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Look What You Made Me Do

by Mailbox

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Sven B. Schreiber (sbs)
Sven B. Schreiber (sbs) thumbnail
Sven B. Schreiber (sbs) The "RPM Challenge" is something like FAWM (February Album Writing Month): Given a very tight time interval, write and record a considerable amount of new original music. Typically, you're busy almost each day producing songs. Hats off to everyone who accepts such a challenge and succeeds! This RPM album is an excellent result, quite spontaneous on the one hand, quite elaborate on the other hand. Granted, the shorter tracks below one minute sound like sketches of songs and certainly would have been expanded with more time available. The remaining recordings, however, sound remarkably fleshed out, and don't leave any impression of having been created in a hurry. Favorite track: Young Veterinarian.
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1.
Bring me my sword and my pen Bring me a fox and a hen and everything in between and some other things you’ve never seen Give me the sticks and the stones Give me your skin and your bones and everything else inside and all of the things you thought you could hide And I’ll make you love out of nothing at all Give me the win or the place Give me time and space and everything you can find and all of the things you left behind And I’ll make you love out of nothing at all Show me the meaningless and absurd Tell me the worst joke you’ve ever heard I’ll buy you a rose by any other name I’ll show you it’s all just one and the same Take all the captains and whales Take all the snips and the snails and everything I’ve been taught and all of the things I’m sure I forgot And I’ll make you love... Show me the meaningless and absurd Tell me the worst joke you’ve ever heard There’s just no winning or losing this game I’ll show you it’s all just one and the same
2.
She hopes he won’t be just one more vet school jerk He takes the cat apart just to see how they work* He’s a young veterinarian in love with an odd librarian She won’t know ‘til her hair comes down why he sticks around She could recall every book that she had lent He looks in her ears so he can see what she meant He’s a young veterinarian in love with an odd librarian She won’t know ‘til she turns about why he checked her out And every time he sits and stares And doesn’t make a sound She looks away to anywhere Or keeps her head down He gets on one knee as she stands on the floor She just finished her book, now she would read just one more**
3.
Boxless 04:48
Winter in Kazakhstan Springtime in The Bush Summer: Tamed the glacier Autumn on the porch And all the leaves turn gold oh how I’d want To put this time on hold oh how I’d like To only not forget oh how I want Not to let go of it yet Restless in this peace Thoughtless of myself Timeless moments cease Boxless, just as well A month-long job in Ukraine A fortnight on my sled A week-long trek through Wales One night in my own bed And as my dreams unfold oh how I want To record them as they’re told oh how I’d like To share them with my friends oh how I want Not to let it ever end Restless in this peace Thoughtless of myself Timeless moments cease Boxless, just as well Leaves of gold must fall Trees might hit the ground The forest still remains Regardless of the sound Restless in this peace Thoughtless of myself Timeless moments cease Boxless, just as well
4.
Unleashed 04:18
Woke up in the gutter from dreaming of my home I’m smelling something other than some meat upon a bone Everything was perfect just the other day I knew where I was going until I made my way Unleashed in the city, Yes, I’ll go where I please Unleashed in the city. But to tell it to you, dearest friend This world is truly alien Where did they put all the trees? Hang out at the firehouse. Then behind the Golden Wok. For a shower and a meal all by four o’clock. Cars go whizzing over me. People walk away. I thought this life was mine but I guess this is my day. Unleashed in the city. Yes, I’m wild on the streets. Unleashed in the city. I know it’s written on my face I’ve never seen a stranger place Why won’t they turn on the heat? Monkeys see, monkeys do I’m sure they know what I’m feeling Because tonight when they turn out the lights They’ll see me through the holes in the ceiling Unleashed in the city. Nobody holding me back. Unleashed in the city. I hope you’re digging what I mean. You know this really ain’t my scene. Where is the rest of my pack?
5.
It’s not that hard It’s not that bad You've been there before You have been through more Let me come in Let it all out I will help you see Yes, you can count on me Tell me I’m right Tell me you’re wrong And I won’t ask again I will let it end
6.
