that I break all the time
I'm a trusting fool bleeding his reasons dry
but if you make it past that, maybe then we'll talk
this beard is growing old and my body's getting soft

'cause i can't spend my whole life searching
when i'm a building man who don't find solutions.
i make 'em as planned

i'm gonna heed your rules, but you've gotta keep this in mind
put yourself in my shoes, and baby you'll find
that a man like me has got these soles left
gotta me run 'em right off until i feel my skin
I said, a man like me has got these soles left
help me run 'em right off until i feel my skin

Lyrics | Close

s'always the days you're on track you take a glimpse from the road
step into that cushion grass where the dandelions grow
race the wind to greet the trees on top the nearest hillside
wishing you brought a book to let your senses do the thinking

the sun goes down and the colours fade
you turn around... you can't find your way
(sometimes there's none to stop...
some roses have to pass you by)

cruising, driving, speeding through the days
crashing into deadlines, coming down in waves
if time can fly then why can't i do the same?
catch my breath before the next to fall behind again

morning came to greet me but i saw it coming from a mile away
finally made it back to my designated track
well, i can surely use a break

Lyrics | Close

in a frame, it is you who is still
as I leave with the ground from your feet
pull me up with your paint and your spirit!
so sure with a kiss i could hold on

i was told by the dream of a friend,
"you're as good as the art that you keep"
it makes sense as i lay on the edge of your bed
all your heroes shine your walls while you sleep

tell me about your taste! tell me your favourite season!
anything to beget your point of view
show me the way you move! only to make you see that
i'm in tune. (come and play with me)

i would write down the lines and the numbers
you would fill all the blanks with your colour-loving schemes
yeah, you taught, and i found the palette inside of me
are your own lines coming out more clearly?

in a frame, it is you who is still
as i leave with the ground from your feet
in a frame, is the ground that is still at your feet
where we were grooming each other from mystery

Lyrics | Close

Her fumes are intoxicating
Were not every breath in the universe bating
I would swallow her whole, I'd explode her drum
I would drizzle her soul down the back of my tongue
It's so hard to resist the woman once won

The embers are badly behaving
Boiling my juices away, away, away...
And it's too late to save me
As my heart steams out the room
But it beats, still beats, still
Beats me down to you.

Her body is under her clothing
And my arms can and will melt them away...
I should have known that the stone had set in
I reach out and scream from my skin
My dried up desert oasis
Your ashes and vapours are miserably tasteless
You're dead to the touch. Bored to the sin

She laughs with abandon, I gaze in disgust
She leads on a tangent and I dare to trust!
Oh, and I cry from the dead end of loving my lust

Lyrics | Close

Well, I cleaned up, and threw out all your souvenirs
Still, I cannot get you off my mind
Like a dirty trick, ever since you disappeared
I get misdirected back to what got left behind

Please don't be the one. That ship has sailed, and that song has been sung
Please don't be the one. That sun has set, and that river has run

Now, I can't stop reflecting on how sensitive the wheel gets
Driving 'round the places we'd haunt
Well, I need you now as the only one in this narrative
Who can save me from the ghosts of your heart

Please don't be the one. That ship has sailed, and that song has been sung
Please don't be the one. That land is lost, the bubble burst, the damage done

This can't be love!
It was sitting underneath my nose for so long
Shame how the lack thereof - whatever it is - keeps getting stronger
the further it goes away

I keep on waiting for the day I'm over you!
When I check my pulse and I notice that you're gone
You're the one that got away, and I know it's true
You're the one that got away, and I know that we're through
But I'm still here, saying prayers to move on

Please don't be the one. I called on the father, the holy ghost, and his son
Please don't be the one. And that'd be embarrasing, if they ever come
Please don't be the one. That ship has sailed, and that song has been sung
Please don't be the one.

Lyrics | Close

Tell me you love me for the first time. When you can't hold it in.
The seal is broken, the floodgates are open. Let the dance of emotion begin.
Tell me you love me in a whisper. Nobody here has to know.
Move in close to the moonlight. All your heartstring'll play soft and low.
Tell me you love me like thunder. Scare me half to death.
Overwhelming, my guard is down, as you sneak underneath my breath.

