Chit-Chat Check-In #110 Transcript

Hello, this is your Captain speaking. I'm in the process of going through all of your cover song suggestions, some of which I'd already done. And in that case, I tried to steer you to those songs in the archives in the comments section. It was interesting that there were more than a few suggestions of songs that I'd already done ... in some cases, kind of strange that they would get suggested and I would have already done them. But they're there. The other ones, I'm still going through and thinking about, and trying to pick one. Maybe more than one.

In the meantime, I wanted to let everyone know that the giant A Ghost Is Born box set is coming out tomorrow. I don't tend to do a lot of like straight-up promotion here on this Substack. But it is pretty cool, and I thought I'd share a couple of songs that are on the box set that have never been released. You'll be able to hear them tomorrow if you have a streaming service. But here you'll get a sneak peek ahead of time, just a little bit.

One of them is "Improbable Germany." Before I figured out that "Impossible" is a way better word to sing, that song was "Improbable Germany," which I can barely say. "Improbable Germany." There are other interesting differences in the lyrics. I always forget that things change, but they do. I am reminded of thinking that was a finished set of lyrics, and somehow, I think I made it better over time. There are some things that I listen to and think, I should have stuck with that. But in this case, I think both the way it started out, and the way it ended up, are both unique, and I think it communicates a slightly different song.

The other song is one of my favorites in terms of outtakes over the years that have never been released: "Diamond Claw." I still kind of can't understand why we didn't pursue it a little further. I don't know what it was about it at the time. Maybe it was just a little too chipper, a little too bright, for the mood surrounding A Ghost is Born. But this is a pretty lovely version of that song. Not, maybe, a perfect mix or a perfect performance, but it definitely gets the song across with its multiple key changes and fairly elaborate structure. Which I'm going to try and relearn. And maybe I'll put that up. Either next week, or some following week. Because I just want to figure out how those key changes work again.

I think that's all I have. Again, thank you again for those comments and suggestions. Let's keep hanging out, and sharing the good stuff.

Alright, thanks. Carry on.