Jeff: It’s February Album Writing Month (FAWM.ORG), and this year I’m going to attempt it.  The goal, simply, is to write 14 songs in the month of February.   Which works out to be one every……let’s see…..carry the one….two days.  So here’s my first shot at it.  Granted, it’s a little gimmicky to write a song about FAWM, but you know I like gimmicks.  And, so the lyrics make sense, here’s a little background:

A “zong” is a song with no comments on it at the fawm website.  Last year I started listening to people’s songs and this guy Errol wrote a song that he wanted to be a zong, but I commented on it because I didn’t read the faq or know what I was doing and because I really liked it….I was embarrassed about my faux pas,  and didn’t get involved, but I did apologize profusely.  Make sense?

So this month you’ll see 14 songs out of me and my friends.  They might be good, they might suck, they might go off the beaten path (Klezmer ska, anyone?), but it’ll be an experience.  And art is meant to be experienced, right?  So enjoy.  And come back in two days for a song about Facebook.  And go check out Errol and all the other great songwriters at fawm.org.  It’s a wonderful place.

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Lyrics:

FAWM FAWM FAWM FAWM

I joined FAWM so I could sing 14 songs for other people
I joined FAWM so I could write 14 songs for me-pull
February seems like a funny time to write 14 songs
but I hope I don’t end up with 14 zongs

I joined FAWM so I could try to keep up with Errol
Last year I didn’t read the FAQ cuz I was feral
I commented on a song that was meant to be a zong
and oh that was oh so oh so wrong

Come February 27
if I only have 4 songs done
I’ll write ten all tied up and mean
Maybe like a funk machine

Like a funk machine

I wake up each morning wondering what I’ll sing about today
Or maybe tomorrow but I can’t wait very long or I’ll stray
I want to be a winner and have 14 under my belt
A sense of accomplishment I will have felt

This is song one for twenty ten and that’s a start
It may not be good it may not be cool but it’s art, somehow
I sit here writing lyrics in my underwear and my bolo
oh, wait, now it’s time for a vicious guitar solo

Rock me one time

I joined FAWM so I could sing 14 songs for other people

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Words and Music:  Jeff C.

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Jeff: Well, here we are, Twenty Ten, going on the future….and we finally have a new song for you.  I think this year we’re going to do a song every other Tuesday, just to make sure we can keep up and put more time into these things.   I’ve rearranged the Vegas Bound Studios so all the recording equipment is set up all the time, and there are several good song ideas percolating about and MCQ has a gig in August (The Boulder Fringe Festival), so we should have some quality tunes for you this year.  Which doesn’t forgive today’s song, but whatever.

The music for this song is something I’ve had sitting around for awhile and have always had my ear on as something that could be turned into a decent song.  The lyric “Nothing More To Say” came about one day in a fit of anger, when I was frustrated with whatever situation I was in at the time….but as the new year unfolded and I took some time off and things seemed to level off and maybe take a small turn for the better, I couldn’t write that song anymore.  So yesterday, when I sat down to write the lyrics for this, it became not about anger, but about a gentle Sunday morning.  Yeah, sometimes guys can be gentle.  Enjoy.  And come back in two weeks for more gentle whisps of music….riiiiight.  We’ll have something rockin’ in two weeks.   I can only take so much of this gentle happiness.

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Lyrics:

Sunday morning nothing more to say
I’ve been talking all week nothing more to say
Stay in bed with you baby and sleep away the day
Have a cup of coffee and here I lay

Yay yay

We’ve been together forever baby nothing more to say
When I look at you I see me nothing more to say
A house two kids a foundation a lifetime of play
And baby baby baby baby I really love your way

Yay yay

When we look back we’ll say nothing more to say
We did the right things we had the right words to say
We grew up we grew old we built a life together we had some fantastic days
They will talk about us like we were out of the ordinary

Yay yay

Sunday morning nothing more to say
I’ve been talking all week nothing more to say
Stay in bed with you baby and sleep away the day
Have a cup of coffee and here I lay

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Words and Music:  Jeff C.

