The Crocodile and the Chihuahua

The Crocodile and the Chihuahua is completely unlike any of my previous productions. A few years ago I resolved to be involved only in things that were either 1) really fun, 2) really rewarding or 3) absolutely necessary. Creating The Crocodile and the Chihuahua was about having fun ... or not ... but always trying.

A few years ago, after an almost 20 year hiatus from writing songs with lyrics, I was inspired to write a very sad lament after the dissolution of a passionate love affair lasting several years. At the time, I wasn't having any fun at all. Believing the song to be as fine a piece as anything I'd ever written, I decided I had to create a whole new collection of songs so the lament could have a place somewhere on a CD. (Obviously it wouldn't fit on one of my instrumental harp CDs) So this was to be a new chapter in my singer/songwriter/guitar accompaniment stuff. I recorded a very soulful version of the tune, along with some other songs I started writing. Then an interesting development occurred. I decided to arrange the songs with a fun backup band (mostly drawn from an immensely talented pool of local Port Townsend musicians). After writing and arranging an hour of material, I realized the lament no longer fit in! It was just too sad and would have been the only set of lyrics in the collection that was utterly humorless! So ironically, the very song which inspired the inception, got cut out at the finish!

Take elements of Dan Hicks, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Tom Lehrer, Frank Zappa, David Bromberg, Tom Paxton, throw in a little '60s Rock, a little classical, some Latin sounds, shake them up and voila, you might come close to imagining the essence of this irreverent recording.

The Crocodile and the Chihuahua is completely unlike any of my previous productions. A few years ago I resolved to be involved only in things that were either 1) really fun, 2) really rewarding or 3) absolutely necessary. Creating The Crocodile and the Chihuahua was about having fun ... or not ... but always trying. A few years ago, after an almost 20 year hiatus from writing songs with lyrics, I was inspired to write a very sad lament after the dissolution of a passionate love affair lasting several years. At the time, I wasn't having any fun at all. Believing the song to be as fine a piece as anything I'd ever written, I decided I had to create a whole new collection of songs so the lament could have a place somewhere on a CD. (Obviously it wouldn't fit on one of my instrumental harp CDs) So this was to be a new chapter in my singer/songwriter/guitar accompaniment stuff. I recorded a very soulful version of the tune, along with some other songs I started writing. Then an interesting development occurred. I decided to arrange the songs with a fun backup band (mostly drawn from an immensely talented pool of local Port Townsend musicians). After writing and arranging an hour of material, I realized the lament no longer fit in! It was just too sad and would have been the only set of lyrics in the collection that was utterly humorless! So ironically, the very song which inspired the inception, got cut out at the finish! Take elements of Dan Hicks, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Tom Lehrer, Frank Zappa, David Bromberg, Tom Paxton, throw in a little '60s Rock, a little classical, some Latin sounds, shake them up and voila, you might come close to imagining the essence of this irreverent recording.

	Story and Lyrics	Playing time	Play MP3
	Stumbling Mantras	6:25
	Moonlight Flight	7:16
	The Crocodile & the Chihuahua	4:10
	Warring Parties	5:08
	Thirty-four Questions	5:57
	The Fourteenth Night	4:39
	Plenty of Time	4:49
	Zihuatanejo	2:22
	Garage Sale Blues	5:08
	Here You Are	5:19
	Playa la Ropa	3:38
	Let Your Hair Down	4:21

Irreverent songs of love and loss By David Michael

Irreverent songs of love and loss

By David Michael