jruddy (song)

"Snowstorm in my Brain.

Well, my home studio is packed up (basement renovation, lost my 'play room', reno is currently on hold until I can man-handle drywall again) but I used my personal recorder - one of those RCA things that you use to record confrences or lectures - to quickly record a song I just slapped together.. not the best tool for the job...

I literally just slapped it together, so besides adjusting the volume and trimming the beginning and end, it's just the first time straight through with no written lyrics.

Needless to say, it's a bit dodgy so far as my performance and recording quality goes and lyrically it isn't exactly award-winning, but it's meant to be an emotional piece and so does capture the essence of my struggle with migraines, visual snow and depression.

Enjoy, take some advil first, you'll need it. I hope you're tone deaf, otherwise it is really going to hurt in some places. Man I need to get my studio working again. Well, that and my brain...

http://www.mediafire.com/?ttymijpz0jr

BTW - the first 55 seconds is pure sh^t, so you may want to skip it to the diluted sh^t that makes up the rest..."

(jruddy [subject #515], Yuku forum Visual snow or static - General discussions - Snowstorm in my Brain, April 11, 2008)

"The basic Chord progression is Am, F E

On the Doctor won't you... section it changes to C F G7

Snowstorm in my Brain

I've got a snow storm brewing in my brain
thunder and lightning giving me pain
Don't you dare me tell me that I'm going insane
I've got a snow storm brewing inside of my brain

Doctor won't you help me cause I'm feeling so blue
Doctor gotta help me, I don't know what I'm gonna do
Doctor won't you help me, I'm feeling so blue
Doctor I don't know, just what I'm going to do

I've got a snow storm brewing in my brain
thunder and lightning going to give me pain
I've got a snow storm brewing in my brain
thunder and lightning giving me pain
Don't you dare me tell me that I'm going insane
I've got this snow storm brewing inside of my brain

oh, thunder and lightning giving me pain
snow storm brewing... in my brain
Don't you dare me tell me... that I'm insane

Doctor won't you help me I don't know what I'll do
Doctor won't you help me, 'cause I'm feeling so blue
Doctor I need you to help me, I don't what I'll do
Doctor I need you to help me, I don't know what I'm going to do

I got this snowstorm brewing, inside of my brain
thunder and lightning giving me pain
I got a snowstorm brewing, inside of my brain
And don't you dare call me, don't you call me insane
I got a snowstorm brewing, inside of my brain
I got a snowstorm brewing, inside of my brain
I got a snowstorm brewing, inside of my brain
thunder and lightning giving me pain

I'm thinking about making the snowstorm brewing section the Chorus, making the Doctor section the verse.

In the verses, I would talk about the problems with work, home life, family, maybe even making the suicide allusions more concrete, talking about ropes, chairs.

Doctor won't you help me get down off this chair?

Vocally, it absolutely needs a tone down on the angst, lol, what a miserable sounding Jim that is. Maybe I need a dose increase in the happy pills

The Fratellis are masters of upbeat songs with not-so upbeat lyrics. I'll see what I can do about that.

I don't know. I can't work on it this weekend and I'm supposed to be prepping for an exam.

Cheers."

(jruddy [subject #515], Yuku forum Visual snow or static - General discussions - Snowstorm in my Brain, April 11, 2008)

"Well, I wimped out big time... but I guess posting my crappy music on a public board makes up for it.

Still no studio, so it's straight through on the RCA lecture recorder again, but like a Pentatonic security blanket (pentatonic being a very common blues scale) I went to the very simple and very comfortable 12 bar blues in the Key of E... Out of habit I left room for some lead guitar work, but of course I don't have a studio so I can't layer tracks... lol... enjoy the rhythm guitar solo...

So, like most post teens (I am 36 after-all) I've lost my angst and got the blues...

http://www.mediafire.com/?x4ryyotadnf

And for those who prefer 'both kinds of music, country and western' (required Blues Brothers reference) that's how the original turned out which is why I scurried so quickly to 12 bar blues with my tail between my legs.

Dang my father for being a country singer!! lol Here's the abandoned song:

http://www.mediafire.com/?09tnxjwdw23

So now I have 3 distinct versions of the same bloody song... and people wonder why I abandon 90% of the songs I write... sheesh. I think I still like the first version best. I can imagine some angellic sounding keyboards or choral singers in the background, giving it a real bizarre duality... he he..."

(jruddy [subject #515], Yuku forum Visual snow or static - General discussions - Snowstorm in my Brain, April 14, 2008) [more]

"I have a question about muscle memory. I've read it is a neuro-muscular thing that actually resides in the brain.

Though I have clumsiness on my left side including my left hand, and weakness, mostly in the larger muscles, I can still play guitar at maybe around 80% or my pre-VS ability (I've lost some speed and a little bit of accuracy). Endurance is a major problem, I can only play for maybe 30 to 60 minutes where I used to be able to play for 5 or 6 hours. I can still type well, though I've been making significantly more typing errors, probably double, maybe more, on both sides of the keyboard, not just the left side.

Why is it that I sometimes fail to pick up a piece of bread or open a drawer on the first try, but when playing guitar I can still go through a scale or make a tricky chord change without thinking about it? Is muscle memory that powerful?

If the problem is from a hemiplegic migraine wouldn't I see the muscle memory impacted as well..? Would the fact that the muscle memory remains reinforce a myopathy or psychological diagnosis for the weakness and fatigue problems rather than hemiplegic migraine?"

(jruddy [subject #515], Yuku forum Visual snow or static - General discussions - Ksomething - Muscle Memory and Hemiplegic Migraine Question, April 14, 2008) [more]

References

Podoll K. Alwa Glebe's imitatio Nietzsche: On elective affinities between migraine-inspired artists. In: Rose FC (ed) The Neurology of Music. Academic Press, London 2008 (in press)

top