RishkaMusic

May your pain be eased by loving memory

2010-01-05T10:03:00.001-08:00

"May your pain be eased by loving memory. Drink a drop of rain and know who put it there."

- Howard Covitz

Lost All Faith acoustic demo

2008-06-05T00:32:00.000-07:00

Lost All Faith acoustic demo

Words and Music by Howard Covitz

Lyrics for Lost All Faith

2007-06-25T21:42:00.001-07:00

D
I lost all faith in my fellow man,
A
selling their wares or their head in the sand,
G
I lost all conviction and all self control,
C Eb D
When you think you've got it all figured out,
C Eb D
And you know it all without any doubt,
Am G D
A sweet smile will force you to regret,
Am G D
You ever got so much in debt.

Before your still goes dry, you'll insist and swear,
You do have a reason, but not any fear,
Lying in corners, but never with mourners,
When you know you've got plenty of time
And have gotten all the words to rhyme,
A sweet smile will come into the light,
and make the day the night.

I broke all my windows and caused it to rain,
I cured my condition and eased all my pain,
At last on the morphine of despotic daydreams,
And I knew without uncertain doubt,
that this life rotted throughout,
A sweet smile made me ask why,
I ever gave this disposition a try.

-- Copyright 2005 Howard Covitz

Another One

2006-10-24T13:04:00.000-07:00

Short sketch for a potential pop song. Recorded 2006.

Another One
Words and music by Howard Covitz

Society

2006-10-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

The Pascoag Turnip Authority - 2001
Singer Unknown

Society
Words and music by Howard Covitz

Reconsidered

2006-10-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

The Pascoag Turnip Authority - 2001
Singer Unknown

Reconsidered

Words and music by Howard Covitz

What Brings You Happiness

2006-10-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

The Pascoag Turnip Authority - 2001
Singer Unknown
What Brings You Happiness
Words and music by Howard Covitz

Lost All Faith

2006-10-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

The Pascoag Turnip Authority - 2001
Singer Unknown
Lost All Faith

Words and music by Howard Covitz

The Albert Beimont Endeavor - 1987

2006-10-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

After getting to know Kilgore Trout, I just had to write a song with that phrase.
So It Goes
Words and music by Howard Covitz

Matt Tebbe is the friend who insisted I change the lyrics, and he came up with these. That's him singing.
What's Going On

Put Me On a Shelf

2006-10-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

You now, I generally cannot sing. But listening back on this one, I think I sure could fake it at times. This is in the style taught to me by Dwight Mark, a James Taylor addict. I must confess, I really don't like this kind of music at all. Maybe there's an irony in there, if in fact the only kind of music I can sing halfway decently.

Put Me On a Shelf

Duck

2006-10-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

Simply an atmospheric piece. Really just a little exercise with the Tascam fader controls.

Duck

The Enemy

2006-10-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

Recorded circa 1984. The electronic drums really hurts this piece, as well as the limits of my voice. But you gotta love that guitar solo.

Words and music by Howard Covitz

I'll Do Any Thing

2006-10-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

Recorded circa 1984. A friend of mine wanted me to change the lyrics to this because they sounded too pathetic, maybe all the more so because it was written about a relationship that never came about. But many years later, I actually did win this girl's heart. So, with that hindsight, I can unveil the song.

I'll Do Any Thing

Words and music by Howard Covitz

The Step (Reprise)

2006-10-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, this is only about 30 seconds long. Very effective when arranged on an album.

The Step (Reprise)

Miles On Love

2006-10-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

Recorded circa 1985. I've always been curious as to how this song would be recieved.

Miles On Love

Words and music by Howard Covitz

Dire Bruised Heart

2006-10-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

Inspired by early Pink Floyd. Sometimes I just really love playing guitar.

Dire Bruised Heart

Performed by Howard Covitz
Music by Howard Covitz

Groovy Mr. Packet

2006-10-24T12:39:00.000-07:00

Inspired by some drummer I was in a band with, along with early Eric Clapton (Bluesbreakers), of course.

Groovy Mr. Packet

Performed by Howard Covitz
Music by Howard Covitz

Since I Took That Step

2006-10-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

Recorded circa 1986. This was my epic ballad piece with an accordian intro, a regular bit, and then the drawn out solo ending.

Since I Took That Step

Words and music by Howard Covitz

Castaway

2006-10-24T12:34:00.000-07:00

Recorded circa 1986. Vocals by Christy Herriman. Thanks also to Jeff Gross for the inspiration. The triumph of open tuning. Inspired by Zeppelin III.

Castaway

Words and Music by Howard Covitz and Jeff Gross

My My Lai Song

2006-06-09T14:10:00.000-07:00

Riddy's Hour ("What happened in Pinksville?")
============
March morning in Vietnam,
A big operation is going down
they had orders to clear reds from a town.
Pinkville, they called it because its color on a map.
The reds drew blood from our comrades, that was a fact.

The good guys should all be at work by that hour.

Hugh's job was to draw fire,
In his Huey he knew it would be hot that day,
Spotted draft aged Charlie (VC?) fleeing in the slicks,
But that one kid was the only enemy he'd see that day./running that way
His green gunner Larry missed, let him get away

Kept flying back and forth...
But then they noticed bodies everywhere,
Everwhere they'd look, just old women and men,
babies toddler infants and children.
No young men. That's what you look for, he would say.

