Friday, December 26, 2008

An Eleanor Roosevelt song about leftovers


I suppose today is one of the two or three biggest days for leftovers in this country, so this is an opportune time to point out that my band Eleanor Roosevelt has what I assume to be the rare distinction of having written a song about leftovers, "In a Pinch," from our (best) album, Walker With His Head Down.

The song is based on a riff that Lij (pictured above, in a classic Polaroid, picking on Al Robbins' farm on the outskirts of Cheyenne, Wyoming) learned from a banjo book. Maybe some old-time or Irish musician will hear the song and tell me what traditional tune underlies this song of ours.

The lyric, like I said, is about leftovers, or rather the want of them. We had been penniless on the road for years when we wrote the songs that appear on this record and the next one, Crumbling in the Rain, and both are absolutely crammed with food imagery. These are definitely the thoughts of a bunch of young men who are not quite certain where their next meal is coming from.

Thanks to my new best friend, box.net, you can hear "In a pinch" and even download an mp3 for free. Though I suppose I should point out that Meghan Gohil of Hollywood Recording Studio manages our online distribution and has both Walker With His Head Down and Crumbling in the Rain out there on all of the major pay-to-play digital download sites.

Finally, for readers of the late (lamented) 52nd City magazine, double click on the Polaroid of Lij, take a long look at Al Robbins' farm, then get out your copy of the Stuff issue of 5nd City and read my story "Inventory of an old Mohawk Ironworker." It's about Al and his outlandish farm.

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