"Fight Back!" consists of seven songs I wrote between April 2017 and October 2017. Here're the MP3 and video editions, along with free downloads, lyrics, cover art, etc.
The seven new ones are:
TRACK ONE: "Fight Back!"
Grunge rap. Sort of Radiohead meets the Beasties meets Steam meets Nirvana. Six months in the making, this track. It started as a mere riff in April 2017 and evolved into my attempt at creating a 21st century "Na Na Hey Hey" -- and then it became a semi-rap song in its final form in September.
MP3 stream and free digital download: "FIGHT BACK!": free download and stream.
Video edition: "Fight Back!" video.
Fight Back!
Music and lyrics by Paul Iorio
Copyright 2017
Fight back
Now!
Fight back
Now!
When they throw a bottle
You throw a brick
When they throw a brick
You throw a chair
When they throw a chair
You throw a table
And then throw the game
As much as you're able
Aces, five aces, yeah
Aces
Dare ya, I'll scare ya, yeah
Dare ya
Fight back
Now!
When they throw a log
You throw a cabin
When they throw the bull
Don't be a fool
When they throw a molehill
You throw a mountain
It's just your first win
But, hey, who's a countin'?
....................................................
TRACK TWO: "I Just Got Fired Today"
A punkish track in the spirit of "Take This Job and Shove It," though it's nothing like that song. (I can't think of another song about being fired, so I'm stepping up to fill the void!)
MP3 stream and free digital download: Free download/stream: "I JUST GOT FIRED TODAY"
Video edition: Video: "I Just Got Fired Today"
I Just Got Fired Today
Music and lyrics by Paul Iorio
Copyright 2017
I just got fired today
I didn't do anything wrong
They hired someone's nephew instead
Now I can't get out of bed
I just got fired today
I didn't do anything wrong
I just got fired today
I made lots of money for them
I even wrecked my health
They owe me part of their wealth
I just got fired today
I didn't do anything wrong
I just got fired today
But first they stole my ideas
Then they just wrecked my career
Made me look like I was in arrears
I just fired today
I didn't do anything wrong
Fired today
Fired today
.................................................
TRACK THREE: "Charlottesville"
A folk tune about Charlottesville (and other oppressive flashpoints in the world). Like almost everyone else, I was disturbed by the Charlottesville murder, which set this song off, though it actually began a bit earlier when the sentence/melody "I'm goin' to Pyongyang to rip down posters" came to me during a walk in Berkeley.
Free MP3 stream and download: Free stream/download: "Charlottesville"
Charlottesville
Music and lyrics by Paul Iorio
Copyright 2017
I'm goin' to Pyongyang to rip down posters
May not see me for awhile
I'm goin' to Pyongyang
Kim's the host
May not see me for awhile
If I ain't home by ten
You know you probably won't see me again
I'm goin' to the Bible belt with Charles Darwin
May not see me for awhile
I'm goin' to the Bible belt with Galileo
May not see me for awhile
If I ain't home by four
You know they probably locked me behind a door
I'm goin' to Karachi
With a bag of false idols
May not see me for awhile
I'm goin' to Karachi
With a sketch of Muhammad
May not see me for awhile
If I ain't home by five
You know they probably didn't put up with my jive
I'm goin' down to Charlottesville
To tear down a statue
May not see me for awhile
I'm goin' down to Charlottesville
With a book of matches
May not see me for awhile
If I ain't home by nine
You know I'm probably not doin' so fine
If I ain't home by ten
You know you probably won't see me again
..............................................
TRACK FOUR: "Beatin' the Odds"
I was playing Paul Simon's "The Sound of Silence" on my guitar last summer when it morphed into Radiohead's somewhat similar "Street Spirit" and then into something new altogether. I later added a Gregorian chantish verse and some drums. About being amazed at surviving close calls.
Free download/stream: Free stream/download: "Beatin' the Odds"
Beatin' the Odds
Music and lyrics by Paul Iorio
Copyright 2017
I don't know why I'm still here
I don't know
Odds were long but I'm still here
I don't know why I'm still around
After all
I should've been gone by now
Beatin' the odds
Beatin' the odds
I'm still here and I'm so glad
After all
They came at me with all they had
I don't know why I'm here, friend
One in ten
Were my chances way back then
Beatin' the odds
Beatin' the odds
I don't know how I survived
Game was rigged
Thought I'd used up my nine lives
Beatin' the odds
Beatin' the odds
.............................................
TRACK FIVE: "Round World"
A Beach Boys-ish track (with a dash of Steve Miller) about this round world.
Free stream/download: FREE STREAM/DOWNLOAD: "Round World"
Round World
Music and lyrics by Paul Iorio
Copyright 2017
Sitting on the edge of a hilltop
Looking at a world so round
How come my life is angles and lines
Never getting off the ground
Never glory where I'm bound
Well, it's a round round round world
But only in certain circles
You gotta reach the top of the mountain
If you wanna rock all day
Gotta be ahead of the curve, my friend
Or, girl, you know you won't get paid
On such a precarious grade
Well, it's a round round round world
But only in certain circles
....................................
TRACK SIX: "What My Camera Saw"
Folk pop. My initial model for this was Phil Ochs' "I Ain't Marching Anymore" in that the narrator describes being present at the photographing of iconic moments of the past century.
Free stream/download: Free stream/download: "What My Camera Saw"
WHAT MY CAMERA SAW
Music and lyrics by Paul Iorio
Copyright 2017
What my camera saw
What my camera saw
I shot Tianenmen
When a tank was stopped by just one hand
And my camera rolled when Oswald was shot point blank
What my camera saw
What my camera saw
I shot the pictures
When the troops
Charged the hill at Omaha Beach
And I shot at Kent State but couldn't save her
She was too out of reach
What my camera saw
What my camera saw
I hear you're leaving
Hacienda Heights
And then you're headed for Spain
Where you'll
Shoot the revolution unless it gets cancelled by rain
What my camera saw
What my camera saw
I shot the raid on Abbottabad
When they fed him into the sea
I took my aim at Rodney King
But filmed the cops instead of him
What my camera saw
What my camera saw
..............................
TRACK SEVEN: "Seven-Day Drunk Prayer"
A brief pop tune halfway between Wilco and "Winchester Cathedrel."
Free stream/download: Free stream/download: "7-Day Drunk Prayer"
