Kim and Friends' Songs
Kim Novak

I had the guitar part for this song mostly written when I learned that one of my best friends had recently broken up with his boyfriend. I kept thinking of them at a bar called Red House and the imagery became the lyrics.

Inspired by an e-mail we received at work. No one I know knows what it means.

Somewhat inspired by Lunches with Brian. I want salt at Asian restaurants, and my friend Brian suggests soy sauce. Soy sauce is not salt. That was the beginning.

This song was inspired by my former supervisor, Gary, who thought the emphasized syllable in aspartame was the second one. That made it sound like a superhero name instead of a sweet chemical. So I made four sweeteners into people and sang about them. I invite other songwriters to listen and finish the story. I lost steam at the end.

This song came to me the first day of National Solo Album Month when I was supposed to be writing and recording music, but all I wanted to do was nap (like most Saturdays). Watch for a behind the scenes video to be released sometime during this millenium.

Inspired by a trip to Spring Lake Park in Texarkana, TX. Based on true stories. Except for the evil scientist part.

This is a tribute to the movie Fandango that I wrote during National Solo Album Month.The song started as a guitar riff, and as I was listening to that and trying to find lyrical inspiration, the words "the look on his face" came to mind. That made me think of the look on Kevin Costner's face at the end of Fandango, and that's when I decided to do a tribute song. I actually ordered the DVD with overnight shipping so I could get the details right.

A song I wrote for a friend. When you see 11:11 on the clock, be sure to make a wish. It can't hurt.

He doesn't want to hear it, but for your own sake, tell him no. You matter.

Dedicated to my favortie restaurant, Madam Mam's Thai Cuisine on Westgate Blvd. in Austin, TX.

The chorus is for the Aes Sedai whose only beauty most considered to be her smile. The verses are for me.

A little cliché maybe, but it's from the heart.

I'm not really going to be queen of the world, but, boy if I were.

We were allowed one cover song on our National Solo Album Month album. I found this one through Roger McGuinn's folk song blog. I had a whole lot of fun recording it.

My friend Brian and I have had quite a few lunch adventures. These are only a few.

An ode to Adam Duritz and all the women he writes songs about.

Stevie Wood took my Brown Eyes vocal and added 12-string, electric guitar and cello. It's reminiscent of Lynyrd Skynyrd meets Journey meets Smashing Pumpkins. Love that guitar!

Jodiego, aka Dark Blue Man, did this soft dance version of Brown Eyes. This one makes me want to get up and dance around in circles with my eyes closed and a big smile on my face. Wanna join me?

I wrote this for a friend of mine. A friend who always seemed to send me an email out of the blue exactly when I needed it. A friend who kept me sane when I was so lonely and didn't want to admit it. This is my thank you.

The soon to be famous Jeremiah Gilbert co-wrote this song with me. He posted the lyrics on a bulletin board and asked for takers. I had some music that didn't have lyrics yet, and Jeremiah's fit perfectly.

I took a trip to the Pacific Northwest in 1996. I spent three days puttering around Seattle and Vancouver by myself. It was incredible. There were no compromises. I don't mean that in an Extreme Sports kind of way--but in a "I'm in charge of my life and don't have to do what anyone else wants to do" kind of way. I had just experienced an emotional few weeks and the trip helped me work through some things. There's a slide show with some pictures from my trip here.

The most important part of this song for me is the bridge. Our herione starts off asking God to make things right again. But immediately, she realizes it's up to her. She says, "I gotta make it right again." This song is being considered for inclusion in the student film Heaven.

I was feeling pretty down one day. I had crawled into bed in the middle of the afternoon with no plans to get up until the next day. Maybe. I pulled my headphones on and was listening to some music on my portable MP3 player, and it came to me... I needed to get my butt out of bed and write a song. A couple of hours later, Photograph was born. And I didn't feel like spending the rest of the weekend in bed anymore. I released it under the name "Mia, and it hit #1 Overall @ Artistlaunch.com.

I found the lyrics for the chorus to this song in my abandoned lyrics file. They made me think about that moment that you realize you're in love.

This song is about one of those relationships where you offer to help someone through something, but they are resisting. So you decide to stop pushing and just tell them... "I'll do it for you, but you gotta ask me to."

I wrote this song when I was in high school. It was "Beautiful Blue Eyes" back then, but I decided to change it to "Beautiful Brown Eyes" when I recorded it. Many think it's a song about unrequited love, but it's not. It's about a love that can't happen yet. But it will.

This is not your typical love song. I wrote it from the perspective of someone who is talking herself into loving someone because she thinks she's getting too old and too tired to look anymore. One of the first songs I recorded.

This is a writing collaboration between Jeremiah Gilbert and me. He sent me some lyrics, and I wrote the music to go with them. A story of unrequited love. Milo Black helped out by providing bass and lead guitar.