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i was looking through my iTunes library the other night, and i stumbled upon the no-vocal/rough mix of 6 songs of a band that i was in during the last 6 months of my time at the ManHammer. we were called Books About War. incidentally enough, this was also the summer/winter that casey/kris moved out, so when i think back to my time in this band, it is heavily laiden with memories of both of those epics. so, where to begin?

it was summer 2004 and Well Fed was “on the rocks.” we weren’t really playing any shows and there was some discrepancy between where we going and what we were doing: the “vision” of the band was anything but certain. i’m not sure why exactly, but casey decided to go home to noblesville for the summer. i think that he was tired of us (the band, the manhammer, btown). and i think that kris went home for a stint and maybe drew, i don’t remember exactly. anyhoo, somewhere during this time period, i ran into bob from rhinos (an all ages venue in bloomington) and he was hanging with his friend cisco. they were talking music and such and i joined in.

so i brought my drums over to their place and we started jamming: bob on bass, cisco on guitar, me on drums. we played some stuff they’d written in other bands, we wrote some new stuff. we were having a great time, and we totally meshed. like, we knew what each other was thinking and we just loved playing music together. we’d have like 3 hour practices with multiple breaks in between and i was totally not used to it because Well Fed’s longest practice was probably an hour, TOPS.

so the jamming continued and then the guys started asking about a 2nd guitarist. kris was back in town at this point (or maybe he’d never left, i don’t know), so we brought him in and the trio had become a frio (does that work?). we were continuing to have a great time jamming and were actually starting to come up with some cool material. it was right around this time that “the shit” started to go down around the ManHammer regarding me and casey, and i remember a few BAW band practices involving some discussion about the situation.

our first show was at the Bluebird battle of the band contest (which turned out to be rigged in the end), and for some reason i specifically remember drew, clay, and jhouse being there (that’s a weird memory). i thought we had a great show, and it was loads of fun playing on the Bluebird stage for the first time (and last time) in my life.

there were a few more shows (at Bear’s Place) and then “the shit” started going down with kris. he stopped showing up for practice, and wasn’t calling and then he borrowed bob’s guitar and wasn’t returning it and it really started to get ugly. eventually we just had to accept the inevitable and go back to being a trio. the transition back wasn’t horrible, but it was definitely weird playing songs with 1/2 as many guitars as you did when you wrote them.

after we re-designed the songs with 3 members, it was decided that we needed to get some kind of a recording of it all. we knew the band wasn’t going to last: me moving to seattle, cisco moving to baltimore, bob… staying in bloomington (ha ha!), so we planned out our options and decided to record at Rhinos. they had a protools set up, but only two (2) inputs into the board. so we had to mix the drums, get them just right, and then record them in as one track. that meant that what ever problems we had with them later couldn’t really be fixed with anything other than EQ fiddlings. we ran through each song twice: once for practice and another for record. done and done.

somehow, we got 6 songs recorded with all the music and no vocals before things started to fall apart. our time as a band just wasn’t adding up: cisco was really busy trying to move, i was really busy doing the same, and bob was recovering from his ended engagement. i think that bob and cisco did record some vocals eventually, but i never got that copy.

as i listen to each song again i am transported back to a time that seems like ages ago (almost 2 years). i hear memories of the vocals to the songs ever so faintly in the background, and i smile at parts that i remembered that i loved. then i remembered that cisco had sent me some of the lyrics in an email, and then i found that email! so, i’ve decided to post the songs that i have, and the corresponding lyrics and let you fill in the gaps. keep in mind that the recording isn’t great, and it was very hard for me to hear the guitar track while recording my drums (which leads to some not so fine playing on my part). it really helps to turn the music up loud because it’s makes the songs sound better. my personal favorites are Ready to Rock, Write Your Book, Chemistry, and the Pirate Song.

also, i think it is interesting that during the entire time that i was in a band called “Books About War”, the ManHammer experienced it’s hardest times. times where real battles were fought by real people for what they really believed in.

Ready to Rock

instrumental.
this was our song to let the audience know that we were “ready to rock.”

Progress Song

The best times are times spent invested in progress
But progress gets nothing done at all
We waited with breath held for reasons our sons fell
And scales fell like teardrops from our eyes

But all these years that we gave up for your wars
It was only fear that you gave us in return

The best lives are lives lived not wasted on blood spilled
But lived out as mothers and as friends
The choices that we made now spit back in our face
With freedom like a paralyzing salve

But all these years that we gave up for your wars
It was only fear that you gave us in return

How do your children sleep at night?
Are there nightmares coming?
How does your family sleep at night?
Better than your country
And I will not fix your star-spangled mess if you don’t start working for me

Write Your Book

You spared a dime
And thought you earned your halo
You counted cards
But thought your luck was failing
Write your book and make sure

You made your peace
But you can’t find the treaty
I’ve got some more bad news for you
It’s all downhill sweetie
Write your book and make sure

You made your peace
But you can’t find the treaty
I’ve got some more bad news for you
I’ll let you down easy.
Write your book and make sure

He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare
He who has one enemy will find him everywhere

Tonight

Chemistry

Pirate Song