Harmonies

The Music of e. magill

Brian's Front Porch

History: Hungry to make music outside of electronic sequencers and synthesizers, Darius Jackson and I started looking to create a local alternative rock band in Tampa, Florida. Our search lead us to two guitarists and an amazing drummer. With Darius at the keyboards and yours truly firmly entrenched in front of the lead microphone, we had created ourselves Brian's Front Porch. The five of us got along famously and were able to create some truly original music. We amassed our set list and began playing at a small bar called The Brass Mug, with plans to create a demo, get signed, and start making a living out of our craft. However, and rather suddenly, the band broke up just as we were beginning to secure our studio time and start playing new venues, for reasons that quite frankly elude me. But ultimately, this turned out to be a good thing, as I was able to cancel my plans to move to Tampa permanently, which made my subsequent flight to Maryland to marry my long-time college sweetheart much, much simpler. Additionally, the band reformed, minus its lead singer and drummer, as fAlterboy, a band that is starting to show very promising signs of success. While we were never able to make any satisfactory recordings of our music (there are tracks from a poorly-mixed homemade demo below), I can share with you the creative property I walked away with (the lyrics that I wrote), as well as a few pictures from our farewell performance.

Downloads: Brian's Front Porch BFP Demo 2003 Bedlam in the Badlands 3:40 4.41M Own Way 4:00 4.81M Drinking Alone 2:12 2.65M Wasteland 5:52 6.88M Some notes about the demo: 1. The mix is pretty crappy 2. My vocals are way too harsh 3. The volume is too low 4. A better demo was on the way when we broke up Bedlam in the Badlands I was walking to the bar and I was feeling kinda bold And I asked this girl if we could go back to her place And she said, "Well, you better do as your told 'Cuz if you don't, I'm gonna slap you in the face" So I wind up at this chick's apartment Where she tells me to take off my clothes And lay down flat on her carpet Where she starts doing what God only knows Now there's bedlam in the bad lands My prayers are dying out of bound hands With this bedlam in the bad lands This bedlam, bedlam, bedlam, bedlam, Bedlam in the bad lands So she puts on her domination outfit With a long chain tied to nipple rings And she's bringing out a whip a wrench and a first aid kit And I'm like, "Baby, whatcha gonna do with those things" Then she leads me down to the bed in her room Where the pussy becomes a cat And just then as she's bringing out this long fat broom Who should walk in but her boyfriend just like that Now I'm thanking the heavens and thinking happy thoughts When the girl with her man start leaving But when I realize I'm still stuck to leather knots I start noting this dirty, dirty feeling So I'm lying there butt naked insane With nothing left to do to fight it And I start wondering what's wrong with my brain When I realize that I really, really like it Drinking Alone Turn down the radio I put on my own show Give the phone another try When it rings I think I die Why does she have to be so beautiful When I want her to be true Oh, why can't she be more real When I'm looking for something new I'm drinking alone, oh no I'm sleeping alone, oh no She's just another gold flake A good model but a bad make I'm drinking alone, oh no I'm sleeping alone, oh no I'm drinking alone, oh no, oh no I'm sleeping alone I'm sleeping alone Own Way Don't get in your own way Natural overload driving down your road You say don't get in your own way Don't try too hard, just deal the cards This is my one chance to lead By standing still This is my one chance to shine Without emitting light This is the real living need I can never fulfill This is the way to make it mine By not holding tight Present Tense This is my one tomorrow This is my sacred yesterday When I want for nothing This is now Holding on to sorrow Holding on to what betrays When I wait for nothing This is how I am falling further Inside a pointless murder You know where I was tonight Forsaking my final fight So good night good night My dreams are old and grey So I'll sleep tight tonight And save myself some other day Roundabout This face is for tomorrow A head worn for sorrow And when you see a happy grin Know where I've been I'm wandering through the nights of empty Squandering all you've given And when I fall through the tide to sunshine I'll know that we are driven This face was yesterday's It was the latest craze And when I drop the futile eyes Let go of our lies I've left behind the smiles of wonder Looking forward to your tears And when you catch me in the moonlight We might last through all the years Can't decide if it's good or bad Can't agree to be happy or sad Above all this pride and glam This is who I really am Don't forget to call me out So I can see our roundabout Roundabout, roundabout Merry go roundabout Say it Ain't So The rumor mill's been working hard Spreading the news near and far When the journey's end is run The damage is already done Imagine my surprise A shocked and beaten heart Are these things just lies Or am I gonna fall apart Say it ain't so now, Baby Please tell me these things aren't true Say it ain't so now, Baby I wanna hear it from you What's Lost You're going away from yesterday And all you can say is you won't stay You walk out the door, leave me sure And feeling sore that you're no more We've put out the light with such a fight I don't care who's right when we're alone tonight We can't be again what we have been Since all this sin has turned within Then you come back to me and I can't see How what you need can come from me But when I hear you sigh our love will die I guess I'll try to relive the lie Then you move to entice so we roll the dice And sacrifice for paradise But that's not what this is, our one last kiss Just cuz we miss having this So I'm going away from yesterday And all I can say is I won't stay I walk out the door, leave you sure And feeling sore that I'm no more We're going away through night and day When all we've made is gone today We walk out the door needing more We're so unsure, not like before You're going away from yesterday And all you can say is you won't stay