Our opener, covering U2. I think the excitement got to my delay pedal;

…on to Johnny Cash, who I guess would not have approved of my bowling shoes;

…we realize everyone else has covered this particular Leonard Cohen song, but really it’s so much fun to play that we don’t care;

…and the grand Tom Petty finale, in which we testify the belief that 3 chords are more than enough!

It will probably eventually get a more complicated arrangement, with the backing track building over time (keeping Boo’s vocal; I love the ‘folk opera’ sound he got!), but here we have the live take: one voice and one guitar (and one toddler, who was good enough to keep quiet for 2.5 minutes).

Click for the audio file!
Buckingham Palace
Words by A.A. Milne, published 1924
Music © 2010 Mark Frey and Brian Matthews

Rachel was in town for a visit this weekend. She brought with her this little number, written for her nephew. Sarah, as usual, got into the spirit of things.

As always, click on the title link below for the .mp3; for those of you reading this on Facebook, remember to check out the Squeakyanimals recording archive. Whee!

The Bugaboo Song
Words and Music © 2009 Rachel Rosenberg
Vocal, Rachel; Guitar, Mark

When Auntie Rachel comes
She gets into her car
She drives a long, long way
Cause she lives so very far.

She walks up to my house,
And knocks upon my door,
And when I open up,
She says, as she has said before,

“What’s new, Bugaboo?”
I came a long way just to see you!”
And I say, “What’s new, Bugaboo?
That’s you and me.

I put on my shoes
And we go to the park,
Where I run across the grass,
Which is long and green and dark

I climb each red step
And bounce upon the bridge
I might go down the slide,
Please encourage me a smidge

She says, “Come down, Bugaboo!”
I love rhymes and goofy words, too.
“What’s new, Bugaboo!”
That’s you and me.

Once my Mommy said,
We could get in the car
And go see Auntie Rachel
Though she lives so very far

We drove a long, long way,
And ate food at the Med
Then I saw a nearby park
With a see-saw painted red

It had a sandbox and
Sand upon the ground
When I ran to the pirate ship,
I slipped and I fell down.

I looked up but Rachel
Seemed so nonchalant,
That I called out “Rescue me!”
Come, prove you are my aunt.

And she said, “What’s wrong, Bugaboo?”
She picked me up and started to coo.
“You’re fine, Bugaboo!”
That’s you and me.

“What’s new, Bugaboo?”
I say it to Auntie Rachel, too,
What’s new, Bugaboo?
That’s you and me.

What’s that, you say? Third? Where’s the second? Well, just like a Joss Whedon show, the Milne series will be aired out of order. The second piece is still being recorded; Joe and Isabel tracked some backing vocals last week while they were visiting, and now I have to fly the rest of the tune in. Soon, soon!

This one’s short and sweet: page 81 in my copy, Halfway Down. Sarah cackled when I played it to her, but Marg thought it was too dirge-like with just electric piano (and she was right). So I layered some clarinets on top. She wanted Calliope, but I don’t have one. So it goes.

Halfway Down <--get the song here!

Words by A.A. Milne, published 1924

Music© 2009 Mark Frey

This is a lullaby, traditionally sung to lure the evil spirits that cause infectious diseases out of a sick child. With any luck, it’s also preventative!

Batonebis Nanina
trad. Georgian
vocal: Rho

I’ve been reading Sarah poems from A.A. Milne’s charming “When We Were Very Young” collection. Fun stuff. Even though she doesn’t get the words, she seems to like the sound of them. One day last week, I started singsonging a little melody to “Lines and Squares” instead of just reading the poem. This went over well with Sarah, and Marg liked it too. Then it got stuck in my head, and so I had to record it for y’all.