Christina's Song

Christina's Song is a song that I did not write. It was written by our bassist and singer Kevin Darrell and performed by our band Shambala. The bad thing about naming any song after a girl is the fact that if you start dating a different girl, you can't play the song anymore which is why we haven't played this song in a very long time. It's a shame because I always thought that it was one of our better songs. Kevin recorded all of the vocal parts and I've always loved the back-up vocals on the pre-chorus and chorus. If you listen closely, you can hear me whiff the guitar on the intro. We talked about re-doing it but decided we were too lazy and pizza was more important. I'm still a bit embarrassed by it but let's argue that it adds "character" to the song and leave it at that. Hope you enjoy.

09 Christina's Song by iceap12

TV on the Radio - You

I love this video, I'm not sure why. But, sometimes that's why art is so great because it doesn't always have to be explained. It's funny, sad and poignant and I absolutely love the song. My favorite lyric is, "In our dreams, we were making it right." How many times have all of us felt that way? Too many times than we care to remember.

Hope you enjoy the video.

A Part of You

For a very long time now, I've wanted to share some of the music I've written over the years with all of you. Today, I finally see that dream come to fruition. Using a new free service called Soundcloud, I've uploaded one of my personal favorites called, "A Part of You". This song is one of my favorites because I made my wife sing with me on it. I wrote it back in 2007 after seeing Juno, whose soundtrack was dominated by songs that have a similar sound to this with couples seemingly trading verses and coming back together for the chorus. To this day, it's still one of the easiest times I've ever had writing a song. I think I wrote the whole thing in 10-15 minutes. Even the first line that came to me was, in my opinion, the best. "You've got me on/a part of you/that I can't get off/no matter what I do." There's something about the innocence of the lyric that I've always liked. The rest of the lyrics have both of us trading jabs at each other (I tell her she has too much crap, she tells me my skin is rough and I snore too loud-all of which, I might add, were common complaints we had with each other at the time) but then ultimately coming to the realization that despite all of this, we're both still sticking with one another. I hope you enjoy it and look for more music from me in the future!

10 A Part Of You by iceap12

Game of Thrones

I've been reading this series since Christmas and it's really quite fantastic. It's like a more adult Lord of the Rings where there isn't always a clear enemy and everyone has ulterior motives. They're making a show for it on HBO and it debuts this Sunday. I don't have HBO but I'll probably download it from iTunes. Let the Game begin!

Hue

She's green; green of the summer breeze and she'll be green till the yellow turns red. Red, the color of her lipstick; the color of her eyes in the morning; the color of the signs around her telling her otherwise.
Blue, that's me, the color of the lonely and the lost which is what I am when she's gone. My hues change in temperature and I parade myself in shades of crimson and gold. But it is folly. One cannot change their color, though she'd have me believe otherwise. And I being blue, always believe her.
She's green! Green! And when I'm with her, I feel it too. Everything that is new and possible fits comfortably into our hands and for a moment we believe there is only us. But they are so loud-the colors. They are many and we are two and their choir drowns out our humble sonata. We clash, us and them, for we were never meant to sing as one. And she begins to think I have betrayed our love though my voice was meant only for her, the green, the emerald green.
She's my emerald queen but she cries obsidian in long strands. Obsidian, the color we have begun to sing. We once harmonized in turquoise but now our tones have grown hoarse and dark. We have grown too far apart, these long tumultuous days. And I being blue, find myself too comfortable in my familiar color. I yearn for her, the green, but winter has blackened her and I am helpless.
Her circumstance is one of dark fate. I do not understand her language. Did I ever truly know it? And I realize that she was never green and that my foolish yearnings for harmony merely painted her the green of my dreams. I see her now. My once green queen has become a black stranger.
And there are hues between us.