rorykl 3Speak Podcast

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=rorykl/nlmfuixlxp
# Throwback Video 007/015 #

I wrote this song in 2004. It was written about a waitress I saw working, I think at an Old Chicago restaurant in Manhattan Kansas. I wrote the song on a napkin, inspired by this waitress. Later I put chords to it and came back and played it for her...honestly I had really high hopes that my musical prowess would win her heart, but things don't go that way in the real world very often - particularly if you're not rich and famous, but then, if someone only gives you a chance because of your status, they're not really giving ***you*** a chance. Anyway, we did become friends after that.

This was in my last days in the army. I used to go up to her campus on the weekends, we'd sit on the grass and I would play quietly while she would read a book. Her name was Steph, and she was a really wonderful friend, but was never interested in taking things further than that. In the end, it turns out this was just a song. It was an expression of the hope and yearning for love that was bursting inside of me. Although Steph was not the one for me (or I wasn't the one for her), I believe that God has a plan for us all, no interaction is purely chance. We were meant to be friends - but I was always supposed to find the love I now call my wife.

I don't know if it's true or not, but I read that the song Hey There Delilah was written in the same way, the artist imagined his life with a girl he didn't really know, wrote a song about it, and hoped she would swoon at his beautiful melody and lyrics, but in his case also, this did not wind up being the case. In truth, when an artist creates a piece in this way, they have no way of knowing anything about the person they're writing for, the perfect and loving relationship they're envisioning in this case is purely fictitious, and often the person themselves is imbued with imagined characteristics...people aren't often the way we imagine them, whether we assign them characteristics that are considered good ***or*** bad.

Lyrics:

Starin' across the room, with that wild-eyed stare

There must be magic in your hair cuz

It's just much too soon, for me to be thinkin' things like I'm thinkin' now, I'm thinkin' that I dig ya and I don't know how

to speak my mind, oh God I die, every time that you leave my sight and I

I wonder how do you feel, do you feel the same

Or do you realize that I'm completely lame (I'm completely lame)

I check my yahoo all day long but to no avail, well I've got no new emails and

a candy apple on a stick could be a nice surprise but it's you who turned out to be a sight for my sore eyes, yeah you're a sight for my tired eyes

I know it's a lot to take in at once yeah I know that it's a lot to say,

I know it's much too soon for me to even be thinkin' I could feel this way but please don't think I'm crazy and please don't, think that I'm a fool

I'm a normal guy, I'm just head over heels for you

yeah I'm a normal guy, and I'm head over, head over, head over heels for you.

R. Laird 2004

[...Back to Rory Originals...](https://ecency.com/hive-150480/@hive-174589/rorykl-original-songs-on- hive)

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=rorykl/zjllgsttyu
# Throwback Video 006/015 #

This song is (in my humble opinion) a great example of using music to creatively express your inner emotions, while at the same time obscuring the true intention.

During my first tour overseas with the army, I was the only mechanic for the forward reconnaisance group. When they offered me a sergeant position after the first tour, I declined, not understanding the true nature of how things work. It turned out, the brigade commander had taken note of this troop of cavalry scouts with only one lower enlisted man maintaining the vehicles, maintenance bays and supply levels, and he wanted to put a sergeant in place for the next tour. The offer was given to me, but again, I didn't understand what was going on behind the scenes. As I later came to understand it, the brigade's command sergeant major was insulted by my choosing to decline, so he forced a sergeant onto me for the next tour; a sergeant with no training or skill for the vehicles we had (he'd come from tanks, which are apparently quite different), a hot temper and absolutely ***no*** self control. He'd flip out when I helped him solve a problem, he'd flip out if I didn't help him. I spent that year constantly watching my every move, never knowing what I'd be in for.

When we got back to the US, we flew out on separate flight groups. Being away from him for that short period was the first breath I'd taken in a year, and it was nice - but less than an hour after I'd gotten into the barracks, he came pounding on the door like he was going to break it down, yelling my name and calling me to get the f*ck out there. I refused to face him, I had been couped up with that asshole for a full year, taken all his sh*t without firing back once, and that small window of separation was not enough. I sat quietly and waited til I was pretty sure he was gone, and then I got in my truck, drove off to see Jim out in Wisconsin, where I wrote this song. This song was written about my awful sergeant, but in order to be able to play it in the barracks and not get in trouble, I had to obfuscate the real meaning.

