Remembering 44 On This Day

Through an employee auction at my work, I just scored a VHS-DVR dual deck recorder and have begun the process of bringing old video tapes: basketball games w/friends, old TCA projects from college, and (not the least) old 44 videos.

That kind of kicked me back into gear on the old tape to CD conversion I began last summer. an attempt at archiving past, taped, musical endeavors (chronicled on two consecutive posts, one sad and wistful, and one somewhat more hopeful.

Anyway - another song here from that time period where 44 was in its prime, such as that was, with artistic true-seeing constrained within the limits of twice a week practices. This is a live, practice space recording of a Dan-penned song, sometime in the spring of 1999, I See You When I Can.

I'd had the chorus running through my head for a couple of years. In the genre of songs that had to do with Sharon living far away and not being very accessible, but playfully, with a "Green Eggs and Ham" sort of idea playing itself out: "I see you when I can/I'd see you in a van/I'd see you in Japan/etc etc. Couldn't get any farther than that. Then I decided to pursue an idea I'd always wanted to try - as a lark, but it seemed to work. Using the chord progression - literally - of A, B, C, D, E. You hear this at the beginning and we return to it a couple of more times. Gibbs wrote the freaky stalker sort of words at the very end, which I embraced within this song which was more just a fun departure than any true expression of feelings. Also - in an "I buried Paul" sort of moment, with a close listen in the final chorus, you might just catch something that sounds like "I eat my sausage from a can."

Recording is with a single mic on a regular old tape deck, so there's no accounting for quality - but I think it sounds like a band having fun. Hopefully, you can spare five minutes, and hopefully you enjoy this.

I See You When I Can