DJ Allyn – The Soundtrack for my Life

Cumbersome ~ Seven Mary Three  

Seven Mary Three, occasionally abbreviated to 7M3, is an American hard rock band. They have released seven studio albums and are best known for their hit single “Cumbersome,” as well as “Water’s Edge” and “Wait” among others.

Seven Mary Three formed in 1992 when Jason Ross and Jason Pollock met while attending the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Originally an acoustic duo, Ross and Pollock split song-writing duties and performed with Ross singing and Pollock playing guitar. Later, drummer Giti Khalsa and bassist Casey Daniel joined the band, and the foursome played coffeehouses and clubs throughout the Southeast.

The present members of the band are Casey Daniel, Jason Ross, Thomas Juliano, and Mike Levesque. Giti Khalsa has stopped touring with the band, but still performs on studio recordings.

Jason Pollock revealed in The Cavalier Daily that they came up with the name while watching the 1970s TV series CHiPs on TV—’7 Mary 3′ was the call sign for Officer Jon Baker, who was played by actor Larry Wilcox. (7M3: police radio call sign; 7 designates the patrol beat, M for Mary designates that he is a motorcycle unit and 3 is his unit number). Pollock noted, “There’s no great significance or anything. We were just tired of trying to think of a cool name.”

Cumbersome

She calls me Goliath and I wear the David mask
I guess the stones are coming too fast for her now
You know, I’d like to believe this nervousness will pass
All the stones that are thrown are building up a wall

I have become, cumbersome to this world
I have become, cumbersome to my girl

I’d like to believe we could reconcile the past
Resurrect those bridges with an ancient glance
But my old stone face can’t seem to break her down
She remembers bridges and burns them to the ground

I have become, cumbersome to this world
I have become, cumbersome to my girl

Too heavy, too light, too black or too white
Too wrong or too right, damn tonight
Cumbersome
Too rich or too poor, she’s wanting me less
And I’m wanting her more
The bitter taste is cumbersome
No, yeah, no no no, yeah…

There is a balance between two worlds
One with an arrow and a cross
Regardless of the balance, life has become cumbersome

Too heavy, too light, too black or too white
Too wrong or too right, damn tonight
Cumbersome
Too rich or too poor, she’s wanting me less
And I’m wanting her more
The bitter taste is cumbersome
No, yeah, no no no, no no no, yeah, no no no, yeah…

Your life has become cumbersome

Even in the Quietest Moments ~ Supertramp  

Supertramp is a British progressive rock band that had a series of top-selling albums in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Their early music included ambitious concept albums, but they are best known for their later hits including “Dreamer”, “Goodbye Stranger”, “Give a Little Bit” and “The Logical Song”. Supertramp attained superstardom in the United States, Canada, and most of Europe. However, they were not quite as popular in the UK (where most of the band members are actually from).

Backed by a Dutch millionaire named Stanley August Miesegaes, vocalist, pianist and ex-drummer Rick Davies used newspaper advertising in Melody Maker to recruit an early version of the band in August 1969, an effort which recruited vocalist/guitarist and keyboardist Roger Hodgson.  Other members of this proto-Supertramp includedRichard Palmer (guitar, balalaika, vocals)  and Robert Millar ( percussion, harmonica) . Initially, Roger Hodgson sang and played bass guitar (and, on the side, guitar, cello and flageolet). The band was called Daddy from August 1969 to January 1970, at which time this was changed to Supertramp, a name taken from W.H. Davies’ book, The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp, published in 1908.

