Morgan Stone Grether

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Music by Stone Grether.  Lyrics (.pdf) automatically generated by the Stone Grether / Judson Wright love song lyrics generators.

Yes, that’s what I said: the lyrics were automatically generated.

Listen below or buy it on iTunes / Amazon / Rhapsody / etc.

01 This City Goes on Forever
02 Heaven Only Knows What Your Husband Thinks of Us
03 Honey, Honey (Remix)
04 The Actress
05 I’m Right? You’re Wrong
06 In the Bar Tonight
07 She Loves to Bite
08 My Aching Head
09 Naomi in the Sun
10 Like a Song
11 Trouble Makes Me

Cover art by Stone Grether from photos by Stone Grether and Gwyn Fisher

All songs performed by Stone Grether, except drums by Kurt Deutcher on “This City Goes On Forever, ” “Heaven Only Knows What Your Husband Thinks of Us,” “Honey, Honey,” “Naomi in the Sun,” and “Trouble Makes Me.”

Music is a huge part of my life.  It always plays at my home and offices, always, no exceptions. 

This page has some of the “heavy rotation” songs that I think to write down here every few weeks or so. 

So what’s your role here? You can simply enjoy or call me a fool.  It’s up to you.

RSS

Hello, you!  I am the Web content systems manager for Lewis & Clark, as well as a freelance Web developer. Additionally, I have taught English at several universities and colleges including the University of Southern California.

You can often find me sauntering down Hawthorne Blvd. with my daughters here in wonderful Portland, Oregon, USA, but also here are some things I am up to in a normal week:

1. Web Developer
Over 10 years of professional experience with hand-coded HTML, hand-coded CSS, webservers, mailservers, content management systems (particularly LiveWhale, Wordpress, and ExpressionEngine), blogging, multimedia sites, and all sorts of social networking fun.

2. Expert Communicator
Over 15 years of professional experience in corporate/university communications. Including: grant applications, year-end reports, business plans, brochures, press releases, newsletters, guidebooks, etc.

3. Teacher / Trainer
Over 10 years of professional experience teaching courses and running training sessions as a college/university instructor and administrator.  Expert in adapting course/session material to fit learners’ needs.

4. Musician / Songwriter
I have been writing and performing music for over two decades in more bands and in more towns than I care to list here.

5. Photographer
One of my great loves is amateur photography. Lately I have been deeply interested in iPhone photography, its limitations and its run. Find me on Instagram as @grether or on Google+ at gplus.to/grether.

More work-related info:
• Teaching Experience
• Administrative and Other Work Experience
• Writing

by Morgan Stone Grether

I found your photo in a dusty old corner.
I picked it up and held it close to my eyes.
It seemed like you were here with me.
And that felt good, damn good. And even better
Was when I kissed the photo. My lips
Against you—in a manner of speaking—tricked my brain
Into thinking all sorts of silly thoughts,
Silly, wonderful thoughts, that had been buried for a while.
Thoughts like: the way I followed the flowing, changing colors of your hair.
The way I listened to you breathe as you spoke.
The way when our eyes met a great bonfire ignited within my chest,
A white-hot passion that could forge precious metals.
And questions like: do you ever think of me now?
And would you answer the phone if I called?
And would you answer the door if I came round?
And would you kiss me back when I tried to kiss you?
The summer night would sit on the city lights
Which sparkle and twinkle like stars through your blinds.
And I would say things like: “There’s no lovelier woman on earth.”
And you’d laugh a reply like, “Enough with your boring compliments.”
You push me down onto the sofa
And straddle me, running your hands through my hair.
My hands reach up to yours. I feel your fingers,
Then move to your wrists, your arms, your shoulders.
“I should go,” I say, “It’s getting so late.”
You bite my ear with a wicked laugh,
And we feel each other’s heaving chest
As we breathe hotly into each other’s face.
“I should stay,” I say, “The night has just begun.”

Radio Show homepage

01. “The Killing Moon,” Echo & the Bunnymen
02. “Wuthering Heights,” Kate Bush
03. “Oblivious,” Aztec Camera
04. “Hero Takes a Fall,” Bangles
05. “When I Write the Book,” Rockpile
06. “Helpless Automation,” Men at Work
07. “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes, ” Ultavox
08. “Talk to Ya Later,” The Tubes
09. “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” U2
10. “Outdoor Miner,” Wire
11. “Hanging on the Telephone,” Blondie
12. “Girls on Film,” Duran Duran
13. “Saved by Zero,” The Fixx
14. “Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps),” David Bowie

My new album is out this week, hooray.

