Our Songs
"I Was in the Band"
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I wrote the music and most of the lyrics for this in the spring of 2006. I played it for Todd at his studio in Courtenay and we tweaked several lyrics and then recorded the tracks one by one on the first take, with his gentle voice really shining through. In the spring of 2025 I added in several vocal improvements (of my parts) and some keyboards. The song is about the feeling of glory and excitement of young people in a band, based loosely on my experience of playing in our band "Catalyst" in 1976-77. I decided to write it from the point of view of a female band member: "Mary". We hope to rerecord it sometime with a female singer - and certainly hope other female singers will take an interest in it. :-)
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You may notice that one of the lyrics in the song - the word "endless" - does not match the subtitle word "magic" in several spots. If we rerecord it, we will use "magic".
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I shot the video footage in three segments in April, May, and June 2025 in Beacon Hill Park and the James Bay neighborhood of Victoria, with Alison Spriggs also contributing some footage. The actors include a close friend, Todd's daughter Nellie, four friends from a local pub and coffeeshop, and several other friends who drive for the Victoria Pedicab Company. :-)
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"The Ice is Melting"
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I wrote these lyrics one morning in the spring of 2006 at a coffeeshop in Victoria. I had always wanted to write a song with the compelling E/D/A or D/C/G rock pattern heard in many classic songs. I tried the progression and it fit perfectly with the new lyrics.
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That fall, I went up to Courtenay and played it for Todd. There was one remaining question about the chord progression for the chorus and he confirmed one of the two choices. We then laid down the tracks one by one, in one take per track. Todd then mixed it for half an hour and we were finished from beginning to end in about three and a half hours. His amazing singing and lead guitar really make this song.
There are a few weak moments in the bass playing and I always wanted to correct them and tweak a few lyrics. It sat for nineteen years while I worked on my books, with Todd's old Mac with its ProTools program sitting in pieces on our old farm. Then in mid-February 2025, I had a happy dream and woke up with the idea to just go for it.
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I had done a little video editing, but this was my first music video. I found images on Wikimedia Creative Commons and got to work part-time, finishing the first draft of the video in mid-February and the final version in May. RB
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We hope you enjoy our songs! :-)
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Lyrics
I Was in the Band
Joni and I were best friends
We vowed our love would never end
We shared everything that we had
We never had to try or pretend
In ’97 we had a plan
Just two teenagers takin’ a stand
We learned some chords and harmonies
In six months we were in a band
For one magic year we sang our hearts
Joni and I cherished the part
Heaven seemed to be within our reach
With oceans of ecstasy in the dark
We were endless stars in the night-time sky
Electric angels in paradise
Living in a dream of magic harmony
While time just rolled on by
Baby, I’m soaring so high
Like I’ll never, ever come down
With you by my side
We’ll turn this world around
But then Joni moved to town to follow her dream
I wanted a family and decided to stay
I fell in love with a guy, sweet Tommy
Our love gave us a beautiful baby
We found a different kind of love
But sometimes when I hear her playing
I could just float away
I could just float away
I don’t regret what happened
I guess it had to be that way
Nothing lasts forever
All we have is today
Close your eyes and feel the energy rising
Love is in the air we breathe, sweetly hypnotizing
Sometimes when I go inside
We’re back up there on stage together
Back in front of those colored lights
Singing and playing with all our might
Feeling like we would never die
For one happy, magic, shining year
We were together and flying high
For a few brief shining moments in time
It seemed like everyone was smiling
I couldn’t follow her there that night
And yet she’s always on my mind
Words and music ©Renn and Todd Butler 2006-2025
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Note: We changed the third line of the chorus to: "Living in a dream of magic harmony".
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The Ice is Melting (coming soon)
It’s feeding time down at the local mall
Another generation is trying to have it all
Grab it, unwrap it, we’re really livin’ now
Jam it in the emptiness, we’ll all pay later somehow
I can’t buy enough to make me satisfied
And please don’t talk about the little kids who die
It’s business as usual in the upper downtown
Shopping and stuffing make the zombie world go round
Never stop to think what it’s really all for
You can’t buy love in a shiny store
Horde it, pile it, fill up every space
Another empty life in a pointless rat race
The ice is melting, the alarm is sounding
We’re on a road and there’s no going back
Like walking through a tunnel with only one way out
Let the ice in your heart melt faster than the ice packs
How many thousands were displaced today?
Another flood, another great city swept away
How much suffering can you stand to see?
Another homeless family crying on your TV
I want to turn away, I want to make it stop
Another line of trucks unloads the daily slop
The ice is melting, the alarm is sounding
We’re on a road and there’s no going back
Like walking through a tunnel with only one way out
Let the ice in your heart melt faster than the ice packs
A firestorm of inspiration
Is coming to the nations
The walls of our separation
Are getting an incineration
Let’s take the good things of the past
And add in some urgency for our time emergency
We’re all in this forever, no divisions anymore
Let’s work together, in a world worth living for
What will it take for you, what kind of shock
Before you are willing to really take stock?
The ice is melting, the alarm is sounding
We’re on a road and there’s no going back
Like walking through a tunnel with only one way out
Let the ice in your heart melt faster than the ice packs
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​Words and music ©Renn and Todd Butler 2006-2025
