Wednesday, December 28, 2011

A Song to Close The Year With

I know, it's been a very long time coming. Here it is, the last song in 2011 for the project, before the new year turns my world on its head (more about that later).


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Given how long it was since the last one, one might expect a grand and polished product. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I'll be coming back to this song down the road, I think. There are horn lines bouncing around in my head that will take me some time to sort out, and many of the tracks could use some serious touching up (or outright scrap and redo). But, in the interest of sharing instead of letting it sit on the shelf collecting dust, it is being unleashed upon the world.

The song grew out of the slide guitar riffs in the chorus and verse. As musicians who I've jammed with have come to learn (poor bastards) I often like to slip into reggae grooves in the middle of a song out of nowhere. It stems partly from my love of Big Sugar, who are masters at infusing blues and rock with rich, thick veins of reggae. I can't do it nearly as well as them, but it was fun nonetheless.

The lyrics started with the chorus, and the verses were built around it. I wanted to keep the quasi-gospel, semi-protest combination often found in classics like "The Harder They Come" by Jimmy Cliff or "Could You Be Loved" by Bob Marley. Or even just a fun, joyful vibe like "Pressure Drop" by Toots and the Maytals.

Oh right, I hinted at big changes ahead. So I did, so I did...