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Checking In (with my friends)

Dear friends,

Thanks so much for the suggestions and the work some of you have put into writing the words and tunes to my new record album (it's gonna be great when you guys are done with it! I have no doubt.) Firstly, here are some dynamite lyrics written by my friend Barney, from Blarney, for the first song on side 2. Barney says he’ll make a stab at writing the tune. I suggest 3/4 or 6/8 time:

Pussycat, pussycat where have you been?

I’ve been to London to visit the queen.

Pussycat, pussycat what did you there?

I got wildly drunk and tangled in her hair!

Pussycat, pussycat what did she do?

She became angry and in jail me threw!

Pussycat, pussycat how did you get out?

I feigned being dead and they threw me out!

Pussycat, pussycat did you come straight home?

No! I brushed me-self off and further did roam!

Then pussy said, "Call For Another Round, and Put it on Mike's Tab!"

I love it! I can hear the house roaring with laughter as they sing! It's gonna be great, Barney!(one of the best songs I've ever written!) You're a good friend!


To the rest of my good friends, here's the song titles again, and some feedback to y'all.

(If it's in BOLD, there's been some "movement"* on the track):


SIDE 1:

1). When the Stone in My Shoe Starts to Bother Me [a little bit country]

2). Loose Tooth! [a little bit Rock & Roll]

3). I Blew it Blues

4). Chromium Iodide Train Station [psychedelic sound]

Timmy: changing it to Plastic Lego Train Station simply won't work, sorry.

5). Empathy Wore Me Out [moody, introspective, echo-ee]

Max: Yes, definitely a minor key song (good observation!) C#m?

6). Sasquatch (he’s my friend) [a lá James Taylor]

7). Standing On the... something or other [I need some help here. On the... on the...what?]

Billy suggested "Standing on the Corner." It's...ok, but...

8). Sasquatch (he’s my friend) Reprise

Jim: the refrain you wrote sounds way too much like "Happy Birthday to You."


SIDE 2:

1). Call For Another Round, and Put it on Mike's Tab [Irish pub sound, with lots of laughter!]

Barney's on it!

2). Wishing, Hoping, Waxing My Car [Beatlesque]

Keith: Beatlesque means "like the Beatles." It's not the model of the car being waxed.

3). I Would Rather You Didn’t... something, something. [Again, need some help. Didn't...?]

Good Jody! "I Would Rather You Didn't Do That." I love the ambiguity (do what? LOL)

4). Pancakes and Flapjacks [another psychedelic song, w/eerie backwards voices SkcaJpalF...]

Toni: SkcaJpalF... is flapjacks, eerily, backwards. Isn't that soooo cool?

5). Cory! Cory! Cory! [a bit punk - high energy]

Phyllis: Tora! Tora! Tora! did inspire the title of this song.

6). Yakov Took a Bullet for Me (he’s my friend) [a lá Bruce Springsteen]

7). Ft. Lauderdale, North America [with the spirit of "Wichita Lineman," by Glen Campbell.]

I'm waiting anxiously for the tunes to roll in! The tracks that aren't in bold text are still up for grabs! (Your help would be very much appreciated.)


Finally, it seems no one knows a way to get into Folsom Prison (without committing a crime) so my latest idea for the album cover and title is: Paul Shukin Live from Armageddon.

Thanks again!

Your friend, Paul


* Get it? "movement?" Like Beethoven's 3rd movement? (I crack myself up! LOL!)

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