Every Song We've Ever Written, and what they mean to me.

This is Brian and I am writing this blog about all the songs we wrote as a band. They will all be listed under which record they came from, and will have a somewhat brief explanation to what I wrote them about. Enjoy.

Demo (2007)

The Truffle Shuffle

“This song was about losing my virginity.”

i look into those eyes, the ones that hold me tight

the ones that make me feel so alive

your skin is smooth on mine, your fingers cross in time

we will fall in love just for tonight

she says she ready (and my palms begin to sweat)

she pulls me close (and that’s when our eyes met)

i say i’m ready (but my mind tells me no)

i pull her close (i just wanna take it slow)

here comes the worst (we’ll fall in love tonight)

my heart says (“I’ll stay by her side”)

yes, its the worst (but my mind tells me no)

i pull her close (i just wanna take it slow)

I’ll run miles and miles, I’ll chase you that’s my style

I’ll make this day our’s, until the sun goes down

it’s going on days now, it’s going on weeks now

it’s going on months now, it’s going on years

let’s not say a word, cause something I just heard

just sounded so absurd

let’s be quiet now, please don’t make a sound

let’s be aware of what’s all around

Put Some Pants On, This Isn’t Miami

“This song is about trying to prove to a girl you’re better off without her anyways.”

I’m taking back every little thing I said to you baby

Because I know that it doesn’t mean a damn thing baby

How do you feel right now?

From the start to the end I knew that you were the one

Taking a chance on a suicide run

How do you feel right now?

I’m ready to die, and you’re licensed to kill

so we can do this now or we can do this later

(I will believe, that we won’t fall down)

I’m ready to die, and you’re licensed to kill

I’m a sucker for love and, you’re a heartbreaker

I’m almost over the edge, and I’m heading there fast

Shutting out the world from the future and the past

Say what you will, but my heart won’t spill

After what went down there was never a chance

I tried to make a stand, but that required a stance

Say what you will, and head for the kill

Can you make me run, into your arms again

We’ve got the same problem as before

Wait til the end, and we’ll see what’s more.

I Want a Divorce (2008)

No Mail Today; Try Tomorrow

“Based off the character Roberta Sparrow from the movie Donnie Darko.”

I will not, I won’t disappear.

Ever person in this world must live in fear

Please tell me, please tell me I’m okay

I keep checking though there’s no mail today

This silence is too loud, no let’s ask the crowd

these people are staring, hey why are you caring

who cares what people say, when you’re in love

the rain is falling, and you keep calling

my mind is racing, and you keep pacing

who cares what people say, when you’re in love

the boulevards they lie in place, the buildings they begin to sway

and we are falling down with them

the way you smile, the way you laugh

the way you scream, I’ll do the math

I am losing your trust

I am, I am living alone, death seems to keep on being postponed

The world is turning fast, all I do is lift the spells you’ve cast

[not recorded]

If you come home tonight, I’ll leave the light on; I’ll leave the door unlocked

Just let me know if you plan on coming

John McInroe’s Masquerade

I wrote this song about a girl I was into who lived a few hours away from me. We couldn’t ever see each other, but we were really digging each other. Anyways, she decided shortly before we were actually going to see each other that she didn’t “like” me anymore. So the opening line is a really snide way of saying that I was the only one who cared, and the line “lightbulbs keep flickering on and off” was meant to say how indecisive she was.

the county lines meant nothing to me

you were always forgetting your lines

the way you cry does nothing to me

i’ve had it with you this time

and now i’ll hide from my memories

i wonder if you will remember me

the way things worked out, left me broken

let’s play show and tell

this is my epidemic, people change i understand

your words are so pathetic, how am i supposed to land

you keep on running in circles, the thought of you and me is disgusting

all of this seems so worthless, how come you could never trust me

you remind me of a sinner, you were justifying your end

the cold days of the winter, you tell me when this will end

tell me reasons to forget you

and i will keep on speaking of you

lightbulbs keep flickering, on and off

the first time that we held hands

we were playing with demands

lightbulbs keep flickering on and off

We Don’t Care About Your Lady Friends

I wrote this track about one of the guys in the band. He was dating a girl who was either hot or cold, wrong or right, etc. etc. So as I was watching him go through it, I compared it to girls who had done the same to me. It’s pretty blunt in saying “i can’t keep up with your games.” And Dave wrote the verses, and I love the “she’s beautiful with the way she looks, its her eyes, they hypnotize” I really read into that as “Wow, I’m really into you, no matter how much you take advantage of me.”

rainy parking lots were meant for parking what we were doing was wrong

unfortunately i constantly break the rules, and i’ll wait for you to come around

and i can feel your voice, and i can hear your touch

so please don’t tell me that, this was too much

sitting here resting all alone

shivers in her spine because she’s all alone

doesn’t know what’s real or fake

how much more can this girl take?