The first album, Supertramp, was released in July 14th, 1970 in the UK only (it was first issued in the US in 1977). Although it was very intense and lyrical, it proved not to attract the audience and little of critics paid any attention to this first effort. However, Supertramp was able to earn a slot on the bill of the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, which was headlined by the likes of The Doors, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix. Richard Palmer abruptly quit six months after the album’s release. Robert Millar suffered a nervous breakdown shortly afterwards. For the next album, Indelibly Stamped, released in June 1971 (in both UK and US), Frank Farrell (bass) , Kevin Currie (percussion)  and Dave Winthrop (flute and saxophone)  replaced Millar and Palmer, while Roger Hodgson switched to guitar. “Indelibly Stamped” featured rocking Beatlesque tunes, with vocal harmonies similar to Simon and Garfunkel songs (Davies now serving as the band’s second lead singer, alongside Hodgson, who suggested that the band should have two lead vocalists), a more commercial approach and eye-catching cover artwork. Supertramp had established themselves as a “cult” band. Sales, however, failed to improve and sold even less than their debut. In early 1972, Miesegaes withdrew his support from the band after paying off debts. All members gradually quit except Hodgson and Davies.

These two first albums were later reissued during Supertramp’s popularity peak and have maintained a certain appeal with die-hard fans. The first album is melancholic and quieter and the songs are spread out more than they were later on. Roger Hodgson once called it his favourite Supertramp album (which later became Crime of the Century). The second album is their most traditionally rock album, and certainly their heaviest sound.

In late 1972, after being persuaded to carry on, Davies and Hodgson went on an extensive search for replacements, which first brought aboard Dougie Thomson  (bass), who played with the band almost a year before auditions resumed to complete the line-up. In 1973, auditions restarted and brought in Bob Siebenberg , (drums), (credited for several years as Bob C. Benberg,  to stay under the radar of British Immigration), and John Helliwell  (saxophone, other woodwinds, occasional keyboards, backing vocals), joining original members Davies and Hodgson and the newly brought in Thomson, completing the line-up that would create the group’s defining albums. Hodgson would also begin playing keyboards in the band in addition to guitar, usually acoustic and electric pianos on his own compositions. The classic Supertramp keyboard is a Wurlitzer electric piano (model 200A) with its unmistakable bright sound and biting distortion when played hard.

Crime of the Century, released in September 1974, began the group’s run of critical and commercial successes, hitting number four in Britain, supported by the iconic countercultural opening track “School”, and the top-10 single “Dreamer”. Its B-side “Bloody Well Right” hit the US Top 40 in May 1975. Siebenberg would later comment that he thought the band hit its artistic peak on this, their third album, though their greatest commercial success would come later.

The band continued with Crisis? What Crisis? released in November 1975. It achieved good though not overwhelming commercial success. The following album, Even in the Quietest Moments, released in April 1977 spawned their hit single Give a Little Bit, and the FM radio staple Fool’s Overture. During this period, the band eventually relocated to the United States and moved steadily from the progressive styles of their early albums towards a more song-oriented pop sound.

This trend reached its zenith on their most popular album, Breakfast in America in March 1979, which reached Number 3 in the UK and Number 1 in the United States and spawned four successful singles, “The Logical Song”, “Take the Long Way Home”, “Goodbye Stranger” and “Breakfast in America”. The album has since sold over 18 million copies worldwide.

The run of successes was capped with 1980s Paris, a 2-LP live album, in which the band stated its goal of improving on the studio versions of their songs. Instead of focusing on songs from the hugely successful Breakfast in America, it included nearly every song from Crime of the Century, another testament to the importance of that album in the group’s development.

In 1982 Supertramp released its eighth and final album Famous Last Words was the studio follow-up to 1979s Breakfast in America and was the last with original guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist Roger Hodgson. Relations between Hodgson and Rick Davies were becoming more strained. They fought over musical, creative and personal directions daily during the recording sessions for Famous Last Words. One instance saw Hodgson wanting to dismiss the other band members whilst Davies defended their right to stay in the band. The album was mainly recorded and mixed at Hodgsons house dubbed Unicorn Studios in Nevada City, California as he didnt want to leave his wife, his then 2-year old daughter Heidi and newborn son Andrew behind.