Check it out on:
• iTunes
• Amazon
• Google Play
• Spotify

Radio Show homepage

Listen! (.mp3)

01. “Who Can It Be Now,” Men at Work
02. “Blue Monday,” New Order
03. “Goodbye to You,” Scandal
04. “Angel Eyes,” Roxy Music
05. “Rudy, A Message to You,” The Specials
06. “Whip It,” Devo
07. “Here Comes the Rain Again,” Eurythmics
08. “The Unguarded Moment,” The Church
09. “I Confess,” The English Beat
10. “Legal Tender,” The B-52’s
11. “Stand and Deliver,” Adam Ant
12. “Ghost in You,” The Psychedelic Furs
13. “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down,” Elvis Costello and the Attractions
14. “Video Killed the Radio Star,” The Buggles

I am judging “Portland verus Seattle,” the first ever city-versus-city Instagram contest. More information at the initial post: http://instagr.am/p/JU6aRiumWp/

Chasing your ghost in the cold of night,
Reaching for the phantom wisps of your jacket
That trail after you as you run under my skylights,
Soft white glow of the moon above us turning all
Unreal, all a fog of yesterday’s daydreams,
Dashing in the dark, slipping in and out of time,
In and out of light, through my outreached fingertips.
And I catch you for a moment as clouds part the sky
And kiss you in the passing brightness.
You say, “This never really happened, but I love it.”

by Morgan S. Grether
April 2012

It’s a game of pure potential now,
To dream of what you’ll grow to be when you
Are not this tiny, darling three-year-old
(Who’s turning four today). Let’s play. To start:
Your voice is squeaky now, and yet you squeak
With oomph and gravitas enough to make
Me feel you could become an opera star
Whose aria in soprano shatters glass;
Perhaps instead that voice will help you land
A gig as an umpire in the major leagues:
“Yerrr out!” And while you are already strong
And daring like a swashbuckler sailing the seas
With skull and crossbones flapping overhead,
And your laugh is diabolical at times
And somewhat like a cartoon super-villain’s,
I know that if you’re breaking any laws,
You’d be like Robin Hood, and working toward
The greater good. But rest assured, the paths
You choose (like astronaut or janitor
Or mime or captain of a river boat)
Will never change the fact that I’m so proud of you.

Back to the Olivia and Violet Birthday Poems Project

Radio Show homepage

Listen! (.mp3)

01. “Blasphemous Rumors,” Depeche Mode
02. “Dancing with Myself,” Billy Idol
03. “Tainted Love,” Soft Cell
04. “Dreaming, ” Blondie
05. “Cities,” Talking Heads
06. “I Want Candy,” Bow Wow Wow
07. “Come On Eileen,” Dexys Midnight Runners
08. “Twilight Zone,” Golden Earring
09. “Is That Love,” Squeeze
10. “(I Love It When) You Call Me Names,” Joan Armatrading
11. “Happy Hunting Grounds,” Sparks
12. “In a Big Country,” Big Country
13. “Lost In a Supermarket,” The Clash
14. “Don’t Go,” Yaz

Radio Show homepage

Listen! (.mp3)

1. Robert Palmer, “Looking for Clues” (Clues, 1980)
2. Nick Lowe, “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass” (Jesus of Cool / Pure Pop for Now People, 1978)
3. Iggy Pop, “Eggs on Plate” (Party, 1981)
4. Men at Work, “Down Under” (Business as Usual, 1981)
5. Devo, “Gates of Steel” (Freedom of Choice, 1980)
6. Missing Persons, “Words” (Spring Session M, 1982)
7. Duran Duran, “Hungry Like the Wolf” (Rio, 1982)
8. Violent Femmes, “Blister in the Sun” (Violent Femmes, 1983)
9. Cheap Trick, “I Want You to Want Me” (Live)
10. David Bowie, “Breaking Glass” (Low)
11. Cory Hart, “Sunglasses at Night” (1984)
12. B-52’s, “Party Out of Bounds” (Wild Planet, 1980)
13. Thompson Twins, “Lies”
14. U2, “New Year’s Day” (War, 1983)
15. Depeche Mode, “Master and Servant” (Some Great Reward, 1984)

Radio Show homepage

Listen! (.mp3)