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We here at haveuheardthisone have obviously been taking a break, but we’ll be back January 12 with all new jams, riffs, and poignant lyrics.  Or something.  Anyway, have a happy holiday season and check back here Tuesday, January 12, 2010, for the first of many fresh baked tunes.  It’s gonna be a good year.

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Jeff: Things have gotten crazy around here, so we’re taking the easy way out and giving you more videos!  YAY!  No, seriously, we’ll get back to audio shortly.  In the meantime, here’s a video.

Jeff: Well, here’s one more video for you (next week we’ll get back to recording some audio).  This comes to us from 2007, and it was MCQ’s second gig ever.  And Floyd and I wanted to write an introductory rap….but we wanted to mess with each other, too.  So we agreed to write a rap, rhyming “quartet” in each lyric, alternating alphabetically.  And if THAT isn’t confusing enough, we wrote the lyrics for each other, so neither one of us had any idea beforehand what was on the cards we were reading.  It turned out to be a lot of fun and, if I knew all the lyrics, I’d write them up for you.  But I don’t, so just enjoy the video.  Next week, more new songs!

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Words and Beats:  The Mathematically Challenged Quartet

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Jeff: Um, yeah.  There’s not a whole lot to say about this one.  Just enjoy.

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Lyrics:

Hey there girl let’s go out and get naughty
I’ll take you out to a nice chicken sauté
Just you and me girl and a waiter who’s snotty
Forget him let’s have a nice sexy party

After a bottle of wine and some potatoes au gratin
Maybe you’ll want some desert, maybe some flan
Maybe I’ll even pay the bill, a free meal you’ve gotten
Or if we’re out at Chinese you’ll have a sexy won ton

You and me and a jar of peanut butter
You and me there could be no other

You and me and a bottle of Nutella
You and me and 5 or 6 other fellas

Hey there girl let’s go back to my barbecue
I’ll make you a hot and juicy curry vindaloo
If you want you can bring your stinky sister, too
She’ll eat the best meal she’s had since she got back from picachu

After I clean up the pinot noir that you’ll spill
I’ll take your wine glass and yes, I’ll refill
You’ll fall for me as I clean up your mess, yes you will
And I’ll take off all my clothes as I finish up at the grill

You and me and a box of nutter butters
You and me and my two older brothers

You and me and a big ol’ renaissance fair turkey leg
You and me, c’mon baby don’t make me beg

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Words and Music:  Jeff C.

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Jeff: Here’s another video of a song from the MCQ gig at the Boulder Fringe Festival last month.  This is “Big Dog,” which, if you recall, is song #29 in our countdown of the year’s best 52 songs  (All of a sudden, I feel like Kasey Kasem!).  Anyway, we took that song and turned it into our 1980s themed song for the show, so any resemblances to Devo, living or dead, are purely on purpose.  Actually, it sounds more like a Kraftwerk song, but it looks like a Devo song.  And yes, we are wearing bathrobes and showing our Big Dogs to the audience.  See what you miss when you skip an MCQ show?  Enjoy.  Next week, you’ll learn how to properly use Nutella.

Lyrics:

When it’s Friday and you’re lonely and confused
You’re walking the city streets bemused
All you’re wearing is a trench coat London Fog
What you gonna do? You’re gonna show ‘em the Big Dog

When it’s Saturday night and it’s very late
You walking through the mall looking for a date
All you’re wearing is a trench coat London Fog
What you gonna do? You’re gonna show ‘em the Big Dog

Woof woof, woof woof

Keep the Big Dog inside until you see a pretty girl
Then it’s the Big Dog that you should unfurl
I got a feeling she’ll take the Big Dog for a stroll
As long as she doesn’t call animal control

When you’re out with a girl, somebody you just met
You think she might be looking for something to pet
All you’re wearing is a trench coat London Fog
What you gonna do? You’re gonna show her the Big Dog

When you’re at your job and your boss is being a dick
He’s hanging with the guy he promoted over you, he made the wrong pick
All you’re wearing is a trench coat London Fog
What you gonna do? You’re gonna show ‘em the Big Dog

Keep the Dog inside until you see a pretty girl
Then it’s the Big Dog that you should unfurl
I got a feeling she’ll take the Big Dog for a stroll
As long as she doesn’t call animal control

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Words and music:  Jeff C.