In 1983 Roger Hodgson finally had enough, and one night in a concert, as the last song of that concert, when he finished singing the song, Don’t Leave Me Now, he just walked off the stage and quit the band.  He has never been in contact with  any of the other band members since.

It is said that when he left Supertramp, he took Supertramp with him.  He still performs all of the Supertramp songs that he penned in solo concerts.

Even in the Quietest Moments

Even in the quietest moments
I wish I knew
What I had to do
And even though the sun is shining
Well I feel the rain
Here it comes again, dear

And even when you showed me
My heart was out of tune
For there’s a shadow of doubt
That’s not letting me find you too soon

The music that you gave me
The language of my soul
Oh Lord, I want to be with you
Won’t you let me come in from the cold?

Don’t you let the sun fade away
Don’t you let the sun fade away
Don’t you let the sun be leaving
Won’t you come to me soon

And even though the stars are listening
And the ocean’s deep
I just go to sleep
And then I create the silent movie
You become the star
Is that what you are, dear?

Your whisper tells a secret
Your laughter brings me joy
And a wonder of feeling
I’m Nature’s own little boy
But still the tears keep falling
They’re raining from the sky
Well there’s a lot of me got to go under
Before I get high

Don’t you let the sun disappear
Don’t you let the sun disappear
Don’t you let the sun be leaving
No, you can’t be leaving my life
Say that you won’t be leaving my life
Say that you won’t be leaving my life
Say won’t you please, stay won’t you please
Say won’t you please, stay won’t you please
Lord, won’t you come and get into my life
Lord, won’t you come and get into my life
Say won’t you please, stay won’t you please
Say won’t you please, stay won’t you please
Oh Lord, don’t go

And even when the song is over
Where have I been
Was it just a dream?
And though your door is always open
Where do I begin
May I please come in, dear?

Big Yellow Taxi ~ Counting Crows  

Singer Adam Duritz (former member of the Bay Area band The Himalayans) and guitarist Dave Bryson formed Counting Crows in San Francisco in 1991. As well as his experience in The Himalayans, Duritz had contributed to recordings by the Bay Area group Sordid Humor, though never a member. Counting Crows began as an acoustic duo, playing gigs in and around Berkeley and San Francisco.

By 1993 the band had grown to a stable lineup of Duritz, Bryson, Matt Malley (bass), Charlie Gillingham (keys) and Steve Bowman (drums), and it was a regular on the Bay Area scene. The same year, the band signed to Geffen Records. On January 16, 1993, the band, still relatively unknown, filled in for Van Morrison at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, and was introduced by an enthusiastic Robbie Robertson. They remain the only unknowns ever to play the ceremony.

At some point before signing to Geffen, the band recorded demo versions of a number of songs, known as the ‘Flying Demos’. These later surfaced among the Counting Crows fanbase. Tracks include “Rain King”, “Omaha”, “Anna Begins”, “Einstein on the Beach (For an Eggman)”, “Shallow Days”, “Love and Addiction”, “Mr. Jones”, “Round Here”, “40 Years”, “Margery Dreams of Horses”, “Bulldog”, “Lightning” and “We’re Only Love”.

Various songs from this tape would later resurface on the band’s debut album August and Everything After; the songs contained on the tape featured different music and in some instances different lyrics.

Big Yellow Taxi

“Big Yellow Taxi” is a song originally written and performed by Joni Mitchell.

Mitchell got the idea for the song during a visit to Hawaii. She looked out of her hotel window at the spectacular Pacific mountain scenery, and then down to a parking lot.

“I wrote ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ on my first trip to Hawaii. I took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart… this blight on paradise. That’s when I sat down and wrote the song.”

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin’ hot spot
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Ooooh, bop bop bop
Ooooh, bop bop bop

They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum
And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them
No, no, no
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone
They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot

Ooooh, bop bop bop
Ooooh, bop bop bop

Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT
I don’t care about spots on my apples,
Leave me the birds and the bees
Please
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Hey now, they paved paradise to put up a parking lot
Why not?