Using music to express these things, particularly in that environment, has been a blessing for me. Being able to pull the emotions from within and send them out, it lifts the weight of carrying them alone.

Lyrics:

It seems like the time has come, that I need something new

It seems like the time has come, I need to get away from you.

And I don't know how to turn this into anything, but goodbye

But we never really had that strong of a friendship, so it doesn't hurt me to watch it die

And that's why I wrote this song, to say, it's over to me.

It seems like maybe we shoulda found a different way to work things out

But every time I try to solve a problem all you wanna do is shut me down

And I don't know how to do anything anymore, without making you mad

And every time I build a dream you tear it down, with all the strength that you have

And yeah that's why I wrote this song, to say, it's over to me.

And it'd be nice if we could say we tried to stay and take a day to make a change, and maybe work things out

But baby you wouldn't even let me take a minute of my time to clear my mind, and try to think things out

And yeah that's why I wrote this song, to say, it's over to me.

Maybe under different circumstances underneath of a different sky

You wouldn't have to be so mean, and I would still be your guy

But there's only one sky over top of this earth, and you're never gonna change And we were destined not to work out, so really no one's to blame

But yeah that's why I wrote this song, to say, it's over to me. And yeah that's why I wrote this song, to say, it's over to me.

R. Laird 2004

[...Back to Rory Originals...](https://ecency.com/hive-150480/@hive-174589/rorykl-original-songs-on-hive)

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=rorykl/eqqwothqov
# Throwback Video 005/015 #

This was actually one of the first songs I wrote; it was written during my second tour overseas with the army. Looking back on this video and remembering what the song sounded like in its early days, I think I disagree with 2007 Rory...the original was slower and certainly had its merit, but this is where I was at in 2007, and it's the only existing recording of this song that I know of, so in this case I guess I've just got to take what I can get!

The premise of this song was that I wanted, at probably about the ripe old age of 21, to reflect on the things I'd been through over the last few years in the military, I think to try to find a human element to give meaning to these experiences, and to remember that even in the worst of times, good memories were also made, there was still love and kindness, even in a world seemingly filled with pain and death.

Lyrics:

I've seen angels on their knees, cryin' in the sun

I've seen devils laughin' jokin' playin' cards and havin' fun

I---I

I've seen strong men die, from smokin' cigarettes I still smoke every day and so far I've no regrets

I---I

I've seen sandstorms jump right up and swallow all the sun

I've seen a little boy cryin', he got made fun of by everyone (I don't know why, he was a cool kid)

I---I

I've seen the tall grass bow down, and weep before the rain

I've seen the setting sun hide behind black clouds just waiting to refrain

I---I

I've held the hand of a third world girl, who couldn't wear no shoes

I've fought in war those men who gave their lives it was all that they had to lose

I---I

I've slept at night and dreamt of home, underneath the stars

I've sat down a thousand times and explained a thousand scars I---I

When my sky starts falling down and my umbrella's closed on me, Take a look into my dreams, and tell me what you see

I'll take my strings up to the heavens, and play for thee thy song And I'll sing thee down to sleep, even though I'm gone

R. Laird 2007

[...Back to Rory Originals...](https://ecency.com/hive-150480/@hive-174589/ rorykl-original-songs-on-hive)

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=rorykl/mozjvkdylz
# Throwback Video 004/015 #

Back in those days of musical experimentation, I spent studio time just squeezing whatever sounds I could get out of whatever instruments I could find, but the keyboard was probably my favorite that year. I never did any live shows with it, it was only used to create studio music, but it was just a lot of fun to get familiar with the chord shapes and tickling the ivory keys :)

This song was about a day we spent expanding our perceptions, playing frisbee in the sunlight, resting in the shade and dancing in the moonlight...in other words, good times!

Lyrics:

So he wrote the words, that made you laugh,

As you recalled and the pall-bearer passed, did he take your mind...

Away from a place you used to know, you called the norm, but now it shows that it's never the same, For you have taken all your steps, there's nothing left but to take a breath and wait for the change... and wait for the change

A world so bright, misunderstood, you wonder how a world so good, could ever be obscured (ah ah ah) While in your ears, the foreign shores, cellophane sunrise through perceptive doors they call you on their own

Doo Doo Da [...]

