Good Grief! Radiohead Inspires Paste!

I told you in a previous post that Radiohead may well shake up the model for how people do business. Now Paste Magazine is following suit. If you don't already subscribe, you MUST take advantage of this freaking amazing offer online. Here's the deal: Receive one year of Paste Magazine for whatever you think it would be worth. That's it.

I already get this magazine and can't recommend it highly enough. I would pay the full retail price to get it, so this is just an amazing offer. I'm sure many of you will be hooked and addicted within a month of subscribing.

Here's the link. Do it. Do it now.
(The lowest price you can set to receive one year is $1. Shoot. That's a good deal.

Be A Pepto-Star

Sure, it's cheesy, but then again, it's a potential $15,000 of cheesy.
I'm willing to bring the cheese for the pesos. If I can put one of my silly songs into a nationwide ad campaign and make some money, I'm ok with that. If the Rolling Stones can do it, I think it's ok for me to do it too. Not that the Rolling Stones ever did a Pepto-Bismol ad...

Here's the link.

I've already got a sweet little tune in the hopper for this.
I'd like to make this a songwriting challenge...but we'll make the bonus challenge for the year. The contest is open until January something or other.

Here are some more rules and requirements for your perusal:

You must be at least 18 years old to enter, and anyone appearing in your video must be at least 18 years old, too.

• Video must be original and no longer than one minute.

• Video must portray the five symptoms—nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, and diarrhea.

• Video may not contain or refer to any brands other than Pepto-Bismol.

• Please don't depict anything crude, lewd, or vulgar.

• You and up to five additional people may appear in your video, but it is not necessary for you or any other person to appear.

• All video entries must be your own original unpublished work and cannot contain, incorporate, or reference anything that is owned by any third party or entity or would require the consent of any third party or entity in any jurisdiction.

• Videos will be judged based on the following criteria:
• Originality and creativity (50%)
• Appropriate portrayal of the five symptoms Pepto-Bismol treats (35%)
• Suitability for use in an advertisement (15%)

--Here are the lyrics...yeah, they're pretty bad, but they do get across their central message--

Pepto Star Song Lyrics
Nausea,
Heartburn,
Indigestion,
Upset stomach,
Diarrhea,
Yay, Pepto-Bismol!

Cold Tacos

For every extremely serious song I write, my brain creates at least three ridiculous, wacky songs. A majority of these songs are written around my kids or my students at school. I've noticed that my school written songs TEND to take on a more hip hop vibe.

This song is destined to rank up there with other classic dumb songs, like Unicorn: The Other White Meat, The Chicken Song, or Don't Be Hatin'.

I now present to you, in all it's silliness, Cold Tacos.

Cold Tacos.mp3

Cold Tacos
c2007 Mr. G and the Homies

I like tacos, I like 'em when they're hot
Tacos are good to heat when they're hot
If you get a cold taco that's not so great
Cold tacos on my plate
That's messed up...I don't want no...cold tacos
I don't want no cold tacos

Cold tacos
Cold tacos
Cold tacos

Don't give me no cold tacos
Don't give me no cold tacos
Don't give me no cold tacos



Cold Tacos

Death In Texas

I wrote and recorded this one last night after deciding on the title about a month ago.

I really didn't know what this was going to be about. I thought up a melodic structure (typical western song structure) the other night as I was falling asleep but that and the title were all I had until last night.

I didn't know where the verses were going to go until I got there. The third verse was a twist to me, it gives the song more meat. I really like where it goes.... Hope you do to.

Happy Halloween!
Eric
________________________________________________

Death In Texas.mp3

Death In Texas
Words and Music by Eric Shouse © 2007 Everybody Run Music

One dark night as I lay half-asleep in my bed
Got a strange phone call from the world of the legally dead
I was awake enough to hear the rattling chains
And through the hisses and moans, this is what I heard him say

"Get out of town, ride out as fast as you came
Don't pack a bag and tell all the rest to do the same
Don't know what the night will bring
All I know is one thing
In this world nothing can be certain...
but death in Texas"

Hung up the phone and tried my best to get back to sleep
Figured it was just a crank call from some psychopathic creep
But all my dreams were nightmares, kept me awake
Saw Texas chainsaws & Troopers and this is what I heard them say...

