Documentary Songwriters

Will Foote – musical sherpa, vocal

Jeb Smereck – musical sherpa, guitar

Malcolm Brooks – story source, upright bass
 
Produced by Alex Wilder
 

Malcolm Brooks hikes to the ocean believing that the waves will match his own stormy mood. But the seas are calm and seem not to care.
 
I climb over the rocks
Up the cliff on the hill
I cry to the ocean, save me
But the ocean’s almost still
 
I want the ocean to have my back
And drown my enemies
I want the ocean to have my back
But the little waves just laugh at me
 
They don’t smash against the rocks
They don’t roll and reel
They don’t say “I’ll drown your troubles.”
“I feel what you feel.”
 
I want the ocean to have my back
And drown my enemies
I want the ocean to have my back
But the little waves just laugh at me
 
They don’t smash against the shore
What kind of answer is that?
What kind of power is that?
They just come and go
So low, flat and slow
 
I want the ocean to have my back
And drown my enemies
I want the ocean to have my back
But the little waves just laugh at me
 
I want the ocean to have my back
With high winds, raging seas
I want the ocean to have my back
And drown my enemies

 

Nora Willauer, Eugene, Oregon Hannah Blanchard, Abbotsford, British Columbia

At 16, Nora Willauer and Hannah Blanchard set off for their first-ever sailing trip alone and found themselves blinded by fog in the Gulf of Maine.
 
Writers:
Nora Willauer – Story Source
Malcolm Brooks, Alex Wilder, Will Foote – Musical Sherpas
 
Recorded by:
The Push Farther Project


Hannah — I saw her this summer
For the first time in three years
At one a.m. in Halifax, when I was on another boat
We talked about sailing Josephine,
When we were only sweet sixteen
 
How did I do that
Who in the hell was that person
Sailing in the fog
I’d be scared to do that now
 
Hannah and I had left
So sure of our course
To this buoy that we’ve sailed to a thousand times before
But something went wrong
All I could see was fog
How did I do that…
 
We were sending our radio calls to the barges
Telling everyone that we were sailing
With limited engine power, please
Nobody hit us
 
So we turned around 180 and
Made it back to the breakwater
We sailed around the harbor and got back our confidence
And then we tried it again
We found the buoy in the fog
How did I do that…
 
We were sending our radio calls to the barges…
 
Then the fog bank lifted
As joyous as a sun rise
And now I get inspiration from the confident sixteen year old
Who managed to pull that off
I need to be her now
 
How did I do that
Who in the hell was that person
Sailing in the fog
I’d be scared to do that now
I need to be her now

 

Milk Carton
 
When Nora Willauer’s uncle Peter, who lived in the Maine woods, would come to visit the family farm, his ways challenged the family norms and inspired Nora’s independence.
 
Writers:

Nora Willauer – story source

Alex Wilder, Will Foote, Malcolm Brooks – musical sherpas
 
Recording: The Push Farther Project at Bay Chamber Concerts
Film coverage by Dana Rae Warren and Alex Forcillo
Editing: Rohan Edwards

I don’t know if you ever met my uncle
He died nearly four years ago
My mom’s youngest brother, he lived in the woods
In a cabin he built by himself
 
We’d never know when he would be coming
He’d do projects around the house
He’d sleep in a tent in our back yard
Because he wouldn’t sleep inside
He’d never sleep in side
 
Things I hesitate to do
It’s mostly everyday
Like what to wear and what music to listen to
I think of him drinking milk from a carton
And I laugh and say
I don’t care what they thought of him
And what they think of me
No, I don’t care what they thought of him or me
 
He would drink our milk from the carton
And then he would put it back
My mom didn’t like that, she’d get so annoyed
But she still loved to have him there
 
He really liked to play fiddle music
And he also played the blues guitar
He’d write his own songs and play them with me
And he also taught me how to waltz
He taught me how to waltz
 
Things I hesitate to do…

He’d come to Thanksgiving dinner
Drumsticks he’d eat with his hands
My family wished he’d use a fork and a knife
But they still loved to have him there
 
One day we got a call that something happened
He died in the woods by himself
And it was all too soon, so much I could have learned
I wish we’d had more time (2x)
 
Things I hesitate to do…
 
When I think of him I’m more accepting
Of people who do their own thing
There are people who care and people who don’t
I want to be more like him
I want to be more like me
 
Things I hesitate to do…
 

The Push Farther Project

Nora Willauer – cello, vocals

Alex Wilder – guitars, bass, vocals

Will Foote – vocals
 
Writers:
Nora Willauer – story source
Alex Wilder, Will Foote, Malcolm Brooks – musical sherpas
 
Recording:
The Push Farther Project
 
Produced by Alex Wilder

Walking at dawn to the music school to practice, Nora Willauer meets someone who is heading home after his night shift. Although they are both alone, for a brief moment, they find companionship in a simple greeting.
 
