Clear jewel case of my album with artwork by Kahn & Selesnick.
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about
This one's my most Nile Rodgers song to date. I wanted the lyrics to be giddy and silly like some of his. The famous Chic song "Good Times" features some great lines like "Clams on the half shell and ROLLER SKATES ROLLER SKATES," and I think that's just great. I really like another Chic song where the hook is just "You—are beautiful. You are beautiful." So I did a lot of stuff like that.
The song starts off being about my friendship with Antawan, one of my best friends and roommate of many years. We met our first semester at college through Evan, who I also met my first semester at college. And we lived together in the dorm 2nd year, and then in center city Philadelphia for a few years, and then in Hudson for a year and then again in Hudson for another year later. He's extremely hard-working and nearing the completion of his PhD in contemporary African art history. I fear he may move to Africa, never to live with me again. But who knows. Every other time he moved out, I thought he was never to live with me again. I used to call him all sorts of pet names. (He's really cute and funny and smart.) I never actually called him "sugar plum" but I thought that was relatable and cute and "clams on the half shell"-like.
Later, I list everything I like about getting older and realizing you're an adult now. I think of it written out as a list, like this:
I tried recording electric guitar for most of the song, but you know what? Aztec Camera's first album taught me that acoustic guitar can also be very funky.
Let's see, what else to say. Oh yes, the rap at the end. I thought it'd be funny to, like, have that come out of nowhere since I never do that. I was gonna say "break my character a bit," but it doesn't really—it's still naive and dorky.
I think the idea that someone's trying to go to sleep but "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" is stuck in their head is really funny. I like the song in general, but could you think of a more annoying song in that scenario? Fortunately, in real life, I never have problems with stuff stuck in my head. I just press the skip-to-the-next-song button.
lyrics
A joy to live,
a joy to be
in your company—
in your company here
down on South 11th Street,
my brilliant boy.
Every Sunday, count our dimes,
buy the New York Times,
only read the Arts and
work more on your PhD
to NPR and BBC—
my beautiful,
my brilliant boy.
I wanna be in love forever.
I wanna stay in every night
talking to myself,
and you can listen if you want—
this is what I tell myself:
look alive.
I think a lot of my sugar plum.
My sugar plum yeah yeah yeah.
I think a lot of my sugar plum.
My sugar plum yeah yeah yeah.
My sugar plum.
Every day I'm thankful I'm:
- not in high school anymore
- meeting people I adore
- kicking habits I abhor
- getting groceries at the store
- dressed from last millennium's drawer
- making memories for my hit memoir
This is what I tell myself.
This is what I tell myself:
look alive.
I pull up the sheets
exposing my feets.
Sometimes it really scares me how fast my heart beats.
I hear "tick tock," I check the clock;
it's 4 a.m. but my heart won't stop,
so I tip tip toe toe across the floor
out of my sheets of silk to get a little milk.
My brain is singin' "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead,"
so I put some melatonin in my cerebellum.
I've got a big dream in front of me
I've got a big heart inside of me
I've got a big dream in front of me
I've got a big heart inside of me
credits
from Stephen Bluhm,
released September 17, 2017
Brian Dewan: Accordion, autoharp, melogy gin, recitation
Anna Victoria & Isabella Elena: backing vocals
Otto Hauser: Percussion
Recorded and mixed with Godfrey Nelson at The Playground, Hudson, NY
Mastered by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering, Boston, MA
Assistant Mastering Engineer: Maria Rice
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