Brad Sucks!

Brad Sucks - Dropping Out of School from Brian Ross II on Vimeo.


Hey people- Welcome to fav lyrics fri again. Up this week- Brad Sucks!
(Is that name awesome or what?) (Big props to Brian Ross too for the awesome video. Click him too for even more vid-coolage.)
Brad is, as he puts it, "a one man band with no fans", but Brad, come on-- that's crap and we know it. He's actually got a ton of fans- especially for some indie guy making his own music all by himself up in the the frozen tundra of Canadia. (Bonus points for being Canadian Brad. Good job.)

There's a lot I like about his music. Seriously, the two albums i picked up on his site are the best $20 I've spent in a quite while, but he's not a typical lyric pick for me. His writing is super straightforward, often simplistic-- but it works. That's all it takes sometimes, and that's a good reminder, right writery types? Sometimes the most effective writing IS simple.

I had a really hard time picking one song to feature, because I like so many of them, and the songs are so wonderfully simple, they almost all have snippets of wonderful. I like this guy's music, but am interested in him on another level too. The music industry is changing so much right now. For the first time it's technically possible for artists to produce their own music in their own basements or where ever. Brad uses ( I believe) a drum program, sometimes referred to disparagingly as "fake beats". The wanna be drummer in me bridles at this, but it sounds like he's pretty diligent about how the rhythms come out.

The idea of someone recording their own music by recording each individual track, vocals, backing vocals, guitar/s, drums, etc, etc and blending it all together is fascinating to me as an artist. Of course, even if they can put together awesome albums like Brad here, it remains to be seen how successful they are at getting their stuff out there, and getting paid. The whole process is intensely interesting to me. Like all of us, there's the creating part we all are in love with, but in music the other end of it sounds so overwhelming. It's amazing to me people are so driven to attempt it.

Anyway-- help a dude out. Support another artist out there doing his thing, who is working hard and really good at it.

Here's a sampling of lyrics of his I like - but do yourself a favor-- go to his site, and listen to all his songs FOR FREE, then BUY THEM. I've put a few up in the player so go nuts. Don't be a chicken, click 'em. (emailers-- go to actual blog and rock-out)

Lyrics are from a bunch of different songs
Sorry, couldn't pick!

you and i you and i

baby i just
i just don’t wanna talk about it
and then it’s
if you mind if you mind
maybe i’ll just
maybe i’ll write a song about it
~
Is it so hard to fake it
Is it so hard to fake it
Is it so hard to take your own advice?
~
Ok, so you’re feeling all alone
I heard it on the radio
On a broadcast from the sky
~
Ordinary- being scary
~
I don’t wanna be right
baby every single night
Think i'm losing it
~
Rubber rooms and taking funny pills
Filling up on notes and dollar bills
it’s the price you pay for feeling ok
...
I’ve been thinking bout fixing my brain
but I’m afraid I won’t feel the same.
‘cause Baby it’s all I do
~
Playing it safe wasn’t good enough,
maybe once you should lose your mind
...
Upside-down In a busted car half off the pavement
~
don’t you know
the lengths i will go
to be anyone that you wish i would

don’t you know
the lengths i will go
to be understood by your dad
~
Put my hand on the gasoline

Just Go Listen-- You need to hear this stuff in context.