Songbook (4/23/18)

The Music of Eli Bolin

Songbook primer—new, up-and-coming composers/lyricists. Eli Bolin has had some successes, though not on the great white way. While Mr. Bolin is a composer and lyricist, there were certain cases where he was composer only. More on that later. Songs on display were from Found; Volleygirls; The Last Song of Eddie Scourge; Wally Flynn; and, I kid you not, (An Advertisement for) English Breakfast Tea.

The opening song, Something that I Love, from Found, had a light rock feel and was sort of about ordinary stuff, but presented in a fun way. You’re Beautiful When You Play, from Volleygirls, was the nerd trying to impress the captain of the team, though it did build up his self-esteem.

A note about Found. It has lyrics taken from a magazine named Found, which posts notes and snippets of found messages that are then published, anonymously, in the magazine. As a consequence, no lyricist is listed for Barf Bag Breakup. Unfortunately my notes only say that I like the clear and direct way Mr. Bolin sets texts and lyrics. In Grimace’s Lament (a tribute to the McDonald’s character Grimace), he(?) asks, “Am I an eggplant in the nude?” OK—sort of clever.

One stand-alone song, A Good Guy with a Gun, had obvious political ramifications. I will not comment, other than to say that it was a good musical composition.

Christmas with My Dad, from a strange-sounding Christmas-themed musical recounted a child who only connected with his father via a TV Christmas special—his dad was on TV—no real-life connection at all. We’re talking bleak, folks. Yanking us into the 21st century, My Favorite Time of Day dealt with two 12-year-olds who met one summer but lived hundreds of miles apart. So they became Skype friends. How it all turns out? Tune in after another couple of workshops.

Bottom line, Mr. Bolin’s music and lyrics are fun, interesting, and OK. I wasn’t blown away. But hey, you never know.

You know you want to hear the story about the final song, right? Mr. Bolin and Sam Forman got a last-minute commission for a jingle. For English Breakfast Tea. They were broke and staying in a friend’s apartment. They had no money to order a food delivery and there was no food in the place. Oh, wait. There was a tray of brownies. They ate them. The brownies were apparently Alice B. Toklas’ recipe. The guys wrote and recorded a jingle in one night and then promptly fell asleep. Awakening very late the next morning, they sent off the cassette (yes, it was that long ago!), not even stopping to listen to what they'd recorded. Um, they did not get the job.

ConcertMeister