And bam just like that you're back to where you came from, yesterday when you were gone for so long, well I said you, were gone for so long

We reenacted the creation of the universe with a frisbee and heard in cars the ocean on eastern shores (while you were gone for so long)

well I said you, were gone for so long

[scatting/Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah/whistle]

and pretty soon you'll see, you're back to where you came from, staring through the same old eyes you came from yesterday...

R. Laird 2009

[...Back to Rory Originals...](https://ecency.com/hive-150480/@hive-174589/rorykl-original-songs-on-hive)

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=rorykl/ubclhslchz
# Throwback Video 003/015 #

Back at the Kentucky St house, times got tough for a while. When there were like 9 of us living there, the house finances divided up and cost next to nothing...but when people started leaving, we found ourselves barely making rent. In our quest to survive, we spent a solid year just taking in anyone who would be willing to move in and pay their share, and through these tough times, we made some really cool new friends. One of the last additions to the house was Dee. Dee was a local entrpreneur and rapper, and hearing him record in his room inspired me to write this. When Dee rapped, his lyrics were smooth and punchy, it was as if he was using the lyrical flow to create a whole new beat on top of the beat, and a whole new harmony inside of the melody. I never aspired to take Dee's throne as the house beatmaster, but I really enjoyed the challenge of trying to create something in his style. These days were a time of constant musical experimentation, always testing limits and finding new ways to use old things, and I am particularly fond of this piece because of the memories it revives for me.

Lyrics:

Well Dr Dingo was born with a chip on his shoulder the size of the state of his birth he had been, abused as a child he had no sense left of self worth

But never did that ever stop him, from steppin up over the line he went to,

lots of good parties and he always did have a good time.

Well Dr Dingo had many things up on his mind yeah just about all of the time he got locked up in himself and all lost in the daily grind

Well Dr Dingo, what do you know? Dr Dingo Dr Dingo where do you go everyday? Dr Dingo

So plenty of ladies been lovin' the Dingo man ever since he got up onto the scene

He got a smooth ride and a fresh cut and a red hot limousine you know what I mean Crazy enough to turn the bluest of skies into the deepest of red

he got arrested over in Europe for wearing banana cakes up on his head he said Ain't nothin' quite like the feeling you get when you make the commute to work,

a nice guy any other time but on the road I turn into a jerk

I can hardly even scarce to imagine, Dr Dingo

Well Dr Dingo, what do you know? Dr Dingo Dr Dingo where do you go everyday? Dr Dingo

Everything up on his plate changed oh four one six oh eight

He woke up the very next morning on time though often he would have been late. A lovely afternoon left him smilin' like Looney Tunes

I'd like to tell you the rest of the story I hope that he'll tell it to me soon

So Mr Dr Dingo must bid we all good day

Dr Dingo said he had nothing left to say

R. Laird 2008

[...Back to Rory Originals...](https://ecency.com/hive-150480/@hive-174589/rorykl-original-songs- on-hive)

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=rorykl/ootfbmwzij
# Throwback Video 002/015 #

This song is another that was written during my second tour with the army. I found a can of mixed nuts in a care package that was sent to us by some kind people we'd never met...the brand was...Jerry's Nuthouse!

LOL - That's really all there was to it. I think maybe I already had a line in mind about this "Old Sweaty Freddy & his dirty brown teddy," but honestly it was so long ago I'm not sure about anything anymore except that this song was ultimately created because I stumbled upon a particular can of nuts.

Lyrics:

Old Sweaty Freddy, had a dirty brown teddy, But it was white when his parents bought it.

But Old Sweaty Freddy, and his dirty brown teddy, liked to go galavantin' off into the night.

They had a lot of adventures, and a lot of fun,

but Old Sweaty Freddy and his teddy, were always on the run.

They had a lot going on that night,

They broke all the rules just for spite,

But when they awoke it was still night,

Teddy got that feeling like something wasn't right So he said to Freddy maybe we should go

But Old Sweaty Freddy, had a different plan in mind. He wanted to go to the redlight, and have a good time.

But the dirty brown teddy, knew you had to have cash for fun. When the bouncers came out, they hit the deck and started to run

They had to get the hell out of Dodge,

and hide out for the night at a low rate lodge

Between their deals selling crack in the night, and that dispute with the bouncers at the redlight

No one knows what happened for sure,

but they were killed and covered in manure.

