Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Back to the Lyrics

 I had mentioned a few posts ago that I might start working on the long lost "Foreshadowing" instrumental album once "I Miss You Most at Nighttime" is completely wrapped up.  Well, I don't know what I was thinking.  I'm definitely going to be working on the Neil Young and Crazy Horse inspired "Wrecking Ball" album next, and in fact I've already begun.  It's an interesting shift in musical styles, to say the least.

Lyrics used to be really easy for me.  I remember back when I started how I wouldn't really spend more than 1-2 sessions on a lyric, maybe no more than an hour total.  About 10 years ago, that came crashing down, and I started taking 1-2 years on lyrics, sometimes way more than that.  I was so backed up on lyrics (and still am) that when the band I was in would play live, I would just make stuff up on the fly since I had yet to finish the actual lyrics.  It's kind of absurd, looking back on it.  I used to be a really good ad-libber and have used this technique for years.  Age has caught up with me, though, and I simply can't come up with words on the fly like I used to, and most of my ad libs today sound more like 2 words repeated over and over.

"Wrecking Ball" is one of maybe 7 albums that I have "in progress", accumulated over the past 20 years, and in what I call the 80% done state.  Given the fact that so many are in this status, my focus will definitely be on knocking a bunch of these albums out in the next 24 months and just putting them to bed.  I think I started on "Wrecking Ball" around 2013, though, and so it's one of the fairly newer albums in this category.  It's fairly done and what I've been waiting on is a) the lyrics and then b) the vocals, which obviously can't exist without (a).  I pulled up my lyric sheets last week and started tinkering.  3-4 of the songs are fairly laid out and further along than I thought so those are the first to tackle.  I had a bit of quiet time over the weekend so I pushed it out of me, getting two of them done and, unbelievably, recorded just shortly after.  To make it even better, I'm actually very pleased with the lyrics for both of them and it's been awhile since I really felt that way.

Again, it was all around ten years ago when lyrics got way too difficult for me.  I did finally finish the Defrost Nixon lyrics (another album yet to be released) but I've never been 100% happy with them.  A few are great, I think, but probably 2-4 are a bit below what I would have really liked.  Part of it came down to me trying new techniques, mainly due to the lyrical constipation I was experiencing, and so I tried writing more story based lyrics.  It worked for a couple songs and then kind of flopped for a couple more.  I think I walked away feeling like the story format really wasn't my forte.

These two "Wrecking Ball" lyrics, though, are precisely what I was hoping for, albeit a bit more snarky and intense maybe than some might prefer.  What do you expect, though, right?  These are difficult times we're living in.  Neil Young has always been political so it makes sense that I'd follow suit, no?

Also, I keep forgetting to mention that I picked up a group of 4 what I'll call "newer" Carly Simon CD's on Ebay, kind of with the intention that I'd just give them a quick whirl and then probably sell them.  I didn't think her 80's work would really appeal to me, which is maybe true for the post mid-80's stuff, but I have completely fallen head over heels in love with the album "Hello, Big Man".  I mean, even the title is a bit embarrassing to say, but I'd be a liar if I didn't admit how much pure joy this album brings me.  I've said it before but I'll say it again...I truly think Carly was one of the best female voices ever and so many of her songs are simply top notch.  I really wish I had seen her back in the day.

Okay, I'm done rambling for now.  I don't know if anyone reads this stuff, and in truth it doesn't matter because I really write this more as a sort of online diary for myself, but hopefully it'll provide some valuable insight on some level at some point.  Until next time...

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