You’re always so excited when you get a little extra time That said I’ll bet you wouldn’t know what to do you with yourself (anyway) You hit the mark and Bob Barker offered you a trip to anywhere You tarried now Drew Carey’s calling you every day You always get down (down) when your folks come around (well, sure) When they leave you just believe that they had someplace they had to run What’s it tell you that some old-timers’d rather hit the early bird Bet your bippy that they’re hip enough to know they gotta make the fun You say you’re getting by Oh, I wanna get you high Your cat knows something and she’s wishing that you had a clue You let you her out and never doubt she stays within the garden wall She’s not worried that you’re buried to your eyeballs in someone new She taken to raking through the catnip to forget it all You say you’re getting by Oh, I wanna get you high Green people came from Jupiter to take you to a higher plane You could follow thee to jollity and come back with some tales to tell It’s your birthday but with this and that you’d rather just stay home tonight You shouldn’t, but you wouldn’t know a party if it rang your bell Nah, that ain’t getting by I wanna get you high
7.
When it all stretches out As far as it will go When red turns to blue I'll be in Times Square For the final countdown Waiting for you.
8.
Take On Me 00:55
When you say I'm just like those before Well, that's just you Nothing more You say I'm no good Anybody can see Well, that's just your take on me
9.
Where's Captain Kirk? The smile has left your eyes Go for a soda Da da da Let's go all the way Like a virgin The big money
10.
This will open up the gate and we can walk right in. Here we go. We will stand and we will wait. Our ship is rolling in. Here we go. Leave your bags but don’t be late. They’re letting us get in. Here we go. These tracks go up and they go straight. Now we can begin. He we go. Nirvana Token I keep with me Nirvana Token We ride for free
11.
And Arthur the bird woke up It was Tuesday morning He had his running shoes on He slept in them And he had his swimming cap tucked into his back pocket It was early enough So he had several worms for breakfast Then he saw his old friend Agatha She was walking west on 3rd Avenue He was too far to call her name So, he walked quickly toward her but couldn’t catch up Even in his running shoes Smart, he thought he was, he took off his running shoes And he was able to run faster But, just out of shouting distance, she took flight He was now very glad he had taken off his running shoes He took off as well and pursued her But he had a belly full of worms And he couldn’t keep up He stopped off at a nursery atop a tree He emptied his belly and fed the chicks Now, he thought, for sure he will be fast enough But the wind blew hard in his face Not a problem, he thought, because the wind was blowing in her face as well He pulled out his swimming cap and put it on He was aerodynamic and cut right through the wind He was making good time But as he had stopped moments ago to put on his cap she had disappeared over the horizon “I must fly past the horizon. Then I will catch her,” he thought. And he flew as hard as he could But he had doubts Was the swimming cap weighing him down more than it was helping? He took off the swimming cap (It landed on a baker’s rooftop where it sat unnoticed for a hundred years) Arthur flew on but found himself no closer to the horizon How could this be? He could not catch up to the horizon let alone to his dear Agatha In desperation and frustration, he pecked out all of his feathers mid-flight Feathers just weigh me down, he thought. Still, he fell short Still, he was too slow And then the bird said, “I could fly faster if it were not for these wings.”
12.

about

This album was for the RPM Challenge (rpmchallenge.com) which encourages artists to write and record an entire album within a month. So, this was all done in February 2012 leading up to my 40th birthday.

This challenge forced me to just trust my gut and record it. No time to re-think or embellish (much). the key word throughout the project was "trust." I trusted myself to do it so whenever I came upon something I thought might not work I just pushed on where I normally would have worried and over-thought and procrastinated.

The minimum is 10 songs or 35 minutes. I hit ten songs and fell only a little bit shy of the minute mark so I'm calling it a success.

Remixed 2016 & 2020
Remastered 2020

credits

released February 29, 2012

Written, performed, and recorded by Adam Rabin
Album cover by Mike Lebovitz

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Adam Rabin Burlington

Where Prog Rock meets Geek Rock. Adam Rabin is a Vermont songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who has also played with Elephants of Scotland, Mailbox, and musical improv troupe She Thicc. You can also hear Adam’s music on the podcasts: Improvised Weapons, Improv Overdrive, What The Hell Are You Watching, and Vermont Favorites. ... more

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