New Release: The People We Used To Be- Julian Velard
Julian Velard is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and comedian born and raised in New York City. He devoted an entire concept album ‘If You Don’t Like It, You Can Leave’ to New York in 2014. I still call him my favourite New Yorker, despite the fact that he moved out of New York earlier this year.
Julian’s songs are catchy, his lyrics often humorous and sarcastic. He’s definitely not afraid of some self-mockery too. Musically and vocally Julian brings Randy Newman and Billy Joel to mind. Julian is aware of the comparison. He wrote the song ‘Please Don’t Make Me Play Piano Man’ as a sequel to Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’.
His latest album, also called ‘Please Don’t Make Me Play Piano Man’, was funded via Kickstarter. It’s a musical (not actually a musical) about his attempts to make it in the entertainment business, or some might say his midlife crisis.
I picked ‘The People We Used To Be‘ from his new album as a bonus track. A song about a guys night out and married life.
Pull up a chair, it’s just you and me
We’re drinking tonight like we’re still twenty-three
We can be young again and be home by ten
Only takes a few beers till we see
The people that we used to be
On his new album, he also sings about career frustration. Julian has written about career frustration before. In 2015 he released his single ‘The Night Ed Sheeran Slept On My Couch‘. The song is based on actual events. When Julian was living in London back in 2009, after being dropped by his record label, a young and ambitious guy named Ed, slept on his couch. That young man was Ed Sheeran, who became one of the biggest pop stars in the world later.
That time in my life, it’s over and done
Still I sit here and wonder what if I’d been the one
Sleeping on sofas, maybe then I would see
What’s special about him and why it’s not me
Living life in the moment, free from regret
Now the world’s biggest star is the same kid I met
That forgettable night I’ll never forget
The night Ed Sheeran Slept on my couch
I can say Julian Velard once slept on my couch in 2016. Well okay, he sat on my couch pretending to be asleep.