"Get out of town, ride out as fast as you came
Don't pack a bag and tell all the rest to do the same
Don't know what the night will bring
All I know is one thing
In this world nothing can be certain...
but death in Texas"

Hopped out of bed, swore I heard someone screamin' my name
Looked at my hands and all I saw was blood stains
I was awake enough to hear the voices and the rattling chains
And through the whispers and sighs, this is what I heard them say...

"Get out of town, ride out as fast as you came
Don't pack a bag and don't tell no one your name
Don't know what the night will bring
All I know is one thing
In this world nothing can be certain...
but death in Texas"

Ooo!... Death in Texas
________________________________________________

PS - Ben Franklin has been quoted and misquoted by some of the greatest minds of our time... and me. I heard Mr. Franklin's famous quote about taxes and filed away this idea a few weeks ago. Thanks Ben Franklin!

It's the Rest of Your Life

photo courtesy of the city of Pittsburgh,
the sun and my daughters - 2007

This one started to form on October 14th. A couple verses, which did not make the cut, came out very quickly. The chorus idea came shortly after... It's the Rest of Your Life. There have been a lot of things happening in and around my life of late that probably helped bring this song out. I've tried to keep it as "open" as possible. Hoping that many people can relate to the simple idea of "beginning anew". The music is deliberately simple in this one. I struggle a bit with lyric writing and melody (not a good thing for a songwriter), so I decided to use only two chords and try to vary the melodies and focus intensely on the lyrics. I can't remember ever putting more work into lyrics than I have these. Hopefully it'll pay off.

This recording was done after making numerous work tapes as the song progressed. Just felt like this one needed a little better treatment than just a work tape. And, yes, that's my cell phone going off silently at the end. *doh*

Thanks for listening,
John
10/23/07

UPDATE 10/26/07 - Had the chance to rehearse this one with a couple of my ex-band-mates from Seven Bridges the other night. Not often these days that I get to play music with other folks. Dave did a great job of lending some "bottom" to this one with his bass. Lisa added some nice dynamics with backing vocals as well. Even in places where I had not originally heard them. Looks like the three of us will be debuting this one on November 10th at the Baseline Folk Society open mic. I can't wait.
John

It's the Rest of Your Life.mp3

It's the Rest of Your Life
words and music by John Natiw

Well it's time to go
I see it in your eyes
It's a winding road
It's a big surprise

It's the rest of your life
It's the rest of your life

And it starts now
You're born again
No goin' back
To where you've been

Maybe find some hope
Or even something more
It's the time to dream
It's an open door

It's the rest of your life
It's the rest of your life

Maybe see the world
Through different eyes
It's the chance to change
It's a new sunrise

It's the rest of your life
It's the rest of your life
It's the rest of your life
It's the rest of your life

Oooh, yeah
Oooh, yeah

Well it's time to go
I see it in your eyes
It's a winding road
It's a big surprise

I See Your Ghost

Here's my best at a spooky song for October. I didn't think I would get one, but I did.

I See Your Ghost.mp3

I See Your Ghost
c2007 Steven Wesley Guiles

I see ghosts everywhere I go
I see your ghost everywhere I go

Wander through the earth
Wonder when you'll return
Cuz' I see ghosts everywhere I go
I see your ghost everywhere I go

Now I thought I saw your face
But it was...just a ghost

Live Show Review By Me And Of Me

I played a show.
I reviewed that show, song by song, to the best of my ability.

Here's that review.

Simple Math II: The Revision Continues

Well, this blog has given me several songs that I've loved and a few I've regretted...

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, eh?

So, this song has been rattling around in my brain and I've come up with a bridge for it that I think is pretty clever, if I do say so myself. I haven't had time to record it, but I may try to tonight if the kids are sleeping peacefully. We'll see.

