My Pal Max

My Pal Max - MP3

Lyrics

i moved out to the big city

i like the building with the little buildings on it
it makes me feel like i'm downtown
when i look out over the tennis courts around it
it makes me feel like i'm
i'm

the bricks match the sky
at night
go

i like the colors and the other atmospherics
they let me know that i'm inside
you know you can't say architecture in the lyrics
too many syllables

she said, "there's something here that doesn't seem quite polished.
case in point: masking tape."
it wasn't difficult to see and i acknowledged
everything takes time

the bricks match the sky
at night

author's notes

i wrote this song in early 2002, i think. i was among the first to live in max palevsky residential commons dormitory ([1]). the "building with the little buildings on it" is the geophysical sciences building.

lots of people hate the building, apparently, but as you can hear, i was fond of it.

i'm posting this now because i never really put this song on anything but everyone who has heard it seems to like it a lot. i think that's partly because it's so different from anything else i've done, mainly in that i wasn't at all worried about what i was saying in the song, mostly just about how it sounded (my first fruityloops experiment--but the feedback is real!).

comments

i don't know if it's that it's about buildings, but to me this is like a mix of the cure--the throatiness of your singing--and the talking heads, with the oddball sounds and the exuberant synth lines. i love the rhythm of the lyrics, and even though you say you weren't worried about them, they're lovely. i especially like the second set of verses, with the line about "architecture... too many syllables," and then the dialog between you and she, which seems to make this song really be about more than the building. deep. cute. amazing.

i also really love that this has fruityloops written all over it, down to the way the patterns are layered and chronologically laid out. also i've used that neat little tremoloed sound you're using (to much better effect) for the bass synth line. a very solid success of an experiment. it just makes me happy to listen to it.:) Sara 23:54, 26 September 2007 (PDT)

This song is kick ass.

1. "when i look out over the tennis courts around it / it makes me feel like i'm / i'm" wow
2. "the bricks match the sky / at night / go" wow
3. "i like the colors and the other atmospherics / they let me know that i'm inside / you know you can't say architecture in the lyrics" wow
4. "she said, "there's something here that doesn't seem quite polished. / case in point: masking tape." / it wasn't difficult to see and i acknowledged / everything takes time" wow
5. almost ever line in this song is perfect. i love the crazy imagery mixed with bits of dialog mixed with incomplete thoughts. fantastic. it makes me wish that i didn't know what max looks like, so i could see it through the singers eyes instead of my own.
6. the music is great. the warbly and staccato bits fit well together.
7. i can't believe i didn't know this existed.

Conorl 20:31, 24 March 2008 (PDT)