1. Replacements, “If Only You Were Lonely” (b-side of “I’m in Trouble,” 1981)
2. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, “Oliver’s Army” (Armed Forces, 1979)
3. Wall of Voodoo, “Mexican Radio” (Call of the West, 1983)
4. Smithereens, “Beauty and Sadness” (Beauty and Sadness EP, 1983)
5. Joy Division, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (single, 1979)
6. The Cure, “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” (single, 1979)
7. Peter Gabriel, “I Don’t Remember” (Peter Gabriel [3, “Melt”], 1980)
8. Nick Lowe, “Cruel to Be Kind” (Labour of Lust, 1979)
9. Pretenders, “Kid” (Pretenders, 1980)
10. Adam and the Ants, “Dog Eat Dog” (Kings of the Wild Frontier, 1980)
11. Wire, “Ex-Lion Tamer” (Pink Flag, 1977)
12. XTC, “English Roundabout” (English Settlement, 1982)
13. Eurythmics, “Love is a Stranger” (Sweet Dreams [Are Made of This], 1983)
14. Prince, “Delirious” (1999, 1982)
15. Romeo Void, “Never Say Never” (Benefactor, 1982)
16. Talking Heads, “Once in a Lifetime” (Remain in Light, 1980)

Radio Show homepage

1. Gary Numan, “Cars” (The Pleasure Principle, 1979)
2. Blondie, “X Offender” (Blondie, 1976)
3. U2, “I Will Follow” (Boy, 1980)
4. Bananarama, “Really Saying Something” (Deep Sea Skiving, 1983)
5. XTC, “Generals and Majors” (Black Sea, 1980)
6. Ultravox, “All Stood Still” (Vienna, 1980)
7. Adam Ant, “Goody Two Shoes” (Friend or Foe, 1982)
8. The Soft Boys, “I Wanna Destroy You” (Underwater Moonlight, 1980)
9. Prince, “When You Were Mine” (Dirty Mind, 1980)
10. Smiths, “This Charming Man” (single, 1983)
11. Psychedelic Furs, “Pretty in Pink” (Talk Talk Talk, 1981)
12. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, “Electricity” (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, 1979)
13. The Church, “One Day” (Seance, 1983)
14. Berlin, “Metro” (Pleasure Victim, 1983)

Radio Show homepage

Listen! (.mp3)

01. “The Safety Dance,” Men Without Hats (Rhythm of Youth, 1983)
02. “It’s a Mistake,” Men at Work (Cargo, 1983)
03. “Boys Don’t Cry,” The Cure (single, 1979)
04. “Gone Daddy Gone,” Violent Femmes (Violent Femmes, 1983)
05. “Hot Love,” Cheap Trick (Cheap Trick, 1977)
06. “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” Eurythmics (Sweet Dreams [Are Made of This], 1983)
07. “I Wanna Be Sedated,” Ramones (Road to Ruin, 1979)
08. “Another Nail in My Heart,” Squeeze (Argybargy, 1980)
09. “Zero Hour,” The Plimsouls (Zero Hour EP, 1980)
10. “Love—> Building On Fire,” Talking Heads (single, 1977)
11. “(Get a) Grip (On Yourself),” The Stranglers (Rattus Norvegicus, 1977)
12. “One Thing Leads to Another,” The Fixx (Reach the Beach, 1983)
13. “Beat Surrender,” The Jam (single, 1982)
14. “Mad World,” Tears for Fears (The Hurting, 1982)
15. “Rock Lobster,” The B-52s (The B-52’s, 1978)

Radio Show homepage

New Order, “Temptation” (single, 1982)
Television, “See No Evil” (Marquee Moon, 1977)
ABC, “The Look of Love” (Lexicon of Love, 1982)
Wire, “Mannequin” (Pink Flag, 1977)
Altered Images, “Happy Birthday” (Happy Birthday, 1981)
Depeche Mode “Just Can’t Get Enough” (Speak and Spell, 1981)
Devo, “Jerkin’ Back ‘n’ Forth” (New Traditionalists, 1981)
Pretenders, “Brass in Pocket” (Pretenders, 1980)
Iggy Pop, “Lust for Life” (Lust for Life, 1977)
Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Christine” (Kaleidoscope, 1980)
Missing Persons, “Destination Unknown” (Spring Session M, 1982)
R.E.M., “Wolves, Lower” (Chronic Town EP, 1982)
Human League, “Don’t You Want Me” (Dare, 1981)
Clash, “Train in Vain” (London Calling, 1979)
The Boomtown Rats, “Up All Night” (V [Five] Deep, 1982)

Check it out on:
• iTunes
• Amazon
• Google Play
• Spotify

01. I’m Thankful for You
02. Sunday Morning Girl
03. Dance to Radiohead
04. When the Music Ends
05. Love Story
06. Got My Ph.D. in You
07. In the Right Light
08. Be There When You Wake Up
09. Cross-Country Drive
10. A Trip (Inst.)
11. Beautiful Love (bonus track)

All songs written and performed by Stone Grether. Additional drums on 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 by Kurt Deutscher.

