Sunday, September 21, 2008

Song #15 - Olivia & Her Former Lives

Yay for Olivia! Olivia does sort of remind me of myself... haha... I was writing stories by 5 and wrote a play or two by 7 or 8. I was/is a strange child. :) This song is helped out by my friend Jack Johnson on sax again... Thanks Jack.

Interesting Facts:
I wrote this song knowing that Shakespeare had invented the name in a play called the 12th Night and that her name means "Olive tree." That was the sort of spring board for this song. Then later, I looked it up on line to post some liner notes and found that the lyrics are even more fitting with the meaning and background of the name... I wanted to post a good chunk of the explanation... I have a few of the name songs where I'm a little more dead on than I would have thought. I found out she is also one of the patron saints of Music!

The Following is from: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_does_the_name_Olivia_come_from

ETYMOLOGY: The name Olivia in its Latin context means "an olive tree or branch". The name Olivia is a symbol of fruitfulness, dignity and beauty.

ORIGIN & HISTORY: Introduced in its modern spelling by William Shakespeare in his 1599 play The Twelfth Night, the name may have been coined from the olive plant or as a feminine form of Oliver. Olivia is also derived from the early Italian name Oliva, meaning olive.

Before 1624 Palermo had four patron saints, one for each of the four major parts of the city. They were Saint Agatha, Saint Christina, Saint Nympha, and Saint Olivia. Saint Olivia is the patron saint of music. The beautiful daughter of a noble Sicilian family, at 13 years old she was kidnapped by Muslims and taken as a slave to Tunis. Impressed by her virtue and beauty her abductors permitted her to live as a hermitess in a cave. However, after she began to perform miracle cures on the local sick, many Muslims converted to Christianity. Consequently she was imprisoned, tortured and later killed.

FASCINATING FACTS: The name Olivia is said to create an interest in the deeper aspects of life. With a Destiny number of 5 a person with the name Olivia is most likely destined to be a free spirit. They'll grow to have the adaptability, inventiveness, and sense of adventure that allows them to take great changes with stride. A person with this name is said to be an eccentric, introverted thinker who is both analytical and mysterious

Listen/Download Here: Olivia & Her Former Lives
(Please Support The Cause: Donate or Buy Merch HERE :))

Olivia & Her Former Lives

Olivia is always climbing trees
She thinks that she can fly
She might have been a bird in a former life
What a strange, strange child...
What a strange, strange child...

CHORUS:
O O O Olivia
It's a wonderful thing, It's a wonderful thing... Olivia.

She's camped out for the twelfth night in a row
Waiting for the aliens to come
Something about a dream. Something about a sign
What a strange, strange child...
What a strange, strange child...

She recites Shakespeare at lunchtime
She seems to know all the lines
She acts out scenes on the playground
What a strange, strange child...
What a strange, strange child...

Olivia sees the world differently
and I don't think that's a bad thing
I think she reminds me of myself
What a strange, strange child...
What a strange, strange child...

Ending:
She might have been a bird in a former life...
She might have been the bard in a former life...

(c) & (p) 2008 Daniel L. Vaillancourt (ASCAP)

Song #14 - Normandy & The Nurse's Salute

Here it is... Song #14... All the kids/staff at the Rock & Roll Camp seemed to really like this one, and have been bugging me to get it posted. (Umm... Here you go Kellen :) Finally got it posted) My friend Jack Johnson stopped at my house on the way up to camp and played some sax for me too. Good times.

So, sometimes this song kinda gets me a little choked up... I think about kids that have to go through live like this and I've had a lot of friends and family in my life get diagnosed with cancer lately.

Normandy has a bunch of parallels to WWII's battle of Normandy D-Day. IF you remember a couple things from your history classes... you probably can pick them out.

Listen/Download Here: Normandy & The Nurse's Salute
(Please Support The Cause: Donate or Buy Merch HERE :))

Normandy & The Nurse's Salute

Normandy. She is braver than me
She seen more beds in hospitals that a child should ever see
Jokingly... she said soon she'll be bald like me
Her sense of humor gets her through chemotherapy
She always makes the nurses laugh and she sticks out her tongue
They all have funny stories about what Normandy has done

CHORUS:
Another day. Another victory... in the battle for Normandy's
Life against an invisible enemy
She made it to another birth day. She turned 13
That 6th of June was a Delightful Day
Another Day another Victory. A Victory for Normandy
Against the odds she made it to see 13

Normandy has seen things that she should never see
All her friends around her are sick or dying
Sometimes she calls for her mother in the middle of the night
But the bad dreams don't go away when she turns out the light
She's made a lot of friends. She always tries to make them laugh.
Some of them got better and some of them have passed

Normandy's nickname is the general
She calls the doctors her allies and the nurses her troops
To Normandy, all the nurses they salute
The little things that get her through the day
Doctors said she wouldn't make it to see 18
But on her 18th birthday, she came to visit and say...
“Another Day! Another victory! Another victory for me!
You said I would never see 18!” She stuck out her tongue and yelled..
“Oh yeah, Here I am... I'm 18... Look at me!”
“Another Day! Another victory! You said I would never see 18!”
So she stuck out here tongue and said, “Well Look at me!”

