Bittersweet
Introductions to songs from the 1991 album, “Bittersweet”.
I went by “Paul Henry” at the time (my middle name). There are two other living “Paul Henrys” who are in the arts (Paul Henry, Paul Henry), not to mention Paul Henry, or Paul Henry (though he’s dead). So, I added the Austrohungarian, hard to pronounce correctly, “Schwebel” back in. Wothehell.
Anyhoo, in 1991 I put out this album, “Bittersweet”. It was going to be called something else, but then my marriage started to fall apart, so I added a song and changed the name. I only had the patience for about 3 takes per song, so it could have been better. The other players on the album were wonderful, so I’m posting mp3s for the entire album. See the Songs page.
It had the following tunes:
1. Galileo - a song my brother started that I finished about Galilio Galilei. Every folksinger should have a song about a famous dead Italian scientist.
2. a rose is never wrong - a song I wrote after a walk with my late father, a theoretical physicist. We were talking about the notion of there being a reason, a force, or an entity behind the behavior of the universe, and he said, “Nature does.” I’ve never forgotten that. I’m not a good enough artist to be a physicist; so I wrote a song instead.
3. Beethoven’s back - this was supposed to be a song about what would happen if Beethoven somehow returned. I was planning to have him chewed up and spat out by the rapacious modern music business. Then I read Thayer’s “Life of Beethoven”, and changed my mind. So, the mad scientist cloned him alright, but what happened next turned out differently than I’d planned.
4. Turning into an Animal - just another day in the city for us animals.
5. a house of strangers - most love songs are about the extremes: the highs (”I’m in love! I’m in love!), or the lows (”you broke my heart and now life has no meaning, etc.). This song is about the flat spots (”Good morning.”)
6. The movie - this was a musical triptych, a three reeler movie of the beginning, middle, and end of a relationship, a dysfunctional relationship (is there any other kind?).
- 1st reel: walking from paradise - He sees Her. Does She see Him?
- 2nd reel: the man is dancing - She leaves the party and has a street encounter.
- 3rd reel: between the shadows - It’s over. Was it about love? or power?
7. bittersweet - like it says…
8. make no mistake - from one of those neurotic periods when you go thru the day waiting for someone to come up to you and say, “everything you’re doing is wrong!” And you believe them.
Personnel:
- Dan Campbell, percussion
- Chris Conner, bass
- Deane Digiacomo, flute
- Steve Feierabend, sax
- Me, guitar & vocals
- Trisha Mitchell, oboe
- Tom Mylett, bass on “between the shadows”
- Jim Sweeney, drums