Do What U Can

I have a daughter who turns 17 in April. She lives with her mom 2000 miles away and I haven't seen her in a long time and she doesn't want to talk to me. She said that the song "Perfect" by Simple Plan sums up how she feels. I wrote and recorded this song as a response and apology.

When I was a perfectionist I tortured myself if things didn't come out as planned. My life was full of stress because I tried to control the uncontrollable. Sometimes I just didn't have the resources to do what I wanted. Finally I learned this key to living a happier life: Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are. That's all we can expect from ourselves and others.

Is it too late to tell you I'm proud of you?
Or will you just stand there rolling your eyes?
I'm man enough to admit to my mistakes
so I wrote this song to apologize
I thought I was a gardener pruning his prize rose tree
instead I left you feeling like an amputee
I never expected perfection
Do what you can with what you got where you are

I had to leave but I never gave up on you
I know it made you angry, confused, and sad
no matter how far away or how old you get
You're still my daughter and I am still your dad
in my imagination you're still a twirling little girl
but you've become a smart and confident woman of the world
I never expected perfection
Just do what you can with what you got where you are
That's all I ever expect from you

    

I've Got a Bomb

The first Palestinian Intifada (uprising) against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories began on 9 December 1987. The previous day an Israeli army tank transporter crashed into a row of cars containing Palestinians returning from working in Israel killing four Palestinians and seriously injuring seven others. Hundreds of Palestinian laborers returning from work witnessed it and soon rumors started that it was an intentional retaliation. Protests included civil disobedience, strikes, boycotts on Israeli products, graffiti, and barricades. Most media coverage showed the contrast between demonstrators with stones against heavily armed Israeli troops.

Since I was in topical song mode at the time this complicated issue called for a naive response. That response was the bluesy "I've Got a Bomb". I recorded the version found on "This Machine Eats Bacon" in my bedroom. I thought my parents were out of town, but my dad came in and interrupted after the second verse.

You better look out
because I've got a bomb...

I've got a bomb
I've got a bomb
I've got a bomb on your front lawn
I've got a bomb

I've got a tank
I've got a tank
I've got a tank on the West Bank
I've got a tank

I've got a plane
I've got a plane
I've got a plane so don't you complain
'cuz I can do anything that I want
I've got a bomb

I killed a little kid
I killed a little kid
I killed a little kid so I could move into your neighborhood

Your Kid Got AIDS

Another "topical song" as Phil Ochs called them. This one was inspired by a story about the Ray family from Florida who had three hemophiliac children that contracted AIDS through blood clotting medicine. It was similar to the story of Ryan White a few years earlier but the neighbors were even more reactionary.

Pediatric AIDS first came to the public's attention because of Ryan White, a hemophiliac that contracted AIDS through a blood treatment back in 1984. Doctors reassured people that he was not a risk to other students, but since AIDS was not understood at the time parents protested his return to school. His situation showed the public that AIDS wasn't just a "gay disease" and the media exposure helped the public understand HIV better. Though given only six months to live, Ryan lived five years longer than predicted and died in April 1990, one month before his high school graduation. Here's an interview with Ryan from 1986. 



You would think that by 1987 people would be better informed, but the Ray family of DeSoto County, Florida found out otherwise. The Ray children, two brothers and a sister, were all hemophiliacs who were thought to have become infected with the AIDS virus through contaminated blood-clotting drugs they were being treated with. The parents took the school system to court to force it to admit their children and a federal judge ruled that they be admitted to school. Neighbors protested and attacked the family. Finally a "suspicious" fire started in the children's bedroom destroying their house so they decided to leave town. You can read the original article HERE.

This has been called the best Vlad song ever by music critics. OK, by one music critic. Well, RMC works for a radio station and he can be critical sometimes. But he was just articulating what I'm sure is obvious to anyone who knows my music. With "Your Kid Got AIDS" my songwriting took a new turn--it had a point, it was carefully crafted and executed. It told a story rather than just being clever and provocative.

The version found on "This Machine Eats Bacon" was recorded in my bedroom with overdubbing done by bouncing between tape recorders through a mixer. I was listening to folk music at the time so you may notice a hint of "Greenback Dollar" by the Kingston Trio and close harmony inspired by the Everly Brothers.

you live in a nice suburban home
but somewhere down the line
things went wrong
your kid got sent home from school today
the neighbors said you'll have to move away
because your kid got AIDS
from a blood transfusion
now he's bound for expulsion
the neighbors want you out of town
or they will burn your house down to the ground

education is what they lacked
because you can't get AIDS from casual contact
you can't get AIDS from someone while you play
and you can't get AIDS just because your friend is gay
and your kid got AIDS
from a blood transfusion
now he's bound for expulsion
the neighbors want you out of town
or they will burn your house down to the ground

the junkie got AIDS 'cuz a needle he did share
his friends ignore him
and his family doesn't care
a kid got AIDS 'cuz a condom wasn't worn
and a baby got AIDS on the day that it was born
but your kid got AIDS
from a blood transfusion
now he's bound for expulsion
the neighbors want you out of town
or they will burn your house down to the ground

the parents try to get your kid expelled
they put your family through a private hell
they march around in a little picket line
a rock comes through the window
the phone rings off the hook
the woman at the market
gives you a dirty look
because your kid got AIDS
from a blood transfusion
now he's marked for execution
the neighbors want you out of town
or they will burn your house down to the ground
and they did burn your house down to the ground