(c) & (p) 2008 Daniel L. Vaillancourt (ASCAP)

Song #13 - Mary & Her Lies of a Saintly Life

Mary is # 13 of the alphabet series... This is a play of two nursery rhymes (Miss Mary Mack and Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary) and Saint Mary.

Interesting fact:
I didn't really do this on purpose initially but Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary is an English nursery rhyme; an alternate first line is "Mistress Mary, quite contrary."

Listen/Download Here: Mary & Her Lies of a Saintly Life
(Please Support The Cause: Donate or Buy Merch HERE :))

Mary & Her Lies of a Saintly Life

Mary in New Year City
Wears her little black dress to the martini bar
High Heels. Silver earrings.
Diamonds shimmering around her neck.
Short Dress. Long Legs.
Stretch out from under the table.

CHORUS:
Mary quite contrary to popular belief...
Is not as saintly as she seems
Mary quite contrary to popular belief...
Is not as saintly as she wants you to believe

Mary is the other woman
He has a wife in the suburbs
Business Suit. Money Clips...
Stuffed with hundred dollar bills
Multiple Martinis.
With tips bigger than her old paychecks

Mary is feeling guilty
But not enough to trade this life in
Cigar smoke swirling
Like thoughts floating through her head
Once she saw a photograph
of his beautiful wife and kids

She used to be her mother's perfect child
Now she is the perfect mistress
She still goes home to Iowa at Christmas time
But her stories are all lies
Her mother still believes she's the girl
Growing up seemingly innocent in Iowa

Mary wants you to believe... Her life in New York City
Is perfect and pretty.

(c) & (p) 2008 Daniel L. Vaillancourt (ASCAP)

Song #12: Layna & Turning On and Off

Layna is the 12th song in the alphabet series. Thomas Boles was nice enough to sing some rock and roll backing vox. :) Layna is one of those girls where the boys all like her and the girls can't quite understand why... She turns the boys on and turns the other girls off. She's kinda crazy too. This is one of my favorites of the series so far. :)

Listen/Download Here: Layna & Turning On and Off
(Donate or Buy Merch HERE)

Layna & Turning On and Off

Layna is a firecracker
She was born on the 4th of July
Stubborn and Beautiful
Fire in her eyes
She has a way about her
The was hard to resist

CHORUS:
Lately she is on and off and on again
Layna is a little bit crazy
Lately she is on and off and on again
Layna really turns them on

Layna has a bit of a temper
She'll bunch you in the face
Without thinking twice about it
She'll put you in your place
You better stay out of her way
Or you'll get what you get

Layna looks across the room
She's got her eyes on you
That red-headed temptress
You don't know what she'll do
She buys you a drink
You're the envy of the room

(c) & (p) 2008 Daniel L. Vaillancourt (ASCAP)

Song #11 - Kathryn & Her Big Belt Buckles

# 11 in the alphabet series. Kathryn is normal girl, someone everyone has always known, and is a little rough around the edges... It just takes one person to see something special and beautiful in her... In this case, it is a beautiful nervous love. It makes the world go around.

Interesting Fact:
Ummm... please don't ever ask me to whistle on demand... haha... I was just sort of hyped on coffee or something when I recorded this and was kind of whistling while I was setting up the recording stuff and it ended up in the song...:) It was just a fluke of nature that it worked. HA!


Listen/Download Here: Kathryn & Her Big Belt Buckles
(Donate or Buy Merch HERE)


Kathryn & Her Big Belt Buckles

Kathryn wears big belt buckles
And at least a 5 gallon hat.
She always plays Patsy Cline on the jukebox
So call me crazy, but I think I'm falling in love
So call me crazy, but I think I'm falling in love

We all know Kathryn and her family
All of us have driven by the ranch
It goes on and on forever with a thousand head of cattle
Seems like forever, I think I might be falling in love

Chorus:
Like bull rider at a rodeo, I'm hanging on.
For dear Life.
Like a bull rider at a rodeo, I'm hanging on.
For dear, for dear Kathryn

Kathryn is like a diamond in the rough
but it all smooths out when she smiles
Snake skin boots and overalls
I can't get over her, I think I'm falling in love
I can't get over her, I think I'm falling in love

There is something about that rancher's daughter
That keeps me up at night
Keep on waiting until the time is right
To tell her, I think I am falling in love
Keep on waiting until the time is right
To tell her, I think I am falling in love

I can't wait to tell her, that I think I'm falling in love
I think I'm falling in love... Oh I think I'm falling in love

(c) & (p) 2008 Daniel L. Vaillancourt (ASCAP)