Well I get early in the morning
Before the sunrise
In the hallway there’s the cleaning man
He’s cleaning up
I say good morning and he laughs
He says that not quite right
For you, it’s good morning
For me, goodnight
 
Little exchanges
Are all I need
When I’m working hard alone
I could be lonely but for
Little exchanges
Like goodnight
And good morning
 
In the winter I tried sleeping in
And came to school a bit later
But I missed the quiet mornings
So I got up early again
I saw the cleaning man
The moment I walked in
He said I set my watch to you
Where have you been?
 
Little Exchanges….
 
He said your shoe’s untied
I said I already knew
I said I’d deal with it later
Like I always do
 
Little Exchanges…
 
© 2016 Beauchamp Point Music


 

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Chloë Isis – musical sherpa, vocals

Alex Wilder – piano, vocals

Malcolm Brooks – story source

Dedicated to Billy Mumma
 
Produced by Alex Wilder

Learning that a long-time friend is gay and has decided to move away, Malcolm Brooks wrestles with losing contact but wanting what’s best for his friend.
 
You finally told me your secret
You told no one for years
You tell me that soon you’ll be moving
There’s nobody like you here
 
You tell me you can’t keep pretending
And fighting the grain of the world
You have to be true to your body
And do the things you feel
 
They told you, you had to change
Now everything is changing around you
My wish for you
Is that you never have to be something you’re not
Don’t ever get lost
 
You think we’ll become too different,
When everything starts to change
To me our beautiful friendship
Will remain the same
 
They told you, you had to change…
 
I worry that when you’re in trouble
You’ll forget who you can call
I may be part of your old world
But I’m still a part of it all
 
They told you you had to change…
 
 


Word count: 194
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Writers:

Will Foote – Story Source



Nora Willauer, Malcolm Brooks, Alex Wilder – Musical Sherpas
 
 

When she says she must ask him “properly” in order for her to go the prom with him, Will asks in his own way.
 
We do our homework in the lounge
Cause it’s much more fun.
We do our homework in the lounge
Cause it’s much more fun.
We never get started but we get a lotta other stuff done.
 
Oh Meaghan, won’t you come to the dance with me?
Oh Meaghan, won’t you come to the dance with me?
Oh Meaghan, pretty as a girl can be.
 
The hour hand jumps another number.
It’s time to end.
The hour hand jumps another number..
It’s time to end.
Its a problem and we know it but you’re still my best friend.
 
Oh Meaghan, won’t you come to the dance with me…
 
When you walk into the room,
The laughing gas follows behind.
When you walk into the room,
The laughing gas follows behind.
Your mama and your papa
Gave you the right state of mind.
 
Oh Meaghan, won’t you come to the dance with me…
 
When a problem comes a’walkin’
You notice right away.
When a problem comes a’walkin’
You notice right away.
You don’t stop and drop until you shoo that problem away.
 
Oh Meaghan, won’t you come to the dance with me…
 
Your games and your practices
Take a lotta time away.
Your games and your practices
Take a lotta time away.
But it doesn’t really matter cause you’re gonna be pro someday.
 
Oh Meaghan, won’t you come to the dance with me…
 
© 2016 Beauchamp Point Music
 

Will Foote, Rockport, Maine – Story Source, vocals

Alex Wilder, Rockport, Maine – Musical Sherpa, vocals, bass, piano

Malcolm Brooks, Rockport, Maine – Musical Sherpa

The Push Farther Project (Alex Wilder, Nora Willauer, Will Foote) – Musical Sherpas
 
 
Produced by Alex Wilder
 

Sometimes all one can do is live moment by moment. And sometimes it’s unclear where each moment will lead. Will works on living with uncertainty.
 
Wakin’ up,
Goin to School,
Wakin’ up, goin’ to school, and comin’ back
Doin’ a lot of work and going to bed
 
I see my breath,
I bite my teeth,
I see my breath, I bite my teeth, It’s getting cold,
I wanna hibernate inside until it’s warm again
 
It could be good, it could be bad
But I don’t know,
That’s just the way that my life flows.
It could be good, it could be bad
But I don’t know,
That’s just the way that my life flows.
 
