A four-song EP, “Catching the Ghosts” was recorded mainly in January through March of 2006 by Seán O’Donnell in his Bloomington, Ind., apartment.
“Sweet Dreams” begins the album and features the voice of Sarah Ciotti, a friend of O’Donnell’s. Her vocals were recorded in Seán’s apartment in Pittsburgh’s South Oakland neighborhood in 2001. Although a mix of the song was completed at the time, O’Donnell was never quite satisfied and re-recorded it. Originally written as a lullabye, the 2001 death of his aunt and uncle, Heidi and Charles Hughes, prompted his dedication of the song in their memory. Charles Hughes was Drum Sergeant in the bagpipe band O’Donnell played in (and ultimately the reason he began playing bagpipes), hence the uplifting coda featuring drums from a bagpipe band.
The next three songs were made with a combination of recorded and programmed music and feature the album’s recurring theme, which ends “Sweet Dreams” and transitions into “Catching the Ghost,” only to reappear in “Circle of Friends” and “Clock Czar.” “Catching the Ghost” musically expresses the frustrations of chasing something unattainable. “Circle of Friends” originated as an exercise in composition and resulted as a mimic of conversation. “Clock Czar” was inspired by a comment made by a professor in one of O’Donnell’s college classes.
Lyrics
1 — Sweet Dreams (featuring Sarah Ciotti) 
The silence is broken,
The stars have spoken.
They wish you well,
And hope that you find
Your way through the night.
The time is chosen,
Your eyes are closing,
And sleep will see
The dreams that you dream
On your way through the night.
Before you slumber,
Please, my love, remember
The love that you have
Waiting for you
At the end of the night.
When dawn has broken
And you’ve awoken,
I’ll wish you well
And hope that you’ve found
Your way through the night.
2 — Catching the Ghost
3 — Circle of Friends
4 — Clock Czar
The minutes all seem like hours,
And the hours are seen through a daze.
And if you look at the seconds long enough,
They go on their merry way
Getting lost in the crowded shuffle,
‘Til you find, at the bottom of the deck,
The seconds you thought that you clearly saw
Looking the same as the rest.
These clocks are haunted,
And the seconds come and go as they please.
We try to catch the ghosts,
But every time we look up, they leave.
The months all pass in a week now,
Which can fit in an eight-hour day.
As long as you package them small enough
So they never get in the way.
Just push them aside for a moment —
Out of mind, never out of sight —
Until there’s a chance to enjoy them,
Which is just past the moment that’s right.
These clocks are haunted,
And the seconds come and go as they please.
We try to catch the ghosts,
But every time we look up, they leave.
Words & Music Seán O’Donnell © & (P) 2006
Monkey Corner Records (ASCAP)