Jerry's in the Nuthouse, Sweaty Freddy's dead,

and the dirty brown teddy well he went ahead and he caught two in the head.

They were picked up and buried, lowered in the ground.

They had a funeral, but not a soul came around.

Jerry's in the Nuthouse, Sweaty Freddy's dead,

and the dirty brown teddy well he went ahead and he caught two in the head.

R. Laird 2004

[...Back to Rory Originals...](https://ecency.com/hive-150480/@hive-174589/rorykl-original-songs- on-hive)

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=rorykl/jsazwtqutc
# Throwback Video 001/015 #

This one has a really cool history. Back in the post-army/Lawrence days, I was a part of a group of musician that called ourselves the Treble Clef Junction Workshop. Most nights, we would get together and just kinda go around the circle taking turns playing songs - sort of like I've seen Anke and Steve and others do - but once a month or so we'd do a challenge (actually identical to the Hive Songwriters Guild challenge I tried to get going a few months ago). Each month a different member of the group would choose a topic, and all other members would choose a name or word. Then you all got two weeks to write a song based on the given theme, and including all the words that were submitted.

So this song was completely written to satisfy the challenge one month. I know "proliferate" was one of the mandatory words (from Adam M), "Mary Haggus" was a name that was to be included (from Brock G), and I think "down by the riverside" was the given theme. There were other words of course...I can't remember off-hand what they were, but I know I never once cheated the assignment, so they're all in there!

Lyrics

Take me down by the riverside

Let me take a look for what I have been told I would find out there I sit down and frown by the riverside

I came to find peace cuz the world is making me pull out my hair

Well Mary Haggus she won't talk to me,

She will only see what she wants, to believe, so

Take me down by the riverside,

Let me take a look for what I have been told I would find out there I sit now and frown by the riverside

I came to find peace cuz the world is making me pull out my hair

You call it pain and I call it a cover up,

You say it proliferates and I say it only waits

You say you're foraging and I say you're out for a walk, You're out for a wa-lk so,

Take me down by the riverside,

Let me take a look for what I have been told I would find out there I sit now and frown by the riverside

I came to find peace cuz the world is making me pull out my hair

It's making me, it's making me, ... it's making me pull out my hair.

R. Laird 2008

[...Back to Rory Originals...](https://ecency.com/hive-150480/@hive-174589/rorykl-original-songs-on-hive)

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=rorykl/otgnujgylz
This song is another favorite of mine.  I know, I know, you can’t say that every time you post a song or it starts to lose its meaning – but really, this one has mountains of history for me. 

During my second tour in Iraq, my dad sent me letters with encoded musical messages, using the Nashville numbers system to send me melodic passages (as opposed to sending notes or fretboard positions) – and my job was to decode them with my guitar and write back telling him what song I think it goes to.  During this time, he randomly sent me a CD.  It was [Out of State Plates]( https://fountainsofwayne.bandcamp.com/album/out-of-state-plates), by Fountains of Wayne. 

When I first saw it I thought, what is this?? I read the letter that he’d sent with it, and apparently it was just some band he’d heard and thought I might like/draw inspiration from them.  Man, just gotta say, I freakin’ love that guy.  My dad is a real hero, and he’s probably got no idea that I feel that way or that I love him as much as I do, but I do.  Anyway, listening to this album there were many songs I liked, but I was instantly connected with their cover of These Days, by Jackson Browne.  I remember just falling into that walking chord progression, thinking it sounded magnificent and impossible, and I guess maybe like it was written to carry words of great significance.  I spent the rest of that year trying to figure it out.

Naturally, I did eventually figure it out, and honestly once I did, it wasn’t as complicated as I thought it sounded at the time, but that doesn’t change the way that I feel about the song.  My wife always says she likes when I play this song because she thinks I connect well with the lyrics - like if you didn’t know better you could think I wrote it – and I think this performance really captured the essence of what my wife sees…that’s why I chose to use this recording as my submission for HMF Week 51 Round 3, it just felt right. 

Thank you for watching!

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=rorykl/zdqczuytif
I wound up recording four separate entries for the final round here on week 51. This was the second of those four and did not make the cut.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=rorykl/attamaeztc
I wound up recording four separate entries for the final round here on week 51. This was the first of those four and did not make the cut.