Hangin’ out,
At the pub,
Hangin’ out, At the pub, with some friends,
I get a bite to eat and play some pool.
 
I see her face,
I miss my shot,
I see her face, I miss my shot, I see her smile
I wonder who she’s looking at but say, no way.
 
It could be good, it could be bad.
I don’t know,
That’s just the way that my life flows.
It could be good, it could be bad,
I don’t know,
That’s just the way that my life flows.
 
Some people
Close around me
Say go and get a job that pays
But I know what I’m doing
I gotta take it day by day
 
It could be good, it could be bad.
I don’t know,
That’s just the way that my life flows.
 
© 2016 Beauchamp Point Music
 
 

Malcolm Brooks – story source, vocals

Joaquín Contreras – musical sherpa, percussion

Will Foote – musical sherpa, vocals
 

At the doors of the cathedral
St. John the Divine.
Was a guard he was standing
in front of the line.
 
“I just came to pray, came to pray”
 
Well the guard wouldn’t let me
Go into the nave
I saw the ticket counter
Maybe 10 feet away
 
“I just came to pray, came to pray”
 
I walked to the counter
And the woman said to me
10 dollars admission
And children are free
 
“I just came to pray, came to pray”
 
Then I said I came to pray
She smiled so sweet
Then just like the children
You go in free
 
“I just came to pray, came to pray”
“I just came to pray, came to pray”
 

Will Foote – Story Source

Malcolm Brooks – Musical Sherpa

Alex Wilder, Nora Willauer, Will Foote: vocals, cello, guitars
 
Produced by Alex Wilder
 

Will Foote remains optimistic about finding that balance between work and love.
 
Life is moving fast
And moving faster.
Once those summers
Never seem to end.
It seems to move faster
The older you get.
There’s no time for love.
 
But I’m not giving up
On my girl situation.
I’m okay with what I have.
Someday it’ll come,
But maybe it won’t,
And I’m not giving up
On my girl situation.
 
I have a tendency
To work so hard
And push for that something
I want to be.
Cause I don’t want to limit
My opportunities.
And there’s no time for love.
 
But I’m not giving up
On my girl situation…
 
© 2016 Beauchamp Point Music
 
 
Found on The Push Farther Project’s album:

 
Find the available download at:
pushfarther.com
 

Chloë Isis – story source, vocals

Alex Wilder – electric piano, bass, vocals

Malcolm Brooks – musical sherpa
 
Produced by Alex Wilder

Chloë Isis tells what it took her to get her license.
 
I took Driver’s Ed, I sat for hours in class.
I learn to park and yield and best of all how to pass.
 
There were all these questions, I couldn’t answer them all.
I missed the one about the legal limit of alcohol.
 
I drove with the teacher, he had his own brake.
He made me stop at the stop signs, that was his only mistake.
 
I drove to Waldoboro and then back again.
I was counting the hours, I had to get to ten.
 
I love the DMV, you know what I mean.
They gave me a number, it was a hundred nineteen.
 
Long story short, I got my permit today.
Good news for me, but maybe you should consider staying out of my way.
 

Sean Oshima – story source

Chloë Isis, Will Foote – musical sherpas, vocals

Alex Wilder – musical sherpa

Malcolm Brooks – vicarious story source
 

Dance the Blues (live iPhone recording)
Sean Oshima travels and experiences being the outsider. For Malcolm Brooks, Sean could be recounting Malcolm’s daily state.
 
Went to a concert on the Bayou
I could feel the bass but not the song
Felt like a stranger in the crowd I did not belong
 
Saw people swimming in the Bayou
Floating on rafts and makeshift canoes
I watched from afar and, I bet, they can dance the blues
 
I bet they all can dance the blues,
If I could I’d be okay
Wish that I could dance the blues that way
 
I ride to a mansion on the Bayou
Never had a gin and tonic so strong
Felt like a stranger in the crowd, am I doing something wrong?
 
Danced with a woman in dark red
I look as if I’m doing fine
I talk with another ’bout Pennsylvania, faking a good time
 
I bet they all can dance the blues,
If I could I’d be okay
Wish that I could dance the blues that way
 
Oh, oh, oh, oh….
 
Think I’ll go to Greece or somewhere
Far from New Orleans and the Bayou
Where nobody even wonders if I dance the blues
 
I bet they all can dance the blues,
If I could I’d be okay
Wish that I could dance the blues that way