Ooooh, bop bop bop
Ooooh, bop bop bop

Listening late last night, I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi took my girl away
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Well, don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone
They paved paradise to put up a parking lot
Why not?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Hey hey hey
Paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Ooooh, bop bop bop
Ooooh, bop bop bop

I don’t wanna give it
Why you wanna give it
Why you wanna giving it all away
Hey, hey, hey
Now you wanna give it
I should wanna give it
Now you wanna giving it all away

Hey, paved paradise to put up a parking lot

Fly by Night ~ Rush  

Rush is a Canadian rock band originally formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighborhood of Toronto, Ontario, presently comprised of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.

The original line-up formed in August 1968 in the neighborhood of Willowdale in Toronto, Ontario, by guitarist Alex Lifeson, front man Jeff Jones, and drummer John Rutsey. Within a couple weeks of forming, and before their second performance, bassist and lead vocalist Jones was replaced by Geddy Lee, a schoolmate of Lifeson. After several lineup reformations, Rush’s official incarnation was formed in May 1971 consisting of Lee, Lifeson, and Rutsey.

the band released their self-titled debut album in 1974, which was considered highly derivative of Led Zeppelin. Rush had limited local popularity until the album was picked up by WMMS, a radio station in Cleveland, Ohio. Donna Halper, a DJ and music director working at the station, selected “Working Man” for her regular play list. The song’s blue collar theme resonated with hard rock fans and this new found popularity led to the album being re-released by Mercury Records in the U.S.

Immediately after the release of the debut album, Rutsey resigned in July 1974 due to his affliction with diabetes and a distaste for touring. Rush held auditions and eventually selected Neil Peart as Rutsey’s replacement. Peart officially joined the band on July 29, 1974, two weeks before the group’s first US tour. They performed their first concert together, opening for Uriah Heep and Manfred Mann with an attendance of over 11,000 people at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 14. In addition to becoming the band’s drummer, Peart assumed the role of principal lyricist as Lee and Lifeson had very little interest in writing, contributing to only a handful of song lyrics over the rest of the band’s career. Instead, they focused primarily on the musical aspects of Rush. Fly by Night (1975), Rush’s first album after recruiting Peart, saw the inclusion of the band’s first epic mini-tale “By-Tor and the Snow Dog”, replete with complex arrangements and multi-section format. Lyrical themes also underwent dramatic changes after the addition of Peart due to his love for fantasy and science-fiction literature. However, despite these many differences some of the music and songs still closely mirrored the blues style found on Rush’s debut.

Fly by Night

This was the first Rush album to feature drummer Neil Peart. In addition to drumming duties, Peart also took on the job of lyricist by default, leading the band to adopt a more literary lyrical style that differed significantly from the debut album.

The autobiographical “Fly by Night” is based on Peart’s experience of moving from Canada to London as a young musician (long before joining Rush)

Why try? Now why?
This feeling inside me says it’s time I was gone
Clear head, new life ahead
Its time i was king and not just one more pawn.

Fly by night, away from here
Change my life again
Fly by night, goodbye my dear
My ship isn’t coming and I just can’t pretend

Moon rise, thoughtful eyes
Staring back at me from the window beside
No fright or hindsight
Leaving behind that empty feeling inside

Fly by night, away from here
Change my life again
Fly by night, goodbye my dear
My ship isn’t coming and I just can’t pretend

Fly by night, away from here
Change my life again
Fly by night, goodbye my dear
My ship isn’t coming and I just can’t pretend

Start a new chapter
I find what I’m after
It’s changing every day
The change of a season
Is enough of a reason
To want to get away
Quiet and pensive
My thoughts apprehensive
The hours drift away
Leaving my homeland
Playing a lone hand
My life begins today

Fly by night, away from here
Change my life again
Fly by night, goodbye my dear
My ship isn’t coming and I just can’t pretend