Tracking The Early Year: Blonde on Blue

(Go to Jana's Myspace page to hear this track!) "Blonde on Blue" was the harbinger of all the songs to come for The Early Year. It came together from a bunch of pieces of things I had lying around for a while, but in a very present, descriptive way that made me think, "Huh." Sometimes you surprise yourself when you finish a song; this was one of those cases. It informed the rest of my writing for this record and continues to do so, because I appreciate the honesty and descriptiveness of the moments in the song. The vibe was brought on by a tuning I had just learned/stolen from Susan (who says she learned from Ani DiFranco...share the tuning love!) -- EBBF#BE. Try it, you might like it. It's got a fantastic sound to it. Then came the riff, then came the melody, and there we were. The whole thing is yet another fictitious story from my head, but I feel like a lot of the detail is stuff we've all actually experienced. Passenger seat, cigarette ash glow out the window, stopping for gas and coffee, all that road trip stuff. The chorus was inspired at first by the image of blonde wheat fields and blue sky -- prominent things in my vision of a road trip because so much of my life's road tripping has involved New Mexico, Texas, and Kansas. "Scorch on sun" was actually a bit of a placeholder line in my head when I first played it for Dan, who promptly identified it as his favorite...so it stayed, and now I love that image, too. Weird how things spill out and you're not quite sure they will stick until you try them on someone else. Lyrics: I am sitting on the starboard of your only way back home There is weed and rocks and turnstiles that we have to get around The rearview mirror betrays you, oh my god I hope it does me too Something in this breakdown's bound to show just how bound I am to you I could fall in love If only I could follow through The minor ways I operate, they are shifting with your hands And all I care is you come with me while this world and I take each other in Orange friction ash on air from smokes that pass the while Keep one mile under the limit, your passenger is volatile I could fall in love If only I could follow through Like ink on paper, scorch on sun You on me, blonde on blue I am an editor of tongues you say, I always skip my turn And these scratched out words I am telling you; they are making my lungs burn Oh forgive my innocence and my array of messed up starts We'll find ourselves a redemption town, we'll meet our Maker's Mark I could fall in love If only I could follow through Like ink on paper, scorch on sun You on me, blonde on blue I think I am useful I'll take good notes along the way I'll prove that 2 stops for gas and 3 for caffeine is all we need anyway I could fall in love If only I could follow through Like ink on paper, scorch on sun You on me, blonde on blue Words and Music by Jana Pochop © 2008 Patient Grasshopper Music (ASCAP) Track Info: Jana: vocals, acoustic guitar, Backpacker guitar, banjo, piano, bass Daniel Barrett: background vocals