The Refreshments prided itself on being something like a democracy. Everyone had a say in band issues, and we all participated in songwriting. That’s why it’s a little uncomfortable to talk about which band member wrote which song. The short answer is, we all wrote them. Still, if put against a wall, I could come up with a single writer for most of the Refreshments tunes. The songs I “wrote” were “Carefree,” which is on our first record, and “Birds Sing,” which is on our second.
“Carefree" cemented itself early as a staple of the band's set and identity. It was one of five songs we played at our first practice. It was also the lead-off song for the band’s first few months of shows. I never worried whether it would have a place on our first record.
I had no such gimme for our second record. As we rehearsed new material for the record that would become The Bottle and Fresh Horses, I tracked songs on my four-track recorder at home. Eventually, I came to practice with eight songs, none of which found favor with the band. I realized that if I was going to have a song on our new record, I would need to come up with something good, and quick.
I wrote “Birds Sing” in about fifteen minutes. (Where these things come from I’ll never know, but it was out there, and I got it, so it's mine.) I took it to our next practice, played it on acoustic for the guys, and by the grace of Yahweh I had a song for our second record.
Now, I’ve demoed a new version of Birds Sing for posterity. It’s called “Birds Sing Redux,” and you can listen to your heart’s content at my MySpace Music Page.
As a bonus, I’d be happy to email you a free copy of “Birds Sing Redux,” but I need you to do two things for me. First, subscribe to my MySpace Music blog at my MySpace Music page:
MySpace Music Page
Second, email me your name and where you live. I’ll add your name to my email list and send the mp3 of “Birds Sing Redux” to you as an attachment. Put “Birds Sing” in the subject line, and I’ll know what you want.
That’s it: blog subscription, an email with your info, and you’ll have a copy of “Birds Sing Redux” in your inbox by the next morning. Sound good?
Art
3 comments:
This is nifty. I always like hearing a song sung by the person who wrote it. There's something more genuine about the emotion. I very much look forward to obtaining the mp3.
Granted, in a perfect world where the sun's always shining and chocolate has no calories, I'd love to hear The Refreshments record together again. I was just listening to the preview for the new Peacemakers album that was just posted on their site and while I'm enjoying it, I think deep down I'm hoping each time for another Refreshments album. And it just won't be that, I know. Roger's grown as a songwriter and different musicians have stepped in. Each of their albums has taken awhile to grow on me. I'll be there at shows singing until my voice turns to sandpaper and I truly do love the music but that old magic just isn't there like it used to be. I'm sure the Refreshments would have evolved into something else, too, but there still would have been that line-up that just clicked, man, it clicked. I guess that's why I asked you awhile back if you had the Seattle Demos is good condition because it would be great to have more music, even older stuff. (I tried sending a letter to P.H. about it, too, but no reply, lol) Maybe it was just a certain place in a certain time but that music tugged on my soul and still does and I very much appreciate you being a part of that.
Just wanted to get that off my chest, I suppose. :)
MySpace won't let me download these for some reason. Right-clicking does nothing and when I left click the Download link, it just plays the track in a new window. :-/
It was a special time and place, ironheart.
In retrospect, I'm proud to have been in one of those bands--like the Smiths, Minor Threat, etc--that were around for four or five years, made a contribution that's still widely appreciated, and got out before it became insincere. That may sound like a consellation prize, but there are worse things that could've happened.
Your mp3 is in your inbox.
Art
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