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Well, how I arrived here (and granted, I may not be there yet...) is a long story. First of all, I started to work on a cover of Supertramp's "Take The Long Way Home" and I got pretty far into it and had come up with some cool EZ Drummer drums to go along with my version, but I had the realization that it was totally wrong, the tempo was wrong and I needed to go in another direction entirely. I hid a bunch of those tracks rather than just trashing them and finished the song and it came out pretty good and will be in a Coverville Podcast March 28. You can check that out at the Coverville website or subscribe to the podcast for free in iTunes. It's a dandy and a great place to hear independent musicians doing covers.
But back to this song: after I finished it, I figured I'd take a look at the old tracks and they weren't too bad, so I salvaged those tracks and started a new project, using a similar title. I had no idea for words other than the chorus, but I'd done these Poems (you can find those on my artist page) recently from old books that I wrote 33 years ago and there were a couple of those that just needed minimal working to come into a pretty good set of verses if I do say so myself. I guess it is sort of about the intertwining that comes from establishing a relationship with a significant other, and it's really a lot more relevant now than when I wrote these words 33 years ago, now that I've actually done accomplished the right twining. I guess it's getting close to our 15th anniversary, so this is for Andrea.
Musically this is inspired a lot by Matthew Ryan and Strays Don't Sleep, music like that, wanting to do a really intimate whispered vocal with a lot of atmosphere. I sort of inexactly tried to harmonize and I probably ned to re-do the vocal tracks but I liked the loose feel of pretty much my first takes of these two vocals. The electric guitar took a little more work, and the acoustic was sort of easy. I used a lot of the free Kore Player sounds in the backgrounds of this, along with a little santoor that reminds me of a hammer dulcimer.
You know how it is when you start to work on a song and you can't get parts out of your head? Either I came up with a catchy chorus or it's just the repetition, but I hope you like it. Let me know what you think I need to fix, since this is sor of a quick mix, but I just wanted to get this one out there. Thanks!
But back to this song: after I finished it, I figured I'd take a look at the old tracks and they weren't too bad, so I salvaged those tracks and started a new project, using a similar title. I had no idea for words other than the chorus, but I'd done these Poems (you can find those on my artist page) recently from old books that I wrote 33 years ago and there were a couple of those that just needed minimal working to come into a pretty good set of verses if I do say so myself. I guess it is sort of about the intertwining that comes from establishing a relationship with a significant other, and it's really a lot more relevant now than when I wrote these words 33 years ago, now that I've actually done accomplished the right twining. I guess it's getting close to our 15th anniversary, so this is for Andrea.
Musically this is inspired a lot by Matthew Ryan and Strays Don't Sleep, music like that, wanting to do a really intimate whispered vocal with a lot of atmosphere. I sort of inexactly tried to harmonize and I probably ned to re-do the vocal tracks but I liked the loose feel of pretty much my first takes of these two vocals. The electric guitar took a little more work, and the acoustic was sort of easy. I used a lot of the free Kore Player sounds in the backgrounds of this, along with a little santoor that reminds me of a hammer dulcimer.
You know how it is when you start to work on a song and you can't get parts out of your head? Either I came up with a catchy chorus or it's just the repetition, but I hope you like it. Let me know what you think I need to fix, since this is sor of a quick mix, but I just wanted to get this one out there. Thanks!
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Lyrics
Long Way Up
Just because
Just because, that's all
what comes
what comes between us
Is so complete
fingers in the glove
and again you ask
me why we are so close
It's a long way up
a long way up
It's a long way up
but we'll get there
It's a circus full
full of somersaults
I said I only want to cast
tumbling shadows in the dusk
Like you and me
tumbled into one
It's not exactly clean
It's all mixed up
It's a long way up
a long way up
It's a long way up
but we'll get there
(repeat)
somewhere
some why
somehow
sometime
silent shifting
in the scented night
just as constant as
an unease with life
kept in the pocket like
the jewel in the sleeve
a delicate note
played on a drums so light
It's a long way up
a long way up
It's a long way up
but we'll get there
(repeat)
Just because
Just because, that's all
what comes
what comes between us
Is so complete
fingers in the glove
and again you ask
me why we are so close
It's a long way up
a long way up
It's a long way up
but we'll get there
It's a circus full
full of somersaults
I said I only want to cast
tumbling shadows in the dusk
Like you and me
tumbled into one
It's not exactly clean
It's all mixed up
It's a long way up
a long way up
It's a long way up
but we'll get there
(repeat)
somewhere
some why
somehow
sometime
silent shifting
in the scented night
just as constant as
an unease with life
kept in the pocket like
the jewel in the sleeve
a delicate note
played on a drums so light
It's a long way up
a long way up
It's a long way up
but we'll get there
(repeat)
jiguma
Nice one Jim. I've found myself in a similar process to what you describe here, although I usually do a cover of a song we do in the band so I can practice my parts.
This has a refreshing clarity to the production - laid back style (sounds great. Those wooden steel drums towards the end add unnecessarily clutter to me. Only other thing I'd change is to give the vocal a few more dB. They sometimes get lost in the instrumentation.
Very nice bit of work Jim.
Cheers,
Neil