They are favorites of Dr. Demento. After being frequent guests on the Bob and Tom show, they were invited to do a regular feature: a topical song of the week.
While they mainly perform live as a duo, they had the help of many guest musicians on their album Opening Band, including Mike Clem and Eddie Hartness of Eddie from Ohio and Valerie Vagoda, Brendon Milburn, and Gene Lewin from Groovelily. Groovelily performed as Paul and Storm's back-up band at the 2005 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.
Before releasing an official debut album Paul and Storm released a demo EP of songs that would eventually be re-recorded for their debut album: Opening Band, as well as other songs that have yet to be re-recorded. The EP was titled "Shame and Cookie Dough".
In 2005 the duo released their debut album: Opening Band. The title of the album stems from the lead track off the album, an idea thought up by Storm after their experience as being the 'opening act'. While they mainly perform live as a duo, they had the help of many guest musicians on the album, including Mike Clem and Eddie Hartness of Eddie from Ohio and Valerie Vigoda, Brendon Milburn, and Gene Lewin from Groovelily. Groovelily performed as Paul and Storm's back-up band at the 2005 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. The album features a number of "Rejected Commercial Jingles" as well as a commentary track for two of the album's songs.
Their second album "News to Us" was recorded week by week for the Bob and Tom radio show as a featured weekly news segment. Many of the tracks on the album feature the radio hosts introducing each song, also there is the audible trademark Bob and Tom laughter on the tracks dubbed as the 'On-Air' versions, at the end of the album the duo placed the 'Studio version' of most of the tracks as well so that listeners could have a more traditional album experience. The song "Your Love Is" on the album was co-written by Jonathan Coulton.
In 2007 their 3rd full length studio album "Gumbo Pants" was released. This album features their fan favorite, and often live concert closing track: The Captain's Wife's Lament as well as other fan favorites such as Count to Ten and A Better Version of You. It also featured a number of very short tracks that were titled "One Sentence Songs", also there are more Rejected Commercial Jingles.
In 2010 after a three year lapse between albums, the duo released their fourth studio album "Do You Like Star Wars?". The album is a collection of songs that the duo had released one by one in the years following Gumbo Pants. It includes concert favorites such as "Nun Fight", "Cruel, Cruel Moon", and "Frogger! The Frogger Musical!". A number of the songs released on this album were written for Quick Stop Entertainment's Masters of Song Fu contest.
The duo has a weekly audio talk show podcast titled "Paul and Storm Talk About Some Stuff for Five to Ten Minutes (On Average)". On the podcast the two will often talk about food, live shows, and upcoming projects.
In 2009, in conjunction with friends Wil Wheaton and Adam Savage, Paul and Storm organized a series of music and comedy shows called w00tstock, which began in late October of that year. The events take place around the United States and are billed as "3 hours(ish) of Geeks and Music".
In the summer of 2010 the duo created two separate internet memes via Twitter. Regarding the fact that both of them had come up with them Paul commented that they were considering changing the name of their act to "The Meme Brothers".
In late July, Storm started the popular internet meme of WookieeLeaks by using the hashtag #wookieeleaks on Twitter. The meme is a play on the then recent WikiLeaks publishing of secret government files. Within these tweets a person will mention a secret leaked from the Star Wars universe. Following the success of the hashtag Storm was interviewed by Wired and NPR.
Less than a week after the success of WookieeLeaks, Paul created the #kanyenewyorkertweets hashtag via Twitter. Within the tweets where this hashtag is used a person will link to a cartoon from The New Yorker with a tweet from Kanye West added as text below the image. Following its success the meme was picked up by The Onion, Paste Magazine, the Huffington Post, and The New Yorker itself.
In October 2010 they had acted as the musical guests on the online MMO, AQWorlds, in an event that celebrated the 2nd birthday of the game.
Paul and Storm are both ordained ministers of the Universal Life Church.
If James Taylor Were on Fire
Paul and Storm Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Get me a fire extinguisher
And put me out?
I can’t stand the heat
Though I’ve seen fire and rain
I can do with a little less fire
The lyrics of Paul and Storm's humorous song If James Taylor Were on Fire appear to be a commentary on the enduring appeal of singer-songwriter James Taylor's music. The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "Somebody, please, won't you get me a fire extinguisher and put me out?" This could be interpreted to mean that the singer is overwhelmed and possibly even irritated by the popularity and ubiquity of James Taylor's music.
However, the verses of the song reveal that the singer is not actually on fire, but rather "can't stand the heat." They have "seen fire and rain" (a reference to one of James Taylor's most famous songs) but would "do with a little less fire." This could be interpreted as a commentary on the overly sentimental and repetitive nature of James Taylor's music, which can sometimes become cloying or tiresome.
Overall, If James Taylor Were on Fire could be seen as a playful critique of James Taylor's music from the perspective of someone who may appreciate his talent but finds his output overrated or overplayed.
Line by Line Meaning
Somebody, please, won’t you
I humbly request for someone’s assistance
Get me a fire extinguisher
Fetch me a tool that can stop fire
And put me out?
Use the tool to quell the flames consuming me
I can’t stand the heat
The intense temperature is unbearable for me
Though I’ve seen fire and rain
Even though I’ve experienced life’s struggles and difficulties
I can do with a little less fire
I prefer life to be less harsh and challenging
Contributed by Grace M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.