I was listening to the Decemberists’ album Picaresque the other night, and upon hearing The Engine Driver, a song I had COMPLETELY forgotten, I remembered I used to cover it on piano some years ago. (The Mariner’s Revenge, OTOH, is a karaoke favorite still.) So I dug through some old hard drives and found a scratch recording!

Why did I totally forget it? Maybe because I was very heartbroken at this time and it was a song that I connected to super hard just while I was going through it.

The same night (March 20, 2014) I also recorded a demo of “Hunger” with pretty similar arrangement to how I still play it live (unlike the studio version) with minor differences in lyrics. I used to sing at the end “Must I dress as a lamb to get close to you/Is the creature I am too ferocious” but I decided that was too cute and a final line of “Will the creature I am ever know you?” has more punch. That was the final song I wrote for Circling, and I had a period of 18+ months writers’ block after that. Anyway, I’m sure I was singing “The Engine Driver” to the same person I wrote “Hunger” for. Though perhaps “Hunger” was really directed at everyone who rejected me for being Too Much in the previous few years. That demo of “Hunger” I am not posting as it’s a little too pitchy.

OTHER NEWS:

THE BETA VERSION OF DESIRE PATHS IS ALMOST DONE.

In just a few days everyone will get to listen to the album and send me any feedback they want! More soon.

<3

Erica