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Jeff: Here’s another video from the MCQ Boulder Fringe Festival; it’s Floyd’s song, and we’ve played it several times, but usually with instruments.  For this show, however, we decided to try it acapella.  I guess I should explain something:  Our shtick for this show was that we are the “Unluckiest Band In The World,” and that every song we put out was immediately eclipsed by a better, more well known song by some other artist.  And so we arranged our songs in a chronological order (and changed some of them to fit) so that MCQ played a song from the 1950s, a couple from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and our last song was a techno jam from the early 21st century.  So in last week’s video for “Pirate,” we were dressed like Simon and Garfunkel because that was our 1960s folksy song.  This video, as you’ll see, has us as a boy band, which is why we did it acapella.  Think ‘NSync meets Backstreet Boys.  MCQ Style.  If there is such a thing.  Enjoy.

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Words and Music:  Floyd J.

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Jeff: As many of you know, I’m trying to sell a duplex I designed and built here in Denver, Colorado….yeah, looks like I picked a good time to become a property developer.  Anyhoo, in an effort to drum up interest of any kind, I’ve taken to social media marketing(among other things)  for the building, and, along with some friends, have been writing jokes and song parodies for its Facebook page and twitter accounts.  Which seems to attract a little bit of attention and is quite fun to do.  Up to this point it’s only been words, but last night I sat down and recorded some lyrics (by my friend Anthony) to Bon Jovi’s “Dead Or Alive,” and here they are!  Enjoy.  And if you have any friends looking for a great place to buy, please send them to:

http://elevation33.com

http://tiny.cc/e33 (facebook)

http://twitter.com/elevation33

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Lyrics:

It’s such a shame
Only the faces change
Every day
It seems I’m wastin’ away

I’m the place
Where the prices are so low
It’s just not right
That I’m not your home

I’m a duplex
With an elevator inside
I want you
To get out and buy
Want you
To get out and buy

Sometimes I think
There might be better days
If this unit next to me
We could both go our own ways

But ya know I’d have to say
As my fellow duplex he
Is not such a bad guy
And we’re both just oh so sexy

We’re a duplex
In the middle of LoHi
I want you (waaaant you)
To get out and buy
Want you (WAAAAAANT YOU-OU-OU)
To get out and buy

Oh, gotta buy…

Oooooh, I’m a duplex
C’mon in and don’t be shy
You want me (waaant meeee)
So get out and buy

And you’ll walk these streets
But you won’t have far to go
Everything you need
Is within a good stone’s throw

You’ll walk everywhere (ohhh yeah)
Cuz it’s all right here
Restaurants, shops, and bars
So go have a beer

I’m a duplex
My doors are open wide
I need you (neeeeed you)
To get out and buy

I’m a duplex
There’s brochures right inside
I want you (waaant you)
To get out and buy

You won’t cry (you won’t cry)
If you get out and buy
Get out and buy-uy-uy
Get out and buy
Get out and buy-uy-uy
Get out and buy-uy-uy-uy-uy
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Words:  Anthony Reynoso

Music:  Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora

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Jeff: Because Saturday is International Talk Like A Pirate Day, we (The Mathematically Challenged Quartet) give you our 1960s almost-mega-hit, “Talk Like A Pirate,” as performed at the 2009 Boulder Fringe Festival.  There are some dirty words in it, so keep the kids and co-workers away.  Enjoy.

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Words and Music:  MCQ

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