And I can feel it

you’re nothing more than a pretty face and you call off everything

you just want to run away, i can’t keep up with your games

why would you remind me what was happening in the backseat of my car?

and why would we make plans that we knew wouldn’t get too far?

she’s beautiful with the she looks, it’s her eyes: they hypnotize.

we are what we make of ourselves

And now we’re running (we’re counting down the minutes to the end)

Runner faster and faster now

And now we’re catching (and we’re counting down the seconds)

Catching up with who you are.

Now I will believe that we are standing still.

Fraggles

Everyone knows this song for the line “and now we’re making out, in an empty movie theater.” Which was a real occurence. I was really feeling a girl, and I wrote this song about trying to get her into me, and the steps I took to make her ‘mine’. The line about pills, is not to be taken as a drug reference, but more to show how nervous I was. And the first verse is a quote from the movie “The Maltese Falcon.” I watched the movie around the time, and I connected it to me thinking, even if she doesnt dig me, I’ll still be way into her.

And now I’m driving faster, to get to you but these cars are standing still.

I am gripping the wheel, tighter and tighter, and I’m taking all these pills.

Somebody keeps leering, I will not stay here.

And now I’m turning you in babe, and they’ll give you life.

But if you’re a good girl, they’ll let you off with twenty.

And if they hang that, pretty neck of yours.

I promise that I’ll remember you forever.

Bring you to me, please run to me

I’ll be waiting for you to arrive.

Run from me, far from me.

You’re making me nervous, you keep coming nearer

and now we’re making out, in an empty movie theater.

you keep taking advantage of my sense.

When you said you loved me, I hope you meant it.

The Second Rule About Fight Club

This was about myself being upset over stuff changing in my life. We had just transitioned out of an old band, and lost friendships, I was starting my senior year of high school, and everyone seemed to have their lives figured out, but me. So I wrote this as if I was talking to myself to man up, and stop acting scared.

Running from me, and the water’s all around, can you hear the sound?

You’ve been crying way too long, and you keep listening to that same song.

Turn your radio off, what are you crying for, you did nothing wrong.

Why would you tell me that we wouldn’t make it out alive?

Someday we will find that we had faded away; that we had wasted away.

Hiding from me, and they’re walking on the ground, can you hear the sound?

It’s the dawn of a new age, where kids put lyrics to notebook page.

Put that journal away, what are you crying for? Everything will be okay.

X is for Christmas

Self-explanatory, we wrote a Christmas song.

And the snows falling down as we ride in your car

Sliding across the road, and we’re not getting far

But that’s okay if we make it home tonight.

Anticipation as we walk through the door

We’re holding hands, but I know you want more

I gotta get you under the mistletoe at midnight

But you keep moving fast, and I want this to last

We gotta fall asleep, so I’ll hold you close to me.

I wanna wake up next to you on Christmas morning. (Waiting til the end of time)

I gotta find you next to me on Christmas morning. (Waiting here by your side)

The snow is falling, the fire’s calling, I think that I’ll spend Christmas with you.

Friends and family are gathered together,

but we don’t let the spirit get ruined by weather

And that’ll keep you close to me all night on Christmas

You keep stealing glances from across the room

And I know that it means you wanna go home soon.

So you can get me under the mistletoe at midnight.

Hollywood’s On Fire (2009)

You Had Me at Hello

This song was about being away to college and having my girlfriend back home telling me contradictory things. I originally starting writing silly lyrics as a joke, but then I got into a groove. She would tell me to stay at school and if I wanted to be single then it was okay, but she would then turn around and ask me when I was coming home to see her again. So it was all really about being away from home, and her, and how she was driving me crazy, in good ways and bad ways.

My mind is spinning inside and around your lovely little broadway show

Everything around me has come crashing down up me

But then again that’s only in those romance movie endings

This could have torn us apart, like the times we had in that basement

But I held your hand from the start, that’s when you used to say you hate me.