For now I wanted to post the lyrics because I think they're pretty clever.

One is a number that I'm thinking of addin' on to
Two is a number indivisible me plus you
Three now that's progress we've added one more Are we a company yet?
Four that's where I had to lock the door
I don't think I'll look back with regret

Who knew simple math would be so hard to do?
Sub-tract add on until they say you're through
Count cruel numbers until your face turns blue
I always thought...that one plus one was two

One was the loneliest I'd ever been till you moved in
Two now I think maybe we added wrong let's do those numbers up again
Three was a trainwreck crashin' into
Four four four is walkin out my door,
Excuse me while go and get her back

Who knew simple math would be so hard to do?
Sub-tract add on until they say we're through
Count cruel numbers until your face turns blue
I always thought...that one plus one was two

First we were just multiplying
Now it seems our times are dividing
I think we’ve met our quotient for this year
If you factor in the joys and the tears
If in this equation you are an x, and I ask “why?”
Do we subtract, add or multiply?

Who knew simple math would be so hard to do?
Sub-tract add on until they say we're through
Count cruel numbers until your face turns blue
I always thought...that one plus one was two

One plus one was two
One plus one was two
Aaaaaaoooooooohh

Wrinkles of My Mind

Wrinkles of My Mind.mp3

Wrinkles of My Mind
words and music by Gene Gorski

A little further down the road
Another spin around this world
Letting the universe unfold
In the wrinkles of my mind

Steam's rising from my bike in the cold mountain air
And the morning bites like a wolf on the hunt
Snow paints serenity over the chaos of my life
A brief vacation from the reality
Like an expensive Santa Fe gallery
Where I can't even afford to look

A little further down the road
Another spin around this world
Letting the universe unfold
In the wrinkles of my mind

The best I can say is that I am still in the game
And I haven't heard the fat lady sing
So as long as I still got some gas in this tank
I'll take it a little further down the road
Hang on for one more spin around the globe
To see what is turning my way

A little further down the road
Another spin around this world
Letting the universe unfold
In the wrinkles of my mind

John and Paul gave us the ticket to ride
Billy Graham left us no place to hide
Snoop Dogg said just let it slide
While Mick Jagger can't be satisfied

So tell me what's a poor boy like me to do
but take it

A little further down the road
Another spin around this world
Letting the universe unfold
In the wrinkles of my mind

Forbidden Fruit

The first two lines of the chorus are where the song came from. It is the story of a man trying to get in to the wrong pair of pants. I recorded this using a Mesa Boogie 5/25 Express using only 5 watts into an AT 4040 mic. Playing the Jon Kammerer acoustic. This is my first time micing the amps and I am happy. Next time I will add room mics for a bigger sound, but for a first try I am pretty darn happy.

Forbidden Fruit.mp3

Forbidden Fruit
words and music by Gene Gorski

I've never loved a woman
Like I love you right now
But is this fresh and never frozen
Or am I just getting my heart broken

Feng shui, passion play
Three way, fore play
On my knees
Here I pray
Gimme what I need
I 'll love you forever tonight
Forbidden fruit tastes so sweet
But I'll love you forever tonight

In this world ruled by fear
Our love is all that stands
Between eternity and damnation
Laying my sanity on your salvation

Feng shui, passion play
Three way, fore play
On my knees
Here I pray
Gimme what I need
I 'll love you forever tonight
Forbidden fruit tastes so sweet
But I'll love you forever tonight

It's a chance I'm willing to take
We'll work out the rest
in the light of day
It's a leap of fate
I'm willing to take

Feng shui, passion play
Three way, fore play
On my knees
Here I pray
Gimme what I need
I 'll love you forever tonight
Forbidden fruit tastes so sweet
But I'll love you forever tonight

This May Be The New Business Model: Radiohead Releases New Album...For Free?!

If you haven't heard about this yet, get with it.
This may change how you (we, me, I) do music in the future.
Pay attention.

Read this article.