The Sarcastic Dharma Society
Song For A Friend (by Kelli Schaefer)
Other People’s Songs (Volume Two)

“there are so very few appropriate words
and everything that i try to say ends up coming out absurd.”

The Sarcastic Dharma Society
The Poison (by Pedro The Lion)
Other People’s Songs (Volume One)

stream/download: here.

my old man always swore that hell would have no flame, just a front row seat to watch your true love pack her things
                                                                       and
                                                                              drive
                                                                                      away.

story time:
i recorded this song on the floor of our bedroom during one particularly rainy portland afternoon.
                                                                  (and she left a few days later.)

a New Favorite Song for Every New Day | #012

“So You May See”
by A John Henry Memorial

 i will love you.
(i will love you.)

     no matter what you do.

because i know you.
              (i know you.)

through.

                  and.

                              through.

a New Favorite Song for Every New Day | #011

“By Balloon or Sinking Ship”
by Jordan O’ Jordan

one of the sweeter love songs i’ve ever heard—wanting just to be around a person is probably my favorite part of being around a person. when i used to work at this flower farm picking tulips i would listen to this song and this album four or five times a day on a cd player squeezed into my back pocket that would skip whenever i walked too fast or bent over too far, and i thought a whole lot about where my life was at and where i wanted my life to be at and what i was supposed to be doing and what i wanted to be doing and how long the girl who told me what to do had been telling people what to do and what her kids were like and if she was happy and if anything would ever make sense and how many minutes were left until i got to drink folgers out of a styrofoam cup in the break room again. -mat

                                                                           n
                                                                       o
                                                                    o
“the vehicle we’re driving’s                       l
       not important                                  l
            to arrive in                             a
                                                      b
                  we could get there by 
                                       or
                                         sinking
                                                      s
                                                        h
                                                          i
                                                           p
                                                              “

a New Favorite Song for Every New Day | #009

“Sauvie Island”
by Kickball

the kickball dudes really really need to get back to making music together. so good. this is sort of an un-kickball kickball song, down tempo, comparatively uncomplicated, but so touching! i’ve spent enough time on sauvie island, both literally and metaphorically, hanging out with fruit fields, lying in the sun listening to waves, to know that i haven’t spent nearly enough time on sauvie island. this summer, this year, man—this will be the year. (i wish.) -mat

a New Favorite Song for Every New Day | #008

“All the World Is Green”
by Tom Waits

this is another song that i used to play a little bit, and love tremendously. tom waits’ voice here, so sad and so sweet, the melody at the chorus, and the way the bass steps back up into the verses, the sleepy clarinet, the vibes!—i really wish that this lineup and this sound was present across the whole album, or some other album, or playing every thursday in a basement down the street from my house. there are so many of his songs that i would love to hear played by this band.

          “the face forgives the mirror.
                       the worm forgives the plow.
          the question begs the answer:
                                            (can
                                             you
                                             forgive
                                             me
                                             somehow?)”

 and: tears. -mat

a New Favorite Song for Every New Day | #007

“Sun in an Empthy Room”
by The Weakerthans

john k samson is unparalleled. his songs are novels. i can’t write anything about this song that hasn’t already been said better by the song itself (or by parallelograms of light.) every image hinted at, each object mentioned, moment described, contributes its own personal story and fragment of a metaphor leading up to these most crushing revelations of personal failure, unavoidable shortcomings, lost hopes, disappointed dreams.

“Take this moment to decide
     if we meant it, if we tried,
or felt around for far too much,
     from things that accidentally touched.”

the syllables throughout match up with this heartbreaking magic. they come out liquid, preordained with purpose, carrying themselves forward, carrying me with them. -mat

a New Favorite Song for Every New Day | #006

“Wintermitts”
by Julie Doiron

like most every song that julie doiron has recorded, the nostalgia warms my heart. pajama pants and blanket togas, space heaters and hot cups of hot coffee. staring out through a foggy window. listening to the rain dripping off of the trees and onto the roof, off of the roof and onto the gravel path by the door. scrabble and naps and cats and cuddles. the sound of the melodica (or maybe it’s a harmonica?) is so breathy and so vulnerable and so human. it’s the most disarming, most comforting of comforting sounds. “..and a chorus from the kitchen sings: ‘I love you.’” -mat