The Return of the Singh
* denotes comments (verbatim) from the disc jacket
** denotes additional information
Click on any song title to read its lyrics.
How did this album come about? Honestly, it was a crime of opportunity. In June 2016, I began participating in a year-long fellowship with the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. I learned that I'd be spending a weekend residency in early September in Colorado Springs, not terribly far from Black Hawk, Colorado, where Doug Milton runs his studio. I thought, Lemme see what I can put together in three months. All Quiet on the Best Western Front, surely moron's best album, came out in 2012, which means that I hadn't been seriously writing music since 2010 - 2011. I had been disappointed not writing music (by 2015 thinking that perhaps moron was done and out...a one-minus-one-hit wonder) but I had also been very busy and basically out of juice after AQBWF. So, anyway, it's a short album, a patchwork of stuff, but it has defibrilated the band.
What does the title mean? Of course, it's a play on the Tolkien title, The Return of the King. Without the final 'h', the moron title means that moron is back singing (after so long a quiet intertestamental period.) But 'Singh' (pronounced 'sing') is a somewhat common surname in India, derived from the Sanskrit word for 'lion'. Thus, the album title also heralds the return of Christ, who is the Lion of Judah. (And the fact that I was Aslan in a church production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe probably helped to prompt the title into being.)
*Written by Bob Brown, January 2000. Originally appeared on moron’s 2000 album Tree Hugger. Re-recorded with musical variations August 2016.
*Written by Bob Brown, July-August 2016. Recorded August 2016.
**The song was inspired by a song from moron's first CD ("Houseboy of the Mystery" from 1999) called "You're So Worthy". Similar idea, almost entirely different lyrics, though, and "My Confession" has a much more power-chord-rock production.
*Written by Johnny Christopher, Mark James, and Wayne Carson. Performed by Elvis, Willie Nelson, Pet Shop Boys, and many others, including you know whom. Some lyrics altered (but not autobiographically) by moron. Moron’s version recorded June-July 2010.
© EMI Blackwood Music, license #1286398142.
**The original version of the song, with the oft-sung lyric "maybe", was just a few changes from a post-abortive person's regretful perspective, indicated in my version with "maybe" replaced by "baby".
4. Licensing Fee Saving Track
**These last few seconds of a guitar's vibrating hum were part of "Always on My Mind" but they took the track's length over five minutes. Licensing a song five minutes or longer is more expensive than licensing a song that is less than five minutes. Thus, since the guitar's sustain has no substantial lyrical or melodic connection to the song, I turned the end of it into a separate track to save a little money.
*Written by Michael Card, whose version appeared on his 1989 album Sleep Sound in Jesus: Gentle Lullabies for Baby—one of my very favorite CDs of any genre. Lyrics slightly altered by moron so that the supplication is made to God, not to angels. Moron’s version recorded May, July 2011.
© Capitol CMG Publishing Inc., license #589570.
**"Always on My Mind", "Unseen Warriors", and "Bee Hoping" were originally intended for the previous album, "All Quiet on the Best Western Front." But when I was at Doug's studio for the initial mix of AQBWF, at the last moment, I eliminated these three covers from going on that album.
6. Forgiveness
*Written by Bob Brown, January 1998. Originally appeared on moron’s first-ever recording, a tape called live and unrehearsed. A portion of a guitar-and-vocal-only version of this song also appeared on moron’s 1999 EP Fell in Love at 922 as part of an “Acoustic Medley.” Re-recorded with musical variations September 2016.
7. Bee Hoping
*Written by Ronnie Martin, whose version appeared on Joy Electric’s 1994 album Melody. Moron’s version recorded May, July 2011 and January 2012. © Capitol CMG Publishing Inc., license #589570.
**Just about every song on each of Joy Electric's first several albums is a lovely piece, including this forgotten one: track 16 of 18 on "Melody". It's so forgotten that Capitol Publishing officially calls this song "Bee Hopping". Their misspelling caused me no shortage of trouble trying to find the song in Capitol's database to begin with, and even though I pointed out the error and they said they'd fix it, to date they haven't. So, technically, legally, I licensed a song called "Bee Hopping."
8. To You
*Written by Bob Brown, September 2016. Recorded September 2016. Sitting in Talbot Bible Church in Easton, Md. four days before going out to Colorado to mix the record, I asked God for one more song. Immediately the phrase “To You” and the gist of the song came to mind.
9. MP3s Killed the Compact Disc Star
*“Video Killed the Radio Star” was written by Trevor Horn, Geoffrey Downes, and Bruce Woolley and released on The Buggles’ 1980 album The Age of Plastic. I was giving away moron CDs at the Creation Festival 2013 in Pennsylvania; a guy holding his iPod took a CD but asked me, “What am I going to do with this?” That moment inspired me to rewrite the lyrics of “VKRS”. Fair use as a parody.
10. Caffeine (Coffee House Mix)
11. Grave Flowers (Bone Valley Mix)
*The original version of each of these songs appeared on moron’s 2012 album All Quiet on the Best Western Front. Written by Bob Brown. Produced by and new elements performed by Doug Milton.