Just like the rain falls down on a mountain
Just like a lover braves more than a gun
Show me the pain that leaves an obsession
And I'll be the one. I'll be the one

Tell me you love me but differently. Life is all about change.
Pick your words like a puzzle, and struggle to show how our love's best rearranged.
Tell me you love me with all due respect, but this salt, it has lost its savour.
Walking on egg shells, so we stick around, ain't doing anyone any favours.
Tell me you love me in self-defence. This talk was no plan of attack.
Pin me down, with your puppy dog eyes. Promise you'll someday come back.

Say you love me, then say you don't.
Keep me guessing until I won't.
I'm not concerned, as each petal's pulled out.
It's the last one, the last one that counts.

Tell me you'll love me forever. Although, there'll be times you forget.
Memory fails, remember? We lash out, and then we regret.
Tell me you love me as we're falling asleep. Parting words sweeten the sorrow.
We're drifting away, but it's safer to say we'll wake up face to face tomorrow.
Tell me you love me as I'm dreaming. Jump through that empty space.
Show me that being with feeling is more than a fable or a leap of faith.
Tell me you love me one more time. Let it mean all it does.
And I will believe... and I will love you just because.
Lyrics | Close

You Make Me

Written over 7 months. Completed by November 2003.

This is the first song I ever wrote.

I was given a love poem by my girlfriend at the time. I thought to write her one in return, but the relationship wasn't going well, and my poem wasn't agreeing with me. I decided to write from the heart instead, and got "You Make Me". Two months into writing the song, we broke up. Five months later, it was done.

I didn't understand why people liked this song so much until recently.

Insights Menu | Close

Third Time

Written over 5 months. Completed by February 2004.

I was listening to a lot of Ani DiFranco at the time. "Third Time" is a hybrid of her two songs: "Firedoor" and "Out of Range".

I think this song is cute. The second verse and the jazzy chorus riff are what keeps this song alive for me. The nail in the coffin is that change in tuning. Just like Ani, I made my own tuning. It's FADGCE capo'd on the 3rd, and it's almost not worth it, since I could just capo standard tuning on the 8th fret.

A friend of mine once commented on the pop music I was into. "You need to listen some REAL music!" she said, and she threw twenty Ani DiFranco songs on a CD for me. Well, I listened to the songs, and I liked them. I told her so. "Well!" she said, "Those aren't even her GOOD songs!" she said. "You need to hear some REAL Ani!" I don't really listen to Ani anymore... and I only just allowed myself to enjoy Radiohead.

Insights Menu | Close

Stay Home

Written over 6 months. Completed by January 2005.

This is my Jack Johnson phase.

My friends and I were lazing around in a nice, cozy living room. Some were reading, some were working, and warm drinks were all around. I started daydreaming about whether retired life would be like this.

By the way, "Wasting Time" was the first JJ song I heard, and it's still my favourite.

Insights Menu | Close

Maybe Not My Name

Written in 6 months. Completed in October 2005.

The moroseness of the tune was inspired by a funeral. My uncle and grandfather passed away a week apart in 2004. Two different continents, and a few days between funerals, it was a very difficult time with half the family at one and the other half at the other. It hit me the hardest, being at my Uncle's funeral, and reading the words, "In rememberance of...." when he was here only three days ago. I still have the original words, but I couldn't sing it for you.

I sat on the tune for a while before allowing myself to use it for something else. "Maybe Not My Name" is probably my first attempt at poetry as opposed to lyrics. I'm in love with the last lines of each verse, and I remember fighting for a long time for an end to the second verse before finally hitting gold.

This is a purple song. Why? I think of purple whenever I hear this song. Weird, eh?

Insights Menu | Close

Clean Your Face

Written over 4 months. Completed in March 2005. Rewritten in October 2008.

I was working on "Maybe Not My Name" by the window at Tim Hortons, when someone I knew walked by. I raised my hand to wave, but she quickly darted her gaze to the ground, as if she had never seen me. I fumed, and immediately wrote "If I could have one wish/I'd clean forget your face".

The guitar riff is fun to play. Written piece by piece, note by note, all by ear. I built the harmonies by trial and error, and forced the fingering down my throat and forever into muscle-memory.

Insights Menu | Close

The Seven Books of the Harry Potter Series

Written over 2 months? Completed two months after HP6 came out?

A bunch of us were up at midnight to grab the sixth Harry Potter book. I wasn't purchasing one - since my friends are fast readers - so I brought my guitar to the book store.

Wait, did I mention that we had been drinking? Well, anyway, I went to the front of the line, and I serenaded the Harry Potter fans. There aren't seven books! There are six! But I don't know six, I've know five! I see a theme... four, three, two, one! Ladies and g's, we have a song on our hands.

