14 posts tagged with piano by hillelc.
Displaying 1 through 14 of 14.

Song for Summer

As I was noodling around with these chords, beautiful summer has arrived here in Seattle. I couldn’t help but look out the window of our little music room at the gorgeous weather, flowers, blue skies, and people having fun on the water and asking myself, what am I doing inside on such a lovely day? And the answer is, writing a song about how I love the summer months as long as I’m safely ensconced indoors and out of the sun. It’s not my fault that I’m borderline translucent and in danger of melting in summer sun like a chocolate bar on the backseat of a car in July. But keep in mind, those of us who prefer it inside, aren’t necessarily anti-summer. We love watching it from the safety of air-conditioned shade. [more inside]
posted by hillelc on Jun 1, 2009 - 1 comment

My Chemical Brain

I don’t know crap about this topic but it hasn’t stopped me from having my interest piqued. Specifically, I’m talking about brain chemistry. Both the mechanics of it and the way we manipulate what those mechanics do these days are super interesting. Even more amazing to me is how people’s emotions (usually negative emotions) can be a simple result of a chemical imbalance in their brain. Wow. I realize the drugs we have today are both amazing relative to nothing and very blunt instruments relative to what we’ll have down the road. And while I haven’t tried any of them, I sometimes wonder what people did before they existed. Mostly suffered I suppose. :| [more inside]
posted by hillelc on May 19, 2009 - 1 comment

Brookline

(Note: NSFW-ish if f*** and a****** are a problem where you work.) For the bulk of the years of growing up that I actually remember, what I would consider the “formative” years, I lived in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Not to be confused with the super irritating Brookline, New Hampshire that would show up in school closing announcements only to leave me extra disappointed.) During and after college I didn’t think much of my high school years at Brookline High School. And in fact, I ended up losing touch with every friend I made there. But thanks to the internets I have reconnected with many of them, some very recently. It’s been super positive, and it’s stirred up all these great memories of my time in Brookline. That’s what this song is about. These three incidents in particular: [more inside]
posted by hillelc on Nov 24, 2008 - 3 comments

Take the Picture

I tend to take a lot of pictures. I found out early on in my photo-taking tenure that the more pictures I took, the more likely that some of them would come out nicely. Of course, I’m always the one behind the camera. As a parent, I also have wondered just how much of the time I spend with my kids they will remember (if any). My father recently asked me if I remembered how we used to watch Star Trek together. I honestly couldn’t remember. He was crushed. It occurred to me that many years down the road when my kids look at our family pictures they won’t see me in any of them because I was the one behind the camera. Something tells me that this detail will be lost on them as they repeat the cycle and tell me they don’t remember me being there. ;) [more inside]
posted by hillelc on Nov 10, 2008 - 5 comments

Dear Editor

Awhile ago I spent way too much time reading a thread on the always excellent Marginal Revolution blog discussing possible tactics for dealing with sudden and unwelcome time-travel to 1000 A.D. Clearly the thread needed to be put to music. (OK, it was clear to me at least.) That was so much fun that I thought it might be fun to do it again. And Tyler over at Marginal Revolution was nice enough to participate for another round. Then Tyler announced the topic - “Are Books Overwritten?” Ruh ro. [more inside]
posted by hillelc on Aug 5, 2008 - 1 comment

Days Like This

It seemed time for an uncomplicated pop song (not that any of my songs are super complex in the first place). But in this nice little package you get everything you’re looking for in a standard radio-friendly pop song (does anyone listen to the radio anymore?)... [more inside]
posted by hillelc on Jul 28, 2008 - 7 comments

SkyMall (Jonathan Coulton cover)

A few months ago I decided I wanted to try and do a cover. Based on the result, it was clearly a bad idea. I probably should have been discouraged but instead, after months of therapy, I decided to try again. The victim this time was one of my favorite artists - Jonathan Coulton and his excellent song SkyMall. [more inside]
posted by hillelc on Jul 22, 2008 - 4 comments

Victor's a Dictionary

Written back at the turn of the millennium (oh the good old days) this song is about our old friend Victor. He’s an ethnic Chinese, Australian born doctor who abandoned medicine (and Sydney) to embrace the “structured” world of computer programming and the United States. Once you understand the laws that govern Victor’s existence you can compile him quite reliably. [more inside]
posted by hillelc on Jul 15, 2008 - 4 comments

Private Island

Wrote this a few years ago. An introspective song about a place to be introspective. [more inside]
posted by hillelc on Jul 14, 2008 - 5 comments

Terry (The Probably Drunk and Definitely Angry Stewardess)

Song about an unreasonably angry stewardess. Everyone's written one of these. [more inside]
posted by hillelc on Jul 10, 2008 - 6 comments

Rule 34

If you don’t know what “Rule 34″ is, just pull out your trusty Urban Dictionary and look it up. Go ahead, I’ll wait. [more inside]
posted by hillelc on Jul 8, 2008 - 7 comments

Let's Sneak Off

Polygamy (or more accurately - group marriage) gone awry. [more inside]
posted by hillelc on Jul 4, 2008 - 4 comments

Betty (Sugar Fix)

This song is about a love rectangle. The singer is in love with Betty, she’s in love with a boy who treats her like crap. He is in love with Betty’s rich best friend who treats both him and Betty like crap. Everyone’s pretty much miserable except possibly for the best friend who’s oblivious to people’s feelings. [more inside]
posted by hillelc on Jun 30, 2008 - 2 comments

1000 A.D. (Sugar Fix)

Inspired by the Marginal Revolution thread giving advice on what to do if you find yourself suddenly transported back to Europe 1000 years ago with nothing but the clothes on your back. [more inside]
posted by hillelc on Jun 26, 2008 - 7 comments

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