Looking forward and "Week no. 1: 'Finlandia Cried'"

Sounding off on the future of the Chatterbox and introducing a new feature: a song release every other week.

As I said in my first post on this site, I never intended this blog to be about culture. Rather, I was planning to do simple, "Here's what I'm doing" posts. Even with the launch completed, there were a couple of nagging thoughts in my head about what I really wanted to be doing.

With that said, I'd like to turn the Chatterbox into a small-circulation magazine someday -- perhaps two years down the road -- with a separate, integrated Internet component and contributors from the ranks of all the talented folks I know.

You're yelling, "Why?" I can't blame you. Surely such an ambition is ripe for emotional, physical and financial breakdowns. But I'm tied to the idea of doing something small scale, bold and personally fulfilling. I also want both the print and Web product to be a place of experimentation for the kind of work one does personally and for the work itself.

Now you're asking about the kicker because there's always a kicker. Well, with this post, I'd like to launch the first in a series of songs every other week in the spirit of the Chatterbox experiment. The challenge: Write , arrange, record, produce and post a song every other week for public comment. It's a watered down version of what Michael Zapruder did.

Interlude:

I never met Zapruder, but I covered him during my brief sojourn as a music writer. At the time I was writing about the Mission Creek Music Festival for the San Francisco Bay Guardian. I stumbled across his name, Google-d him and discovered a fine songwriter whose work anticipated the recent crush of literate, hyper-orchestrated adult contemporary* that people are considering indie these days. What really caught my attention was a project he did called 52 Songs, in which he challenged himself to write one song a week. He put it out as a 3-CDR -- I think -- set. I couldn't afford it then, so I didn't buy it. I regret that decision now because it's out of print. I did a brief e-mail interview with him and gushed about 52 Songs. I made his show one of my picks for the festival but couldn't make it myself. Another missed opportunity.

* Feist anyone? I personally don't get why she's so popular. I might just have to buy her album The Reminderto find out. Future blog post?

End interlude.

So I kick it off with "Finlandia Cried," which is just a pop song. Nothing much to recommend the words beyond the allusion to the death of Baldur. But there's a backwards guitar solo! I just like saying that -- makes me feel like Jimi Hendrix. If you don't know my music, it is, as usual, performed by my lonesome with an assortment of guitars, sequencers, synths and drum machines.

"Finlandia Cried"
By Alex K. Fong

Finlandia cried
I was struck down by
mistletoe
launched by some Nordic cripple

And I don't care how far you are
'Cause we were meant for so much more

I will wait for you
I will waste for you
On and on and on and on

Finlandia cried
I was trapped under black ice
You weren't there
You were in the atmosphere

Music nerd alert: It's written in G major, built on a I-IV progression (voiced as add9's) for the verses, a V-II (with 7ths added) on the pre-chorus and a VI-IV-II-IV (again with the 7ths). The guitar solo is mostly over a one-chord, Gadd9 vamp except for a bar or two of Amin7, which leads back into the out chorus. Again, not a particularly complex tune.