So Many Me's

Click to hear a sample

VC: lead & harmony vocals, Mosrite acoustic, Fender Precision bass, Yamaha CS1 Synth (piano), drum programming; Mike Grow: Fender "SRV" Strat

This had been the title for what I had always dreamed would be my first solo CD from even before I had actually written the song. I finally got around to writing in in the spring of 1997 in the middle of a mini songwriting flurry. I was winding down my time teaching in East Oakland and was doing some solo performing for the first time in a few years. Soon thereafter I bought a new recording device: a Tascam 4 track cassette recorder which cost a whopping $450 at the time. I recorded 5 demos that summer, none of which really came out as well as I would have liked. Another song from that period, "4th Street Afternoon" would really have been a great fit for this album, but alas, no room. This song is just simply my theme song. I have always been the man who could fit in to a variety of situations and give you what you needed. It's both a blessing and a curse. Mike's guitar parts really make this song come alive.

Snakes in the grass slither and hiss
Sights and sounds you cannot miss
Rats in the alleyway tipping over cans
Nibbling what they need before they ran
You never can tell when you’re dealing with me
Can’t always believe just what you see
Never turn my head, but I can roll my eyes
Shoot out my tongue just to catch those flies

Chorus:
If it’s facts you want
I’m an encyclopedia
If you’re hot for the news
Then I’m the media
If you need to laugh
I’m a comedian
Any color you like
I’m the chameleon

Wolves in the field licking their chops
Ready to pounce when the bunny hops
Sharks in the water catch the scent of blood
Try not to panic if you’re stuck in the mud
Yellow or red and the colors in-between
Seven variations and shades of green
Blend in with the background if I need to hide
Camouflage concealing all that’s inside

All my life I could quickly change
Shift my shape-extend my range
Always becoming what I needed to be
Longing for the day that I’d be free
Just to be me
Chorus