You’ve got your hand on my heart, shut up girl, don’t debate me

Tell me babe, that this won’t part, here we go it’s me and my baby

I’ll come home to you, if you want me to.

You are my only one, tell me everything that you have done

And I’ll forgive you.

You had me from the start, telling me we wouldn’t make it this far

But I’ll forget you.

Somewhere someone’s smiling at my underminding

Take your hands off of what you don’t know

Everything around me has come crashing down upon me

But then again that’s only in those romance movie endings

I’ll come home to Schaghticoke to save you from this place that you call home.

I’ll come home to Schaghticoke, to play you all the songs that I wrote.

All the Prettiest Girls

All the Prettiest Girls was written about my inner struggle with having a girlfriend back home during college. I really wanted to be with her, and at the same time I felt I was missing out on “college.” So it was written about resisting temptation to be single, and the lines “I just wish you had something going on in that pretty little head of yours” was me saying to myself, “yea, these girls are pretty, but you have a good girl back home”

I’ve got a suitcase full of pickup lines

and your miniskirt is tempting me to break this thing open

Your legs, those eyes, I’m hypnotized

I don’t know why but when you walk by

I fall everytime.

Where do you go when you can’t find a place to call your own?

You never know what way to go, so I’ll wait here by the phone.

It’s going on days now, it’s going on weeks now

It’s going on months now, it’s going on years

Your aesthetics are, far from pathetic

I just wish you had something going on in that pretty little head of yours

The way you dress, girl I’m impressed

babe just say yes, to my request

And we can be the best.

Don’t Tell John Locke What He Can’t Do

It seems I wrote the majority of this ep while in college, being stressed about my girlfriend back home. This one was written about a huge fight we had one night, where she wanted to give me back all my stuff, and she wanted to call it quits. I cried my eyes out, and Ken and Dave sat there with me. But I started writing this song. So it was like, “I live to love you, and you hope for me to hate you.” The line about writing a will for all your stuff on your shelves was directly linked to her giving me my shit back, and it was answered with “because we got something good.” My argument the entire night was, “But I love you.” This song really helped me get past a lot of the bullshit.

Tell that to the judge, we’re making too much damn noise

That’s it, I’m calling this off.

One more time babe, I’ll tell you that I love you

But it’s wearing me down, so I’ll scream and shout

About all the things that we’ve done.

The only thing that we have to live for

is me saying “I love you” and you say you love me too

the only thing that we have to hope for

is me saying “I hate you”, and you say you hate me too

so reassure yourself, that you’ll go in your sleep

and rearrange your shelves, and leave your shit to me

One more time babe let’s do it again just hear me out

Don’t dumb it down, cause we’ve got something good.

Bangin On a Trash Can

Dave and I wrote this about being excited to tour, and to actually get out there. We were always told our band wouldn’t make it past basement shows while we were in high school, and we wrote and recorded this literally three weeks before we went on tour. Written about proving people wrong, but also being nervous to impress them.

Look how far we’ve come, out here on the open road

But what if its a trainwreck?

Looking forward now, every night a new town

But what if its a trainwreck?

Oh now you will see, a better side of me.

Oh now you will have, a better life with me.

And all along, you told us we

Couldn’t do it, on our own.

But now we know, dreams come true.

Boys will be boys, girls will be too

But we’ve got that something special.

Wake up at 6 am, moving out like there is no end.

But what if its a trainwreck?

Dreams Come True.

Let this Be a Lesson to You (2010)

Planning a Getaway

I had a friend in high school who I was really close with. We both ended up having some polar opposite views, and he drifted from me. When it came time for us to do what we needed to do past high school, I couldn’t seem to get ahold of him to say goodbye. So I wrote this a few years later pretty much saying, “I gave you my friendship, what do you have to offer?” I love the first verse, because it’s meant to be taken completely sarcastically.

Wake up, wake up this will all be over sooner than you think.

Wake up, wake up because we’re nowhere near the end.

Wake up, wake up get your ass to the floor.

Wake up, wake up because I thought we were friends.

And I don’t know where you’re going on this one

But it seems like you’re finally going in the right direction.

And I don’t know what you’re thinking on this one

But I know I have all of the answers to all of your questions.

I’ve been waiting for, you by my bedroom door

Let’s forget this or, we won’t talk anymore.