    

Underwear Sometimes

"When I was a youth, much youthier than I am today..." I probably wrote this song after reading Lawrence Ferlighetti's poem "Underwear". I owe much to the Beat Generation writers that I read so much of in high school. When I lived in San Francisco, I would see him at a coffee shop in North Beach up the street from his City Lights Bookstore. Never had the courage to speak to him, but we nodded politely at each other once.



The version you'll hear on the 25th Anniversary album "This Machine Eats Bacon" features the four-piece Universe I mentioned in a previous post. I later added the keyboards to give it a fuller psychedelic sound for the only post-Ypsilanti release "The Hot Melting Ones vs. the Pleasure Goddess" in 1990.

When I was a youth much youthier than I am today
I had a pair of polyurethane pants
and I thought that God lived in the sky
trembling shaking hands with relatives
fifth floor second floor
are you possessed by evil?
why did you set my shoes on fire?
restless parasite drifting in the sea of life
tell me, did you find your sould this time?
I know that I can't read your mind
but I can see your underwear sometimes
although I cannot see your face
underwear makes the world seem like a better place
I can hear things in my mind
small children and sirens
a big band plays "That Old Black Magic"
stretch your hands into the darkness
you will find a naked body
when your conscience goes on a vacation
is there anything to take it's place?
hopeless terrorist
she doesn't know what she wants from this life
it's just a place to be absurd

     

Guns in the Closet

In this new version of the classic Vladimir song I used elements from various early recordings, but gave it a reggae twist. The spoken back-up features long-time collaborator Joe C. Schweinbagel which I snagged from the first demo version of the song recorded on July 15, 1989. I was never fully satisfied with the lyrics, so I revised them for this latest version.

His oracles are much too cryptic
he's in a bathrobe on the stairway drinking soda pop
hot water drips from the shower
he's waiting for the revolution riding the bus every day
there are bugs in his apartment
there are guns in his closet
and he's waiting for the landlord to fix the faucet
marshmallow maple syrup Marx & Engels
sardines and socialism
caffeine and nihilism
his eyes are full of wonder
his heart full of hope
his mind is a sponge
it's 100 degrees
he has a nightmare:
this hand smells like mercy
this hand tastes like pain
razor wire and goose-stepping
and a bullet to the brain

 

Squirrelier Than Earlier

Maybe it was a midlife crisis? I don't know, but I decided to write and record some new songs. When I composed this song, I knew it was the title track. Many of you may remember "The Squirrel Babies Wave Goodbye" and the many other sciuridae references throughout my songs.

I've been out of my tree
a couple of times
I lost a few nuts while trying to climb
I'll admit my tail is getting gray
but I'm squirrelier than earlier
and I won't go away
I ran across the road without injury
I've been chased by dogs
but they couldn't catch me
I've got a dozen babies
in a hollow log
I'm squirrelier than earlier
so read it on my blog
summer's almost gone I can tell
by the weather
some things mellow with age
while others get (better/bitter)
I feel at peace in my
heart and my brain
I'm squirrelier than earlier
(now back to the refrain...)
I'm squirrelier than earlier!
I'm squirrelier than earlier!

She was a Monster

Confession: I enjoyed being deliberately provocative. If you were a fan of Vladimir's Universe you probably knew that already. If something was subversive, kinky, twisted, or controversial it probably made it into a song. That's pretty cliche in 2013, but back in the 80s it was avant garde. At the same time I was romantic and sentimental, a puppy dog more than a wolf.

If this song was about a real woman, years of therapy have erased her from my mind. I was listening to blues at the time so I played with the theme "I got a woman..." and this is what happened.

Recorded in my bedroom with guitar and drum machine the version appearing on "This Machine Eats Bacon" originally showed up on my tape "Make Lunch, Not War".

I knew a girl who was possessed
and she wore a yellow dress
I knew a girl with glowing eyes
she gave me pain
she told me lies
I don't think that I will forget her
she looked real good in leather
she gave me love
and she gave me pain
she had a monster living in her brain
she had long nails
she'd scratch my back
'til she drew blood
and I would scream
blood on the sheets
blood on the bed
the road to pleasure is stained with red
I don't think that I will forget her
she looked real good in leather
she gave me love
and she gave me pain
she had a monster living in her brain