Since this is a work in progress, I’m still wondering how closely me n’ Hellen will stick to that suggestion. Perhaps we’ll opt for a good ole fashioned girl-bludgeons-boy story, or maybe boy-nails-import-car-model, or siegfried-meets-roy. Who knows?

You’ll have to stay tuned . . .

After listening to it a few times, I realized that I needed a professional singer to get that “heavenly” sound. I called my girlfriend Yumi Thomas, an amazing singer, and looped her about 30 times! It really made the track!

Then, I listened to it and danced to it with her- to make sure it would work for a wedding dance. It did!

Earlier this year, their record label TeenBeat, was having a 20 year anniversary, and a compilation of covers was being made to commemorate it. In a day, i re-worked their song, w/ vocal help from my girlfriend, to be included in the compilation. Like any cover version, i wanted to make one that captured the spirit of the original, but would be unique in itself.

In this version, the music is comprised mostly of a four-part vocal harmony, a minimal bass line, an electric and acoustic guitar, and a simple heartbeat drum loop. The result was a more intimate version than the original. I particularly like the overlapping of vocal melodies in the chorus, and how the repeating guitar lines weave into eachother. Listening to it now makes me think of “Where’s My Mind” by the Pixies.

I was a late bloomer concerning Dylan’s music, but I saw the light after seeing the documentary about him entitled “Don’t Look Back”. A few days after seeing the movie, I was determined to know everything about him, and went to a bookstore to literarily stalk him. Little did I know that I would be literally stalking him in a few hours. (Well, not “stalk” him, but follow him… and watch him closely. That’s not stalking is it?)

Anyhow, I ended up buying a book about him, and while paying for it the cashier asked me if I was going to “the show”.

Show?

It turned out that Dylan was performing that evening in Santa Cruz! A sign from God! I immediately called someone to cover my bartending shift that night, so I could see the man in the flesh. To make a long story shorter- I drove to Santa Cruz and waited 6 hours to buy a scalped ticket (it was sold out). I watched the entire show a few feet away from him. I left the building a changed man.

So what does all this have to do with the song Daylight Savings? Well, it forever changed the way I wrote lyrics and listened to music. I’m not saying that Daylight Savings is as good as a Dylan song… (Hell no!) but it was the first one that I really sweat over the lyrics on. Also, since I was driving so much (especially on highway 280) I found myself writing a lot of melodies in the car. Daylight Savings was one of them.

I had the tune cycling in my head for months and months. I was banging my head against a wall to write lyrics for the melody, but coming up dry every time. I was certain that it was going to be a love song… only problem was that I was not in love with anyone at the time!

One day, I got one of “those calls”. The kind that completely drain all the blood out of your body because someone is sobbing on the other end. It was news of the sudden death of my 50 year old uncle in Japan. My dad’s little brother. The last time my dad spoke to him, he expressed concern that he was living alone and told him that he should “find a wife” in case something should happen to him.

I never really got to know him as well as I wanted, and felt robbed that I couldn’t say goodbye. I picked up a pencil and this song came out in a few hours.

It’s strange how I remember *lots* of stuff from the first grade, but almost nothing from the second grade. - Han

I’ve been writing more music that begins in one place, and ends somewhere else alltogether. This song is a perfect example of that. Lyrically, it’s a song of regret over a failed relationship, and a way to comfort myself by comparing her new boyfriend to a nicotine patch, a substitute to ween her off of what she is really wanting, me! (ha ha ha ha!)

She once played violin for my band, and so i ended the verse..

“..with your saddest violin, all your melodies can’t tell me why you need nicotine”

From this point on, the music takes over the song and there are no more lyrics to tell the story (and no need for them anyway). Like the way that movies can use abstract images to represent relationships, I tried to portray my relationship with the instruments. The violin representing her, the cello, as myself, and the supporting music being the space we inhabit. The cello and violin begin by sharing the same melody together.

The supporting music begins to change, and at first they stay together. But eventually, the music becomes fragmented and the cello’s melody strays. The violin gives up on the original melody as well, and by the last third of the song, the supporting music has completly transformed, and the cello and violin now are separate melodies, reacting to each other, competing with eachother, but always existing in the same space, harmonizing and ultimately creating a new relationship. (Much like the way we have been able to maintain our friendship)

oh geez, I have no idea. anything that I explain about it would be way too dorky. no one wants to hear about envelopes and cool edit pro. dunno, just make something up, i guess…. - Gary