My most newest song to hit the airwaves is a little ditty I like to call “Birthday Cow”.

The song is about a boy and his birthday cow. The boy’s parents won’t let him ride around on his birthday cow while trick or treating for Halloween. Why the parents have such a strict “no birthday cows allowed” Halloween policy is not known. But what we do know is that the boy is not happy about it.

Now, you may be wondering… is this an animal song? is it a Halloween song? Or perhaps maybe it is a birthday song?  The answer is YES!

I hope you enjoy the crap out of it.

My favorite line is the “say cheese” line.

During the bridge the kid is asked to pose for a photograph in his costume. He is upset about not being able to take his birthday cow out for a spin. So he refuses to say cheese.

The cheese is stuck behind my breath

This is a fun way to say that the kid is grumpy. He doesn’t want to participate in the photoshoot but his parents are making him.

Bonus Song Nugget #2

This song definitely sounds like one of mine

Lately, I’ve been trying to write songs that don’t sound like me. This is not an easy feat. The level of difficulty is off the charts. Because it’s so challenging, it is preventing me from writing songs at all. I start strong, and then get stuck, and then quit out of frustration. This workflow is bad for business.

However, this song does sound like a song I would write.  That’s the biggest reason why you are able to hear it now. I was able to finish it.  It is much easier for me to sound like me than it is for me to sound like not me.

Bonus Song Nugget #3

The sneaky minor chord

Even though this song sounds like one of mine (see bonus song nugget #2), I was still able to include a couple of moments that are exciting to me. Those moments involve the sneaky minor chords

The first chord in the verses is F major and the second chord is F minor. You may not have even noticed. How sneaky of me!

Sounds pretty pretty pretty good, right?

Oh… you’re not impressed, eh?  Well… I thought it was cool.

Birthday Cow
by Mike Votava

I could never spend Halloween on my birthday cow
they never let me spend Halloween on my birthday cow

Put my head down chase the sad away
take some candy from my candy tray

Sweet ol’ Bessie
I know you really love
the monster mashing and children throwing up

Pose for a photograph in my little cowboy hat
the cheese is stuck behind my breath
walk the neighborhood even though I should
be on the back of my best friend

Birthday Cow