Track 8 – A New List
Here is another song, like “Baseball Diamond” that went through many titles. I don't remember them in this case, perhaps because I ended up finding the right one.
“A New List” has a little more personal experience closer to the surface than many of my songs. I won't tell you which part, and I won't tell you how I disguised it, but it is certainly there. I will tell you that I really did know a cat named Lola. While this song isn't the top shelf material that “An Estimation Song” is to me, it certainly isn't rail either. I found the feeling I was aiming for through somewhat blunt or obvious means.
When I wrote this song, I was writing a lot about the idea of “home”. This song may be the culmination of that trajectory of writing. Ah, no it isn't. I just remembered on more song that is not on this album. Shucks. Well, then it is the penultimate “home” song of that epoch. Unlike many of my songs, this one has no narrative per se. Rather, I just give a series of images. The narrative is not literal, but an emotional development as the images succeed one another. I don't know if anyone else feels what I do, but what do I care? I wrote these songs for myself, not anyone else!
I will reveal another bit of biography in this song. I do indeed make a lot of lists.
This recording is pretty good. I usually put this near the end of a set, and so my voice is usually a little worn out when I sing this one. That is true in this recording. I actually wrote this song at the piano, and I do intend to record it that way some time. There is a section that I would like to hear “on tape” that I am simply not able to replicate on guitar.