| Sleepyhead:
You Will be Adored: A goodwill good-bye. When things don't work out bewteen two people, what can one do? If that other person is gone, and communication is cut off, maybe a song of good riddance can help.
Anna on the Moon: Optional title: Home is where the Loon is... An exploration into what is home. Is it a person, place, thing, idea, or a memory. A Loon is a bird that swims and flies in Canada, and has always reminded Jim of the north. Experiences in the wilderness of Canada have always given him a sense of home. Is it possible to live somewhere as far off as the moon and still feel at home? Maybe it's the company that you keep that can settle the traveller's heart or is it the first memories of belonging.
Vote for Beauty: The piano riff sprouted in Winnipeg, after being away from love for a while. Julie Doiron was opening for us at the time and her sensibility was freshly in Andy's ears.
Coastline: a simple lazy summer song.
Ali Baba's: There's a Falafel shop in Toronto that has always been an oasis in times of need. When Jim has worked late and hasn't anywhere to turn for food, he looks no further than Ali Baba's. The guys there are always welcoming. He wrote this song mainly to celebrate what they bring to the neighborhood. When Sept.11 happened and a lot of questions were being raised surrounding the Arab world, It seemed all the more important to bring attention to how much good these guys contribute to the community. We actually gave them a Sleepyhead CD and they treated us with free Falafels on the house. That's almost as good as Two for Tuesdays.
Rocking Chair: This is a "Let's split this town song" Sometimes when things seem hopeless, Jim gets the urge to just get up and leave. Though sticking around and seeing things through does have it's merit's, this song is about throwing it all to the wind, and asking someone to do it with you. It also touches on the need for change after things have dragged on for too long. Even singing about it seems to make some kind of a move.
You Love Fall: A cheeky little blurb.
Sometimes: An Andy style, Collection of Marie-Claire by Daniel Lanois, about the prospects of moving to the country and feeling a little better about things.
Long and Slow: Not particularly slow or long.
Bye Song: An account of the experience of palliative care with Andy's mother-in-law. The guitar riff got practised a lot at the hospital.
Grey: Some of the words come from a memory of an intense grey scene on the road from Bathurst to Caraquet New Brunswick. This song was originally intended to be a string quartet written for a festival in Montréal that was never to be, called CPU Bach. Andy based the chords on some slices of harmony in Bach's Fugue no. IX in the well tempered clavier book two. Then it changed.
Will You Come Back to Me: A song originally about a bus.
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Trunks:
Fondly Yours is my attempt at a song for the sound track Breakfast at Tiffanies. It's comprised of little snapshots from a shopping mall romance. of course the Mall I see in my minds eye is none other than the grandios Scarborough Town Center.
John's In the Fridge comes from the lore of the creeggan. John (our older brother) really was in the Fridge. It was one of those old fridges that has a latch on the door. The three of us were playing a stupid game where one bro would go in the fridge for a while, and then get let out. When it came time for John's turn to be in , I was too short to reach the latch, and couldn't get him out. That's when Andy and I ran upstairs to get Mom. I suppose we kind of saved his life. But does that count if we were the ones who put it in jeprady.
Lila takes place at the moment the men were taken away form the women during the expulsion of the Acadians. In 1755, on the east coast of Canada in an area then Called Grand Pre, English soldiers deported a community of 10,000 french settlers called the Acadians. Families and friends were split up and scattered down the east coast of North America. The English did this because the Acadians refused to fight for the British, the Acadians didn't feel an alligence to France or Britain, they were a passive farming community. There's a famous poem about two lovers that were separated in the tragedy. Their names were Evangeline and Gabriel. They never saw each other alive again. In the song,a youngman is speaking to his lover. He's trying to say the right thing amongst the confusion. In the 3rd verse she is gone. Yet another graet forgotten moment in Canadian history.
Going To The Forest is the account of when I ran away from my family at a campground in Manitoba. We were on a family trip across the country in a tent trailer. I got alittle antsy and felt the alure of the forest, so I decided to make a break for it. However the romance didn't go very far. The forest seemed a bit daunting and I realised I didn't want to give up my old life. So I didn't get past the woodpile. Even though it didn't work out I still get that feeling of wanting to be like Grizzly Adams.
There is a Melody is like a prayer. It's trying to find a way to love someone.
She Married a Cowboy is a short story of a gal who has run off with the rodeo. It's from the perspective of her small town admirer. West Hill, where we're from is like a small town except it's a small suburb. Some folks stay some folks leave. The small town admirer is envious of the cowboy, but I think he's also protective of his small town crush. Yet he's nevertold her how he feels.
Kitchen Dancing is putting that meal together.