Radio Show homepage

Listen! (.mp3)

Tom Tom Club, “Genius of Love”
Psychedelic Furs, “Love My Way”
English Beat, “Save It for Later”
Thomas Dolby, “Europa and the Pirate Twins”
Echo and the Bunnymen, “The Cutter”
The Pretenders, “Talk of the Town”
Yaz, “Only You”
Police, “So Lonely”
Jam, “Absolute Beginners”
XTC, “Us Being Us”
Specials, “Ghost Town”
Squeeze, “Pulling Mussels (From a Shell)”
Madness, “One Step Beyond”
Tommy Tutone, “867-5309/Jenny”

I am now hosting a weekly radio show of New Wave music. It’s called New Wave-os Rancheros. 

At that page I will be posting playlists (and recordings when I have them).

Feel free to suggest songs for me to play in future shows!

Radio Show homepage

Listen to most of it! (.mp3)

“D.J.,” David Bowie
“(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes,” Elvis Costello
“Let’s Go To Bed,” The Cure
“A Million Miles Away,” The Plimsouls
“Walking in L.A.,” Missing Persons
“I Know What Boys Like,” The Waitresses
“Needles And Pins,” Ramones
“Thank You For Sending Me An Angel,” Talking Heads
“Love Plus One,” Haircut One Hundred
“Private Idaho,” The B-52’s
“Turning Japanese,” The Vapors
“Games Without Frontiers,” Peter Gabriel
“Heart Of Glass,” Blondie
“Dream Police,” Cheap Trick
“Girl U Want,” Devo

New Wave Radio Show
by Morgan Stone Grether

CURRENTLY ON HIATUS!  Tuesday mornings I host a live radio show of New Wave music on KLC radio: http://go.lclark.edu/klc

Feel free to suggest songs for me to play in future shows!

Playlists and recordings below:

May 1, 2012
April 24, 2012
Apr 17, 2012
Apr 10, 2012
Apr 3, 2012
Mar 27, 2012
Mar 20, 2012
Mar 6, 2012
Feb 28, 2012
Feb 21, 2012
Feb 14, 2012

I have added quite a few music videos to YouTube lately. Take a look…

“When the Music Ends”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcpBBZatcio
“In the Right Light”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkVo2ubyhpg
“Love Story”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH14zX_rkzc
“Sunday Morning Girl”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqSJn6OyEx0
“Withnail and I”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8J_EVPfIUg
“Cross-Country Drive”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5dqmHaiwak

Remember that with Valentines Day just around the corner, you may have need of Love Letter Generator (and companion Breakup Letter Generator):
http://www.morgangrether.info/everything/always/love_letter_generator

And they say / She’s in the Class A Team / Stuck in her daydream / Been this way since 18 / But lately her face seems / Slowly sinking, wasting / Crumbling like pastries / And they scream / The worst things in life come free to us / Cos we’re just under the upper hand / And go mad for a couple of grams / And she don’t want to go outside tonight / And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland / Or sells love to another man / It’s too cold outside / For angels to fly / Angels to fly
—Ed Sheeran

01 Rihanna, “We Found Love”
02 Peter Murphy, “Seesaw Sway”
03 Goty, “Somebody That I Used to Know”
04 Human League, “Open Your Heart”
05 Shins, “Nothing at All”
06 Velvet Underground, “Coney Island Steeplechase”
07 Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, “Tigers”
08 Bon Iver, “Calgary”
09 Fleet Foxes, “White Winter Hymnal”
10 Florence and the Machine, “Shake It Out”
11 Scissor Sisters, “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’”
12 Black Keys, “Lonely Boy”

With your long blonde hair, I couldn’t sleep last night / With your long blonde hair
—Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer

Three songs by Stone Grether, from a live set at the Goodfoot Pub in Portland, Oregon.

01 ‘I Do, I Do, I Do’
02 Been Around
03 Piece of Trash

I have just opened an Etsy shop offering select prints of my photography. Most will be 5x5 inches. You can visit the shop here: etsy.com/shop/stonegrether

Here are three songs by Stone Grether from the December 26 performance:

01. Doggone Shame
02. Marmalade Man
03. Lower Your Standards