In 2023 The lullaby album was conceived to be paired with the tutorial section of an illustrated children’s book. 15 songs showcase the instruments created by a fictive father/daughter duo who roam the beach in search of discards, helping restore lost voices to the abandoned.
As with the White Album, the idea was to showcase the potentials of written-off objects and encourage a reconsideration of disposability and worthlessness. The father poses a simple question (in prose and in song) to his child that underpins much of the book and album’s message: we easily and mindlessly throw things away every day…
But where is “away”?
Liner notes for the Lullaby Album
Cardboard Morning
A 25-track studio recording using only instruments made of cardboard, this song was an attempt to portray the majestic feeling of sunrise and birdsong in the Ko‘olau mountains.
Banyan
An 80 year-old banyan fell in a windstorm at the historic Church of the Crossroads on University Avenue in 2023. Community members let me take home a small plank from the rubble to make the 8-string ukulele heard on this track (see instrument “I” in the picture above). The song seeks to deal with loss and change, noting that “the substance shifts, but nothing ever leaves.”
Love, O, My Love
Inspired by a melody and genre of highland communities in Northern Thailand (part Karen, part Lahu), this song features a cat-food banjo, musing about the ever-shrinking resources and increasing needs of a growing family.
How it Goes
Banyan ukulele returns for a quick ballad of gratitude and hope for the future.
Home
Revived from my album composed in Thailand at the end of our Peace Corps service, this song was a basic longing for a nostalgic home (of course we knew it wouldn’t be the same when we returned, but there’s always the dreamed up memory of the past)
Junk
A cover of Sir Paul McCartney’s audition tape (White Album era) that got shelved till after the Beatles broke up. Appropriate lyrical content for my project (and featuring my balloon oboe)
Sidney’s Song
Yes, Sidney (7 years old) wrote this song….or at least the melody. I wanted to showcase my new 2-liter bottle banjo but didn’t have a twangy Americana number ready. But while messing around with the basic lilting rhythm, Sidney started improvising a song to the effect of, “I wonder, do rats eat cheese? Oh, I wonder, yes I wonder.” The rest is history.
Sunshine
One of Charlie’s bedtime favorites at 4 years old, this rendition is an attempt to fuse Northern Thai folk (Lanna salaw saw sueng) music with American folk.
Waiting
Love is a waiting game. Waiting for the right one, waiting to have kids, waiting for said kids to put their shoes on so we can go down to the car already, waiting for them to call and visit.
Any Kind of Day
One of my favorite compositions by Lisa. No gimmicks or tricks; just assurance of companionship.
Hello
Revived from my 2006 children’s album (the windowless office album), newly re-framed as I watch my youngest eschew general social interaction with the one exception that he’ll say hi to any person, place, or thing with a smile on his face.
Night
The idea of this album was a series of quick lullaby-type songs, a playlist one could fall asleep to. But by the time we get to this song, we’re at frustration and begging. Please. Go to sleep. Seriously.
All I Ever Wanted
Written on one of those non-sleeping nights while lying next to a restless child newly diagnosed with both Autism and ADHD, I was trying to reckon with, and to adjust to, our new reality and future. What should we expect? How can we communicate and understand each other? How do I adjust and re-frame? But more generally, the song is one of longing to connect with someone beloved.
Where is Away?
This song is inspired by theʻŌlelo Noʻeau and teachings of Kumu Kekuhi Keali‘ikanaka‘ole, I Ola ‘Oe I Ola Mākou Nei. Literally translated, it means “when you thrive, we thrive” or “my life is dependent upon yours and yours is dependent on us.” A philosophy showcasing our interconnectedness and calling all to acknowledge and show gratitude for the places and things that sustain us, it underpins much of the ethos of the accompanying children’s book. Highly recommended is her TEDx talk.
This Bird Has Flown
Based on a love song by famed Karen harp performer (Tue Pho of Omkoi), this song reminisces nostalgic on love lost through metaphoric observation of the phases of the moon. Musical genre is again drawn from the salaw saw sueng tradition of Chiang Mai.
Kani ka ʻōpala 