I’ve been waiting for, you by my bedroom door

Close my eyes and wait, please no don’t hesitate.

You used to be just like me.

And if this is what you want (Oh, this is a different story)

Then take advantage while you have the chance (Let this be a lesson to you)

415 Knickerbocker

I wrote the lyrics to this song in between Rochester, NY and Cordova, MD during a ten hour drive. I kept the lyrics up in my head, and then transferred them to my phone when we finally parked. The girl that I wrote Hollywood’s On Fire about, broke up with me the day before we left for tour. So I was playing all these songs I wrote about being dedicated to her, and it was eating me up inside. So I was like, “I don’t care about any of this, you’re not even worth my time.” Which turned into , “And I don’t give a damn about, making out in a movie theater.

It’s not what this song’s about, and it’s definitely not about you either” The lyrics to the heavy part got added later on, when she came home from college and thought it was okay to try to get me to hangout. I wrote a billion songs about being angry with her, and everytime I’d look at this one, and realize it did not matter any more.

It’s taken all my life, to know that friends are all I need in this world

It’s taken twenty years, to finally stop writing stupid songs about girls.

And I can feel it now, and we’re going to be just fine.

Let’s take this one at a time.

You and I were supposed to be, on the covers of magazines

And I covered all my bases see? I guess you’re really not the one for me

And I don’t give a damn about, making out in a movie theater.

It’s not what this song’s about, and it’s definitely not about you either

And I can feel it building up inside

And I don’t care if you’re coming home tonight

So stop pretending everything’s in sight

it doesn’t matter if you think it’s wrong or right.

First Round Knockout

I wrote this song about being in love. I’m in a relationship where I fell in love, close to immediately, and that has never happened to me before. I really wanted to express that it doesn’t if its been 6 years, 6 months, or 6 days, when you know you love someone, you just know.

Because I’ve never been more sure of anything

Then when I look at you and you’re my everything

It’s love, it’s funny when I say it out loud

Because I’ve never felt this and I have no doubts

One more time and I swear I’ll be just fine

It was all a crush, and you can trust, that I’ve figured me out

It was our first date and I was a nervous wreck,

but you calmed me down when you started kissing on my neck

What have we gotten into?

Let’s start this over, because we’ve been down this road, too many times before

Tell me the right way, so I don’t do things that will not work with you.

Contemplating, overrating, I’ve been waiting, for you.

You finally made it, we finally made it, I fell in love with you.

One more time and I swear I’ll be just fine

And I won’t leave, until you see, the smile on my face.

It’s months later and the feelings are still true.

I wouldn’t say it if I wasn’t in love with you.

Climb the tallest mountains and swim the deepest seas.

Because no one keep you from me.

So let me tell you all this again, because you’re always stuck in my head.

It’s love, it’s funny when I say it out loud.

B-Sides

Oh, We’re in London (2008)

I actually don’t have all of the lyrics to this song, but I know that I wrote it about hurting someone close to you, and trying to express to them how remorseful you feel. We never got around to recording the vocals, but I know on the instrumental recording, there is a sweet Samuel L Jackson quote.

Someone’s Got a Case of the Mondays (2009)

I wrote this about freeing myself of inhibitions. I was still dating the girl from Hollywoods On Fire. But I had a feeling it wouldn’t be lasting much longer. So I wrote it about being will a girl for one night, and how appealing it seemed, how lonely it would make me feel. A direct correlation is the line “but leave me your number” and “these fragile eyes are torn apart, i know your intentions” We never got around to recording this song and it slowly made its way out of our live set.

Let’s get irresponsible tonight

Grab a drink and a girl it’ll be alright

Tell me, tell me when we’re coming home.

Take me to your bedroom.

We don’t have to make the right decision all night long.

You could have told me everything, but then again when it was up to me I tried.

But leave me your number.

Because there’s so many girls in the NorthEast town.

You could have told me everything.

These fragile eyes are torn apart.

I know your intentions, I know your intentions.

When will we, see something more.

I know your intentions.

And we’ll sing tonight.

About how we will be okay.

And I’m wondering why.

Why we wouldn’t be okay.

And this is the worst part

Because you and I have to say goodbye.

You could have told me everything, but then again when it was up to me I tried.

But don’t be upset girl

Because I’m coming back here next July.

You could told me everything