THE FRIDAY CLICK (Back-story, Lyrics, and Link to Song)

THE FRIDAY CLICK (Back-Story, Lyrics, and Link to Song)

Back-story:

I taught high school English in Canandaigua, NY, from 1974 to 2006, a long chapter, but probably one of the finest ones in my life.  During that time, a myriad of students, colleagues and friends enriched my life with stories of their lives, and a lot of these tales became the topics in many of my songs.  After retiring in 2006, I stayed in Canandaigua, and many of my former students became my friends and acquaintances.  Most of the time I would connect with them at places where Siobhan and I played our music.  The Timbercreek Tavern, one of these venues located in Manchester, NY, is where I met up with Tom Clark, Bill Ridley, and Jill (Quayle) Johnson, former

students from the ‘70s and ‘80s. These folks became the catalyst for “The Friday Click.”

One Friday afternoon, Siobhan and I were sitting at the bar having lunch at the Timbercreek.  Tom and Bill were sitting down the bar from us chatting about hunting, one of their favorite topics, and Jill was behind the bar serving food, drinks, and telling humorous and interesting stories, one of her incredible talents.  I sat there just taking in the energy usually generated in pubs at the end of each work week.  On a Friday in most neighborhood bars , the sounds of the TVs, jukebox, clinking ice cubes, and beer cans popping, and the smells of French-fries, burgers, and chicken wings have a tendency to enhance the excitement and joy about the upcoming two days off.  As I sat there listening, I heard Jill pop open several beer cans, and deliver them to patrons, two of which were Tom and Bill.  I looked in Tom and Bill’s direction and said, “Ah, the sound of the Friday click.  It doesn’t get any better.”  Not missing a beat, “Tom replied enthusiastically, “You have to write a song about it!”  So, the Friday click idea took its place in my notebook with numerous other ideas, many of which have not yet and probably won’t materialize into songs.

I thought about the Friday click, and the only lyric I could develop was based on the speed at which beer tabs come off the top of the can.  Here’s what developed.

“Some snap off slowly, others pop off quick

I don’t care about the speed; I love that Friday click”

These lines stayed in my notebook for a couple of months, and then the song began to develop more during our monthly gig at The Timbercreek, a happy hour from five to eight every second Thursday.  Thursday was “Pizza Night,” and religiously, Tom, his wife, Brenda, Bill, his wife, Jean, and their friends, Rick and Donna Waterman would show up for some pizza, beer, and music.  They sat at the table right in front of Siobhan and me, the table that eventually became the famous “Table #1.”  After a round of drinks, Jill would bring them a pizza, and when the pizza was finished, the party really got rolling.  They would sing along with just about every song, and the positive feedback they gave to Siobhan and me only gave us the energy to play better.  This enthusiasm generated by “Table #1” quite often spread through the bar, and it drew the other patrons into having fun with us.

As the night wore on and the beer intake increased, Tom frequently started playing air-harmonica or air-guitar along with the band, and the crowd loved it.  Following any song where he accompanied us, I thanked him and commended him for his hot licks.  One night after thanking Tom for joining us, the word licks triggered this lyric.

“When the band cuts him a lead, we love to hear his licks

Really gets us psyched for just a few more Friday clicks”

From here, I thought about other words that rhymed with click, Rick, chick, and thick, and these became the key words that created a story about a fun night at The Timbercreek.  Sorry, folks. There’s no deep theme to this one, just a good-time fun song for you.

With “The Friday Click” being a somewhat good-time party song, I created a somewhat upbeat folk/country sound with a melody and chord progression to compliment the lyrics and story, and then Siobhan and I went to work arranging it.

After rehearsing the song several times, we recorded the basic tracks, guitar, bass, and vocal, in our little homemade studio.  Following this, we brought in our good friend Perry Cleaveland to add some harmony and leads and filler with his fiddle, mandolin, and electric mandolin.  The sounds of Perry’s fiddle and electric mandolin really give the song a nice country feel to it.  We finished up with me adding some harmonica filler, and some background harmonies.  Then, Siobhan went to work mixing and mastering

the tracks until we got the recording to where we liked it.  I hope it appeals to you too.

We had many great nights at The Timbercreek, and I’d like to thank Susie, the owner, Hillbilly, Susie’s right-hand man, Jill, “Table #1,” and all the other patrons who came to The Creek to support our music.  You all created another beautiful chapter in this story Siobhan and I have been developing and enjoying for the past thirty-eight years.  Hats off to all of you!

 

Lyrics:

Verse 1:

I am Just a working man who likes a real good time

I spend all week long on the assembly line

When my work week’s over, I call my good friend Rick

We head down to The Timbercreek to enjoy some Friday Clicks

 

Chorus:

And well, sometimes it’s a Coors Light, sometimes it’s a Blue

Sometimes a Bud Light harmonizes with those two

Some snap off slowly, others pop off quick

I don’t care about the speed; I love that Friday Click

 

Verse 2:

Rick and me, we love The Creek, it’s a lot of fun

Especially when we can sit at “Table #1”

The women at the table sound just like The Dixie Chicks

We love to sing along with them and enjoy some Friday clicks

 

Chorus:

 

Verse 3:

Jill, she works behind the bar and serves us up our beer

Her stories make me laugh so hard; my eyes fill up with tears

When she brings our pizza, the cheese on it’s so thick

We just love to wash it down with a few more Friday clicks

 

Chorus:

 

Verse 4:

When the night gets rollin’, Tom starts playing air-guitar

Bill has high hopes for him, he’s our local star

When the band cuts him a lead, we love to hear his licks

Really gets us psyched for just a few more Friday clicks

 

