Brownstein-Houston Music

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I'M LOVIN' YOU NOW - Lyrics

I'm Lovin' You Now

I can feel your love

Out here on the road

Miles and days away

From the heart I call my home

I'm lovin' you now

I'm drinkin' you in

I'm holding the wheel, but it's you that I feel

Like we’re together again

I'm lovin' you now

I'm drinkin' you in

I'm counting the days, imaginin' ways

When we’re together again

But till then, you know I’m lovin’ you now

Love’s unbroken thread

One heart made from two

Street lights turning red

On a slow road back to you

I'm lovin' you now

I'm drinkin' you in

I'm holding the wheel, but it's you that I feel

Like we’re together again

I'm lovin' you now

I'm drinkin' you in

I'm counting the days, imaginin' ways

When we’re together again.

But till then, you know I’m lovin’ you now

Some say it’s the drive

Not the destination

But ‘till I’m by your side

This is my only consolation

(c) 2009 - David Brownstein/Fish Hook Music/BMI and Jeff Wessman/Jeff Wessman Music/BMI.

SHADOW TO THE SUN - Lyrics

Shadow to the Sun

Took my shadow to the sun today

Shining the light in a different way

Little girl won't come out and play

See me hide, watch me run away

When I don't see you I feel the shame

I am abandoned, wounded and lame

I walk away, run from my pain

Rather than face my self-inflicted wounds, I'll go insane

Keep myself busy, filling the hole

Of loneliness and sadness, the void inside my soul

I keep on running, and smiling on and on

I keep on pushing and denying, all my dreams until they're gone

Run by my reactions in pursuit of your applause

Watching all your actions I assume I am the cause

You're the main attraction I'm a clown in your sideshow

You I'll follow blindly till you tell me where to go

Over and over, locked out from the game

Standing in the shadows, freezing in the rain

Lost without a target, flash without a spark

Arrows falling, demons calling

Screaming in the dark, in the dark

Run by my reactions in pursuit of your applause

Watching all your actions I assume I am the cause

You're the main attraction I'm a clown in your sideshow

You I'll follow blindly 'till you tell me where to go

Was a time when I could feel it all

Once upon a time I let it in

Will there be time for me to blow away the pain

Of the noise and lies and garbage I believe?

(c) 2009 David Brownstein - FIsh Hook Music. BMI.

FOUR NIGHT BLOOMING CACTUS FLOWERS

A THOUSAND LP'S

DAVID'S BASS

PHOTO: THE FINAL IN-PERSON SESSIONS (BERKELEY)

STICKS AND STONES - Lyrics

Sticks and Stones

You and me

In a crowd alone but free

And suddenly you’re dancing close in front of me

Yes it’s true

We’ve got a billion things to do

But tonight our time together’s the emergency

Sticks and stones can build a home

And a word can warm my heart

A spark, a flame, a fire that lights the night

But sticks and stones can break my bones

When your words tear me apart

And burn to ashes, everything in sight

Sticks and stones

Winter moon

Trail of incense lights the room

Gentle hands that squeeze the flow of dreams

From their hiding place

Skin on skin

Your mouth draws me in

With no words to shape

The open space I find you in

Sticks and stones can build a home

And a word can warm my heart

A spark, a flame, a fire that lights the night

But sticks and stones can break my bones

When your words tear me apart

And burn to ashes, everything in sight

You fell asleep a newborn child

But in your dreams those flames ran wild

You tossed and turned remembering

The loves gone wrong, the broken wing

Your heart’s no longer free, now you blame me

Poison pen

From your dragon’s hand again

Now my picture’s turned around and I’m shot down

Live and learn

In the end my bed still burns

Can the hurts we hide be purified some other way?

(c) 2009 David Brownstein - Fish Hook Music, BMI.

LINER NOTES AND THANK YOU'S

DAVID would like to say:

The Alchemy of Love is about how relationships transform and forge us to learn whatever we need to get to our next lessons or life experiences.

I began writing these songs after my experiences in the Mankind Project’s New Warrior Training Adventure in 1996. I’d somehow known all my life that someday I’d start writing songs but was to afraid of what people would think if/when I began to reveal what was really bubbling up inside. After the New Warrior weekend I realized that for me, self-disclosure was it’s own reward and that what people thought of me was none of my business.

So these are the songs I wrote once I started to let those words out.

In the beginning Chris and I decided to create an instrumental, down tempo groove, electronic record that was tentatively titled “Between Something and Nothing” to reflect how ambient electronica was interesting atmospherically, but not engaging or distracting enough to stop someone from writing or reading. Porch Fire, Groove Garden and Mirror, Mirror set the tone for what was to be the album’s original direction.

Soon, with the discovery of Ableton Live software, we began remixing and re-imagining songs we’d recorded earlier with our band, Blood Sugar. These songs include, Shadow To The Sun, Rain and Quintessence. We then decided to remix Chocolate Neon Lite that I’d recorded with Drea in my Venice apartment and Sticks & Stones and I'M Lovin’ You Now that I’d had Travis Allen produce as Nashville tracks. This Song is Not About You I’d written when we had the Blood Sugar band, but never played as a band, and Acceptance Speech was written after I was featured in the New York Times article about life coaching in Hollywood. Acceptance Speech seems to sum up the process of “accepting myself” as a songwriter, musician, artist, coach and a man: joys, fears, doubts and all. Please sing along on the chorus if so inspired.

And I Would Like to Thank:

The Beatles, Frank Zappa, Led Zeppelin, Blue Cheer, Bob Molay, JB Brown, Peter Casperson, Harriet Schock, The Mankind Project (mkp.org) Human Awareness Institute (hai.org) No Hands, Food, Dan Gold and The Invaders, Chris Miller Band, St. John, Amy Denio + Tone Dogs, Mackhand, The Greyhounds, Chillie Willie, Rods + Cones, Poison Dollies, Jason & The Argonauts, The Singles, Blood Sugar, Lothar Segelar, Rob Dimit, Bob Ludwig, Bob Stone, Bomb’s Aren’t Cool, Pick Up Sticks, Second Story Television (Jill, Ginz and Eug,) Jeff Wessman, A Course in Miracles, and Bota.org.

All the musicians, engineers, mixers and studio cats I learned from in NY, Boston, LA and SF. To all the muses, inspirations and triggers: Carol, Jennie, Celia, April, River . . . and more!

A big shout-out to my longtime collaborator and partner, Chris Houston. Thanks for playing!

My mom and dad for piano lessons, trumpet lessons, guitar lessons, life lessons and the ongoing gift of music which runs through us all.

CHRIS would like to say:

For me, "The Alchemy of Love" is the result of a performing/composing collaboration David and I began 25 years ago, put aside, and then rediscovered when we both found ourselves in the Bay Area.  

When David moved to LA, we began a long distance process shaped by numerous phone calls and countless web exchanges.  Leavened by face-to-face weekends, these songs took shape and grew.  Lyrics prompted sound design choices, a collection of loops and phrases congealed into a grooving structure.  

Though my profile is grounded primarily in jazz and classical theory, these songs called for a simpler, more direct approach.  Gradually I discovered delight and satisfaction in finding a compelling instrumental sound, a unique texture.  

In general, David built the house, the song, I responded with a bushel of backing tracks on synths and samples, the decorative elements.  It was like playing in a musical sandbox.

In the end, David's mixes pulled it all together.  These tracks are the fruits of a long friendship.  Many thanks.