Get a job!

The latest from our mystery artist “BD,” in which glimmers of light can be seen through the Stygian work void. Or so he says.

The next two tracks from the Job album describe the closest things our hero has to hopeful moments during his tenure at Anonymous Inc. The first of these, entitled “The Losing Side,” is a track written by another member of RTH, who I will not name here. As the seeds of the Job LP were planted in my mind, I told a few musician friends what I was up to, and this guy offered up a rough demo of a song that seemed to fit the spirit of the effort. I loved it, but, with his permission, took some liberties with melody, lyric, and structure that I thought tightened things up a bit. Today, I say to this anonymous songwriter: listening back to your original demo after 10+ years, I now question my editorial decisions, and I am sorry if I effed up your fine song.

The second of the momentarily hopeful album tracks details the one thing that keeps our hero coming back to work every day: his love for—or at least unhealthy obsession with—an unattainable female co-worker who works in Office 242. Many thanks to the last of our anonymous Townsman collaborators, who vastly improved my original draft lyrics, and who penned this wonderful line, among many others: “How I wish it wasn’t Friday, ‘cause now I’ll spend the next two days on what I did so badly, and what I wish I had the nerve to do, with the girl who works in office 242.”

I appreciate your patience as we wend our way through this album. And thanks for the thoughtful comments and production suggestions — keep ‘em coming. Stick with me — important life changes are in the works for our protagonist.

Losing Side

Office 242

Get a job!

I have a friend—a friend of the Hall, actually—and he’s got a problem.

About 10 years ago, after getting laid off, he spent a month or so writing and recording a series of demos for an unfinished album—called simply Job—about his work experience. Now, 10 years later, he’s rediscovered this lost album, and wants to share it with anybody who might care. The unfortunate thing is, it’s a pretty frank examination of just how soul-crushing it can be to, you know, work for a living—which means if he ever wants to get hired again, he can’t attach his name to the thing, which means there’s no real point to finishing it. It’s an interesting existential dilemma, really: is there a point to releasing music unless it’s under your own name? Don’t we do all this creative stuff for essentially ego-driven reasons? And so forth. Anyhow, his need for anonymity is important, because, as it happens, he’s in between jobs again.

I told him: not to worry—the weirdos at Rock Town Hall will understand your need to remain nameless, but will also furnish you with the feedback you’re looking for. He said that would be great, and sent me the tracks to post here. I’ll get one up every few days, so as not to overwhelm.

Oh, and one other thing: this guy (we’ll call him “BD”) tells me that there are a number of tracks on the album that were written in collaboration with a few Town Hallers. He instructed me not to “out” them unless they specifically give the okay—because, again, some of the material on Job is pretty career-hostile.

Make sense? You guys okay with this? If so, here’s the first track, with BD’s impromptu liner notes, explaining what we’re listening to here:

Track number one is called “Energize Me,” and—I dunno, I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. It sets the stage for the rest of the operetta, insofar as it’s spiteful and depressing. Note that I ripped off—sorry, paid tribute to—the almighty riff that starts off Nixon’s Head’s “They Can’t Touch Us.” God, that is such a great song. Please note that this track, like all the others you’ll be hearing, is a demo. So it’s got some rough production edges. Anyhow, “enjoy”—and thanks for listening.

Energize Me