Chorus: (two times)

 

If you would like to listen to the song on Spotify, Here’s a link to it.  Provide a username and password, and you’ll be good to go with a free account.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0iA7Gq5Ynh0LrKd7z3SEEc

If you would like to listen to the song on Apple Music, here is a link to it.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-friday-click-single/1540134278

If you would like to listen to the song on Amazon, here is a link to it.

https://music.amazon.com/albums/B08P8T27JJ

 

SOMETHING FOR VETERANS DAY

LAST MAN STANDING (Back-Story, Lyrics, and Link to Song)

Back-story:

in June of 2010, my mother died suddenly from complications caused by a massive stroke.            This devastating event broke my father’s heart, and he never recovered from it.  After my mother’s death, I spoke to my father at least once a day on the phone, and when he moved from Saugerties, NY, to Canandaigua, NY, in 2013 I visited with him every day until he died in 2016.  Despite his intense loneliness and indifference towards life, he did the best he could to keep going, and I admired him for this.  Listening to his favorite oldies of the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s often filled up his afternoons with great memories of his life.

 

He shared many of these memories with me, and most of them focused on some of the great times he had with my mother and their best friends, Tom and Marge Tynan and Phil and Dot Breithaupt.  The “six pack,” as I often called them, did a myriad of things together.  Parties, picnics, dances, and trips filled up their nearly fifty year friendship.  In the late 1990s, the “six pack” began to empty, and with the death of Phil Breithaupt, my father became the last bottle in the pack.  After Phil’s death, he expressed to me several times that his bottle was empty, and whenever God was ready, he was ready to join the other empties.

 

Along with his stories about his times with my mother and their friends, he also told me stories about his time in the Marines during WWII.  He never spoke of the war before this, and most of his generation did not speak of it either.  I learned about his experiences in the war in the Pacific, and he described the awful night he was severely wounded and nearly killed on Okinawa.  I discovered that most of his friends from the military were also gone, and he was ready to join them, too.

 

Like many WWII veterans, he was the “last man standing” in his group.  That phrase entered my mind one day, and I started playing around with some words that eventually became the chorus of the song.  Using military imagery, the chorus depicts a soldier who wants to die, but he will not leave this earth until he fulfills his purpose.

 

After getting the chorus together, I had to develop a setting and story to support it.  Here’s what emerged.  The setting is my father sitting in an easy chair listening to his favorite oldies.  As he listens, the songs take him through the events of his life from his war years to the death of his wife.  With the story created, now all it needed was a melody and some chords.

 

To enhance the tone, mood, and theme of this sensitive ballad, it was essential to keep the chord progression simple and the tempo slow.  So, Siobhan and I went to work arranging the song with her bass, my guitar, harmonica and vocal.  After we put the song together, we went over to record the basic tracks with Rich Cooley, a neighborhood friend who eventually became Siobhan’s mentor for mixing and mastering.  Following this, we brought in two fine musicians, Perry Cleaveland and Bob Spadafora, to add some finishing touches.  Perry with his mandolin and fiddle and Bob with his acoustic guitar created some awesome sounds, especially during the break in the song.  It’s probably one of the most sensitive breaks I have ever heard.  Along with their instruments, they added some terrific backup harmonies to the chorus.

After all the tracks were recorded, Siobhan went to work mixing them until we got the sound to where we liked it.  I hope it appeals to you too.

 

Lyrics:

Verse 1:

He sits back in his easy chair, the TV doesn’t play

The room is filled with music of all his yesterdays

The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy takes him back to when

He fought the Japanese to save his family and friends

He nearly lost his life on some Okinawa hill

Memories of that awful night quite often haunt him still

But when he returned back to his home in 1945

It didn’t take him long to see why God kept him alive

For he met her at a roller rink, they skated through the night

They fell in love as they walked home with a full moon burning bright

Then they set out on a journey for over sixty years

Now the music of those decades leaves a face of streaming tears

 

Chorus:

He’s the last man standing on this battle field of life

All his friends have fallen along with his faithful wife

He prays he can be with them at the setting of each sun

But a soldier never leaves his post until the job is done

 

Verse 2:

 

From the heart of New York City to a Hudson River town

They found a peaceful quiet place where they could settle down

To raise a little family, and find themselves some friends

To  share the highs and lows of life, and navigate its bends

The sing-along Mitch Miller songs remind him of the times

When days went on forever, and life was so sublime

Whether ‘round a kitchen table or along a small creek shore

They’d laugh and dance the night away and never want for more

Bobby Vinton comes on with his “Roses Are Red

He thinks of all the I love yousVery rarely said

For their love was shown in action, words were not their way

They were the “Great Generation,” who didn’t have much to say

 

Chorus:

 

Verse 3:

As the concert slowly closes with those evening ending songs

He hears “Good Night, Irene” come on, and he starts to sing along

He looks a little to his right into the empty chair

He hears her singing with him, even though she isn’t there

Elvis whispers softly, “Are you lonesome tonight?”

He dreams of howe they used to dance and hold each other tight

The Platters bring the curtain down, and with their final line

Once again she’s with him at last at twilight time

 

Chorus (two times):

 

If you would like to listen to the song on Spotify,  Here’s a link to it.  Provide a username and password, and you’ll be good to go with a free account.

https://open.spotify.com/album/2JJLGAngMnssbq56cwIPHA

 

If you would like to listen to the song on Apple Music, here is a link to it.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/last-man-standing-single/883669630

 

If you would like to listen to the song on Amazon, here is a link to it.

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Man-Standing-Meyer-Mcguire/dp/B00KQPWUL6