White Bikini
The year is 2020, and we all know what that means in the US – the year of the Covid-19 pandemic and of civil unrest.
As being a musician allows you to live anywhere, we got out of the city fast, and these songs are our story as well as that of much of America, or even the world.
As being a musician allows you to live anywhere, we got out of the city fast, and these songs are our story as well as that of much of America, or even the world.
01 Six girls
I feel so goddam old
I feel so goddam tired
Six girls would mean nothing to me
Six girls naked on my knee
I feel so goddam tired
Six girls would mean nothing to me
Six girls naked on my knee
This pandemic has been an emotionally draining business … and that is for the lucky ones.
02 time to talk
The story of a not very good, not very bad, marriage collapsing toward divorce under the strain of the lockdown. If you think you are hearing more discords in my music than usual, they are meant to be reflective of the couple talking past each other.
One of the couple affects to be delighted to be set free:
One of the couple affects to be delighted to be set free:
See you later, Alligator
See you in a while, Crocodile
See you soon, Mr. Baboon
See you in a while, Crocodile
See you soon, Mr. Baboon
The other is more wistful, remembering the marriage as doomed where it could have been harmonious (the final solo piano section).
03 Castles in the sand (although I never knew you)
When we turned up in Tucson, we went to a great outdoor bar called ‘The Hut,’ on 4th Avenue, where a large drum circle forces most bands to play their songs to Grateful Dead rhythms. (For some reason, Tucson loves the Grateful Dead, as do I.)
Anyway, on our first visit, the drum circle was mourning the loss of a certain ‘Carol’ (I think), and I have used her death to symbolize the first of so many around the world.
Anyway, on our first visit, the drum circle was mourning the loss of a certain ‘Carol’ (I think), and I have used her death to symbolize the first of so many around the world.
04 Boy, you got us there!
2020 also saw the continuing battle over what was the truth, what was a lie, and what was just plain wrong. QAnon were spouting their nonsense about child-molesting cannibals, egged on by the President of the US no less, and many of us thought that – against all scientific advice – the novel coronavirus would start to disappear in June.
How wrong most of us were, one way of another.
How wrong most of us were, one way of another.
05 magical thinking (straight outta the asylum)
One of the places we visited on our travels was Jerome, Arizona, where we stayed in the Grand Hotel and Asylum – a converted asylum for tuberculosis and mental patients. Predictably, I suppose, our room was in the old psych ward where we were tucked back in bed throughout the night by an invisible nurse.
06 by the lake
We spent most of the spring and summer of 2020 in the open air and close to water, thus the title of the CD, ‘White Bikini.’
Each theme in the song works like Prokoviev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf,’ where each character has his own signature tune. In this case it is each event. So, the opening theme is my version of a Black Lives Matter chant (“Black Lives Matter, they just do”). The next one represents the mass protests, followed by the media getting on board. The eerie one is Covid-19. In the meantime, we are relaxing by a lake until the civil unrest becomes too loud for us to ignore. The song ends with the need for the protests to continue to force radical change and for the media to actively cover the story.
Each theme in the song works like Prokoviev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf,’ where each character has his own signature tune. In this case it is each event. So, the opening theme is my version of a Black Lives Matter chant (“Black Lives Matter, they just do”). The next one represents the mass protests, followed by the media getting on board. The eerie one is Covid-19. In the meantime, we are relaxing by a lake until the civil unrest becomes too loud for us to ignore. The song ends with the need for the protests to continue to force radical change and for the media to actively cover the story.
07 my undercover angel (white bikini)
A love song for my wife, Kathleen.
Instruments used during the recording of ‘white bikini’
BG Guitars Viper
Epiphone Les Paul Custom Shop Special
ESP Ouija (Kirk Hammett signature) – most of the songs were originated on this as it was the only instrument I traveled with
Fender Stratocaster (Mexican-built)
Gretsch Streamliner
Ibanez Gio
H. Jimenez Quinto acoustic/electric
Savannah acoustic
Washburn Lyon
Bass:
Sterling SUB
Keyboards:
Yamaha P-115
Epiphone Les Paul Custom Shop Special
ESP Ouija (Kirk Hammett signature) – most of the songs were originated on this as it was the only instrument I traveled with
Fender Stratocaster (Mexican-built)
Gretsch Streamliner
Ibanez Gio
H. Jimenez Quinto acoustic/electric
Savannah acoustic
Washburn Lyon
Bass:
Sterling SUB
Keyboards:
Yamaha P-115