5. Mercer Island

OK, this is one of my favorites.  I really like it.  It's also the very first track that I sang on - ever.  Yep, the first song of my first recording session.  What really does it for this tune is the backing vocals, ably performed by three singers who are way better than I am.  Credit also goes to Johnny my engineer on this and nearly every other project I've done.  He was the one who first suggested having the girls on this.  Me, I couldn't hear it until they were actually singing it.  And then it struck me as an obvious choice.  I couldn't believe how fantastic it sounded.  Plus, it's about architecture.  If you're not from the Seattle area, Mercer Island is a real-live island in the middle of Lake Washington.  In years past, it was something of an exclusive community.  There are still some very impressive fortresses here and there, but the thing that distinguishes it these days is its absolutely terrible architecture.  Sure, every city quarter has its dogs, but on Mercer Island, the dogs are pretty much the rule.  It's astonishing.  When you see a normal-looking house on a normal-sized lot, it seems out of place.  Everything else everywhere is as described in the tune: McMansions, poor designs from the seventies, weird add-ons, odd accessories and much, much more.  You have to see the whole island to believe that houses can look so be yet cost so much.