My friends loved it so much, they wanted in on youTube. We got the camera going, and my friend, Luke, asked me to keep going: what about the eight and ninth books? "Well," I started, "in the eight book, Harry Potter goes to the grave of ******'s and- UH OH!" I looked right at the camera, and it captures the greatest expression of "Uh oh" ever uh oh'd. You hear the voice of the camera man: "Did you just ruin the sixth book for me?" The video's not online, but I swear, I'll link to it if we ever get it up.

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The City Song

Written in 5 months. Completed in April 2006?

I was annoyed with my portfolio at the time, being all love songs. I set out to write about something else. How about the city?

I love this song with all of my heart. The lyrics, the energy.... I see the potential it has, and I swear that this'll be a hit someday... somewhere... in the city.

I once tried to show off "The City Song" to a fellow song-writer, and afterwards he told me, "You've got a nice voice." I felt it was similar to me tap dancing for him, and having him say, "Nice shoes."

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The Distance

Written in 16 months. Completed March 2007?

There was a night some time in November 05 where I couldn't sleep. I got out of bed and started writing big ideas. One of them was, "I believe in something beautiful". That something was a someone, and she shared my bed and didn't believe in herself.

This song took so long to complete that it became known as The Song.

What took so long? I didn't know how to end that "every book here" verse. It took me six months to realize that three lines were enough.... yeah.

"The highest purpose of art is to inspire. What else can you do? What else can you do for anyone but inspire them?" - Bob Dylan, 1978

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Weather-Vane Woman

Written in 6 months. Completed by August 2007.

Bruce Springsteen gave me "Atlantic City" to work with. I pictured a tired young man looking out at the world, not quite sure what to do with it. I wrote the first verse in one blow, and knew I had a song in the making.

I was very proud of that verse. I showed it to a fellow song-writer, and they simply said, "Yeah. I have a song like that."

This was also the first song where I allowed myself to get away with easy breezy barre chords and no fancy finger work. In the past, I swore that all my songs would be musically unique, but eventually you grow up and realize there's no harm in simplicity.

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Stop and Smell The Roses

Written in 1 month. Completed in August 2005.

The guitar part was originally an instrumental piece called "Not Don Ross", written by my friend, Nick Gair of "Max Galactic and the Cloud of Evil". Pre-MGCoE, Nick and his friends were having trouble writing lyrics and asked for my input.

The words seemed to flow pretty easily to the page. It's the arrangement that's been difficult. Nick's more technical on a guitar than I'll ever be. I adapted the piece to suit the words, and I still have trouble playing the song live.

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Colour My Numbers

Written in 17? months. Completed in December 2008.

I didn't think much of this song, but my girlfriend, at the time, loved it. The only reason I played the song was for her, and begrudgingly. When she left, I thought that the song was dead, but it wasn't. Now, it's grown on me too as my second happy love song.

The dream was an actual dream of a friend's in which she visited Moe's tavern. After giving the advice on surrounding yourself with good art, he pointed out that his bar contains "anti-art" for the low-brow people who visit his bar.

Of the third verse, the opening two lines came to me in November '05, along with The Distance. The closing two lines came to me in December '08. However, the song started in summer 07, when I saw a girl riding a bike and I thought, "From her frame, she's not moving."
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The Dead End of Loving My Lust

Written in 4 months. Completed in December 2008.

The song was 90% complete in three days, (August 10th-12th). Along with the stock market, I crashed in August with this song and spiraled into it's dark world until Christmas. I don't EVER wish to have to go through a song like this again.

This was the first song I composed for piano. Out of necessity, as my guitar was in the shop at the time.

Many thanks to my sister and to my friend, Vee, for the feedback.

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Please Don't Be The One

Started in September 2009. Completed in December 2009

The third week of December, I was suffering from insomnia, like I did last winter, but this time when I woke up at 3am, I decided to complete a song I needed to finish, for my own self-therapy.

You see, half a year after breaking up for good, I still was having trouble letting go of my ex-girlfriend. I tried dating other people, and when theose relationships fell through, the ex- would come roaring back into memory. It's tough letting go of someone you love, and very frustrating when people just tell you to "let go". It's not so simple. I wasn't just holding on - she was tangled in my memory, and letting go just left me painfully hanging by the hair follicles.

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