--Were their weapons captured that day?
--500 bodies, but weapons? Not a single one.
--500 bodies is an undercount, he'd say.

An old lady on the side of the road,
then they knew something was wrong.
"Stay down!" they told her, we'll be back 'ore long.
while they hovered around trying to understand.
What was going on?!
They circled back to see her brain's blown out, coolie hat at her side.

Tried to help another lady wounded,
they marked her for help,
a few minutes up walks an American captain, steps up to her and blows her away.

They finally brought the Huey down near a ditch,
filled with bodies, though some still would twitch.
Asked the sargeant there if they could help the wounded out,
Sargent replied "No thanks, we've got it all figured out."
Back in the air to continue along,
The gunner shouts, "My God, he's firing into the ditch!".

They rescued a couple dozen civilians,
cowering under a ravaged house
Americans about to throw a grenade to clear them out.
Had to use a gunship to rescue them.

Back to the ditch, what a bloody mess.
Androtta and Hugh could have done much less,
but they waded through to find a child,
covered in blood but the wounds were mild.
Huey crew wondered "How the hell did she end up in here?"
Could only have been marched in full of fear.

==
Within a day, a Colonel asked him questions,
and a Colonel walks on water.
Never heard about it again,
for 2 years after the slaughter.
==
March of 67, brought Ridenhour into the war,
he job was to fly down low, and stand out on the skids,
from there he could see the eyes of the kids.

Ron starting hearing rumors, of what had gone down,
"Man did you hear what we did to that little Pinkville town?"
Rumours being rumours, Ron found them hard to believe.
He was just there to do his time, and make it to his leave.

But then the story came from Mike Terry,
a good kid through and through.
Not the kind to exaggerate, or pass on stories that were not true.
A good friend from basic training, and others that Ron knew,
before they were deployed in Vietnam, innocent of what they'd go threw.

When he arrived in the LURP company in the summer of 68,
He'd ask "Hey, man, what happened in Pinkville?"
and it would be like lancing a boil.
These boy's had been there and they couldn't believe what they had done.
The horrors spilled out of their chests, of how Lieutenant Calley had used his gun.

When Ron again saw Mike Terry, he wanted to hear more detail,
"Hey, Mike, what happened at Pinkville? I want to hear it all".
For an entire night laid up in a bunker, instead of getting some sleep,
Mike Terry laid it all on Ridenhour,
of that terrible morning in March when his innocence took a fall.

Calley and me swept into that commie infested town,
when all the good guys weren't supposed to still be around.
We saw the rapes, we saw the murder, and we sat down to eat our lunch.
The noise from the mortal wounded in the ditch was just too much.
Calley and I divided them up and popped them off, one by one.
And for the rest of that town, those sonofabitches, we setup a machine gun.

Marched before them, rounded up like Hitler's crew used to do,
Shot to death old women and children, little babies too.
American soldiers have come to this, Ridenhour could hardly believe.
But he listened to the solemn accounts, of boys too shocked to grieve.

A lesser man would have let this pass,
atrocities always happen in war.
But Ridenhour pushed on and rounded up a man name Bernhardt.
Who'd been told to keep his mouth shut by Captain Medina.
Bernie had seen it all, but hadn't fired one shot,
He was one hell of a liability if he ever got out of the jungle alive.
So Medina kept him strung out alone in front, hoping he would get killed or die by jungle rot.

Bernardt jumped aboard a med vac, to get his ass out of there.
Lying in a hospital bed, he tallied up the cost.
"When I'm out I'll take 'em out one by one, just like they did,
to the little innocent children," said this shell shocked kid.
"Don't do that Bernie," Ridenhour calmed him down.
"There will be an investigation, just wait until it comes around.
I don't know how, but some way, I'll make sure justice can be found."

Back in the states, back in his southwest desert town,
Ridenhour considered what had to be done, now that he was home.
"Shut up, don't talk about it, none of your business, leave it alone"
And this from his friends and family, concerned for their beloved Ron.

Ridenhour wrote a letter, and copied it 30 times.
Sent it to 30 Congressman, back in March of '69.
You can bet they ignored that letter, but that was only 29.
Arizona's Udall, though, gave it just a little more time.

Meanwhile Seymour Hersch had contacted the villain Halley,
snuck his confidences up and was starting to get the story.
When the story broke that Fall, Udall was ready to start an investigation.
Through the work of these men, a horrible story would wake the conscience of a nation.

The Army tried to play it down, they sent in a young Colin Powell.
And sought a yes-man like him to take up the trowell.
But Lieutenant General Peers was not a yes-man like Colin Powell
After the story had been dead for two years, a prick of justice had been done.
Calley faced the music and his cold hearted murders he could not outrun.

But a day after indictment, Nixon pardoned him, so I guess in the end it was all just fun.

To this day, Calley lives on, has his own little jewelry shop.
I'm glad Ron passed away before our Army would do this all again,
But I fear Hugh is turning in his grave, having just lived enough to see
American troops put in harms way, setup to do this kind of thing all over again.

-- Copyright 2006, Howard Covitz

* My Lai was known to the Vietnamese as My Song