number eight brings us back to the wholeheartedly sad songs.
this one came very fast. the opening chord sequence and the lines “too much history, too much you and me” came almost at once. most weeks, finding words is like stripping wallpaper – a lot of effort for little progress. with this song i had five verses and two bridges in about fifteen minutes. the work then was to edit and pare down. in the end i stripped way back to the minimum information necessary.
the classical feel on the bridge came when i was arranging, and i liked the difference in energy. the minor waltz reminds me of the “les gnossiennes” by satie, though i wasn’t trying for that.
when the song came together so fast and so certainly, i started to think i was just rewriting someone else’s tune. the concept “let’s talk about the weather” seemed pretty obvious. i spent a while searching on the web, but couldn’t find the song i’d ripped off. there were some obvious influences, like tom waits, especially “soldier’s things,” which is one of my favorites. i also kept thinking of nirvana’s “in bloom” which has a very similar melody, but a slightly different mood. the I bVI IV progression is a favorite of mine, and i find myself using it often.
my favorite songs are the ones that suggest a further reality outside the song. this is also true with my favorite movies. though it’s fun to watch a classic once-upon-a-time story, the most powerful tales create a vivid reality that exists outside of the experience itself. i thought of this as i wrote this tune, that the instant of emotion expressed is tiny compared to the experiences that led to it. that was the goal, anyway.
though i can’t do it justice, i was imagining sarah vaughan singing this one.
Hey Andy, It being Monday, I actually found myself looking forward to another new song here. “The Start of Something Big” is still my favorite, if you’re keeping score. It’s amazing how you can seemingly effortlessly (or at least on a regular schedule) keep producing good work like this. I wish I could do that (with anything). I really thought that you’d found your metier when I first heard you with just a piano, so I’m glad you’re back to that now, although I do miss the darker lyrics from those earlier songs. Anyway, all the best. –John
i promise there will be some darker lyrics to come. i’m still trying to balance out the earlier numbers. but with some votes for the morbid and unhappy, i am glad to deliver. thanks for the kind words.