Inch Worm is a song that we heard Danny K sing when we were kids. It was on an album where Hans ChristianAnderson's poems were put to music. It has alway's rang true in my ears.
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Andiwork: This is a result of Andy's surplus of material. The challenge for this project was the orchestrating for other instruments, so Andy went to Toronto to consult composer Luke Mercier. He also reverted back to Michael Phillip-Wojoweda's producing help and looked up some musician friends he'd known from his orchestra days. The result ended up quite cinematic and has left a twinkle in Andy's eye. He's now gradually pursuing that 'thing' after his musical studies at McGill.
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The Brothers Creeggan II:
1995 was a year of big changes (Andy left Barenaked Ladies), however the brothers managed to get into the studio for album no. 2. It was done in little bits with friend Rick Kilburn at his home studio in Vancouver between the Fall of that year and the following summer. Like the first album there was a lot of writing done right in the studio but unlike the first, they produced it themselves.
Despite the short duration of BCII, there was a lot of material to be experimented with. In fact there was too much, so they concentrated on the 'dities' and left the more experimental ideas for another time (see Andiwork.)
The Songs:
Why Won't They Bite?: A lonely guy on a boat starts singing and dancing with the fishies.
Live at Montreaux: Oscar Peterson's album (with Neils-Henning Orsted Pederson) called 'Live at Montreaux' was some of the first jazz Andy and Jim had ever heard. There is a song on it called 'Soft Winds' where the piano and bass really compliment one another. As they worked out this duet they realized that this was their Live at Montreaux.
You Walked Out: Andy's debut on rhythm guitar and introductions in Spanish.
Suite for Sarah: A song for a bird. Originally recorded as part of a collection of lullabies they were preparing for some friends.
Me Gusta Mis Bombachas: A tribute to Aigua, Uruguay where Andy spent 4 months.
Sous La Pluie: One of the stillest tunes they've ever written. Andy's 'copine' Natacha, captured in words the wistful desire to see the sun after weeks of rain on Bowen Island (near Vancouver).
Gramusa's Diary: Another intriguing character Jim encountered in Belize. Friend and special individual, Neil Burnett (who co-founded the widdershins) adds a beautiful bubbling harp.
Cows, Chickens, and Pigs: Another example of Andy's fascination with farm animals and what must be going on inside their heads. It's a latin-like piano montuno set to a 12/8 time signature. Jim plays the violin solo but plays between his legs like a cello.
Sqiggly Line: A second piano solo which was part of the lullaby sessions, originally written in high school on the vibraphone.
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The Brothers Creeggan
Shopping for Shoes: An adaptation of a Christmas song called 'Creeggan Christmas' making it a song for all seasons. To be genre specific, it's not jazz, it's spaz.
Question Is: Andy's own 'music and politics' (Disposable Heroes) that fit snuggly with one of Jim's bass riffs.
Clown Song: The album epic about an encounter with a Belizian 'tour guide' and other clown friends. Jim had just recorded with Jon Millard whose story telling abilities were perfect for the song (not to mention his voice).
Little Tiny Song: From a poem Andy wrote during a traumatic time on a farm in Uruguay.
I Like to Sing a Lot: A giddy mood in a cab in New York City.
Takin' Out the Garbage: A hot and bothered spew about things taken for granted.
Fallin': A song about fall.
Scared Song: Jim used to run through High Park in Toronto at night when the monsters come out. One told him its story.
Places: The album love jam. The song needed a female voice and since Alanis Morissette was a regular Sunday skater at the rink the Creeggans frequented, it was a natural sequence of events that she sing on it. Lovely surprise entry.
Bienvenue: From Andy's time in the Maritimes. Written on a marimba with his friend Jean Surette. Dave Matheson (of Moxy Fruvous) and the Creeg's always clicked when it came to singing and this was the perfect opportunity to get him involved. Erica Buss was fresh from a musical where the entire shoe was sung a capella. She has a very good sense of blend, so she was a great presense. Brian Saunders (a prestigious conductor) was working in the other studio at Reaction and came to lend an inspiring hand with the vocal tracking.
Shantytown: Mom and Dad Creeggan came in for a couple of hours to sing some old family favorites. This is one gem among many that happened that day. That's A.C. senior on keys.
Opening the Windows: An experiment that worked. Andy prepared some patterns on the hammered dulcimer and steel pan and figured that they would mix nicely. Once a basic "pattern map" was constructed Jim laid down some long tones which became the main voice for the piece. Then Andy did a piano pass and adding a few themes of his own. Michael Phillip was essential to this track. The song ends as the tape runs out.
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andy's compositions 
