Lost Dog Records

Lyrics

LIKE A HUMAN

Excuse me for being blunt
But this is the age of gloom
I could have anything I want
Deliver it to my room

Freedom of choice has enslaved me
Empowerment is making me weak
No one in their right mind
Doesn't need a tweak

I don't feel
I don't feel
I don't feel
Like a human

I am physically ill
It has come to this
A million miles of mayhem
And a billion doors to bliss

The dead will rise from the grave
To see what the fuss is about
Shears in the garden of soul
Trimming branches from the tree of doubt

I don't feel
I don't feel
I don't feel
Like a human

Excuse me for being blunt
But this is the age of gloom
I could have anything I want
Deliver it to my room

Like a human
Like a human
Don't feel
Like a human
I don't feel
Like a human

I don't feel
I don't feel
I don't feel
I don't feel
Like a human

c 1996 by Wishnefsky

Wishnefsky - vocals, electric guitars, synths, bass
Todd - snyths, lecture
Dave - loop, cymbals, rattle

COMMENTS
Every Jabberwock song was recorded in our studio garage in Van Nuys owned by our friends Dev and Soraya Dosaj. Their patience and support is something I appreciated far more than they will ever know. During our peak times, we would be in there every night and most of the weekend. When the drums were banged at ungodly volumes or the amps driven at earsplitting levels, you could hear it in their house and quite loudly. They never complained once though and thankfully, their neighbors never complained much either. Dev and Soraya, and their two little boys, Tyler and Austin, became part of our extended family.

We recorded everything on an analog Akai 12 track. It was a very good professional recording machine, though a bit lacking in the bottom end. With 12 tracks and the small number of effects sends, we had to be quite creative and innovative. Mixing was as much a performance as anything else.

Producer/engineer Michael James was instrumental in getting our sound. Instead of complaining about not having this or that, Mike rose to the challenge. He did so much with so little. I can handle the fact that my music career never became what I dreamed and hoped it would be. But, it drives me stark raving mad when I see that the world doesn't know Mike's name or appreciate his genius. He is still going strong and working his ass off. I believe that one day, he will strike it big. He truly deserves it. He's a good guy. The world is such a fucked up place when so many dickheads get ahead and genuinely sweet and moral people like Mike get run over by the stampede of assholes.

To tell you what a great guy Mike, we never paid him one cent for his countless hours of time and energy. The most we ever did was feed him. I'll tell you this though, if Mike ever needs anything, and he rarely asks for anything, I'm there. I am most indebted to him.

In retrospect, recording on the 12 track was a blessing because it forced us to do more with less and try to write great songs, and not rely on gadgets and studio tricks. It was also a curse because I think a lot of our songs, especially as we started to experiment more, would have benefitted significantly from a less boxed in recording environment. The studio I have now, which is computer based, is a zillion times more powerful than what Jabberwock had. I can't imagine how much the songs would have improved if we could have recorded in the digital age of the 2000s.

Somewhere in the mid 90s, I wrote a lyric that ended up in a song I wrote on acoustic guitar with an almost Paul Simon like feel to it. Dave and I recorded a demo and it sounded okay, but not up to the high standard we had set for ourselves. A year or two later, I was messing around with a riff on the electric guitar and came with the hook: " I don't feel" and so on. I needed a verse. After not getting anywhere trying to write something new, I thought about the Paul Simonesque song and pulled the verse lyrics out. Voila! It worked perfectly and Like a Human had its verses.

Recording Like a Human was a challenge. We thought up far too many parts for 12 tracks. Mixing it was a crazy performance with Mike, Dave, and I riding knobs, effects, and faders.

When we mastered this song, we did a shorter, more radio friendly version and it ended up on our cassette EP, Wishful Sinking.

This song was quite difficult to pull off live, but I think we did a good job of it. We turned the end into an extended jam over the groove. It was a good counterpoint to the more melodic songs that we started putting in the set.

Wishnefsky