From Inspiration, through innumerable tangents, to something like a song
DAY 1
Songs usually seem to start with the words but this time it started with a guitar.
Stumbling across this progression was a gut-punch that brought on, for reasons know only to my unconscious, the painfully intense need to tell my parents that I love them and value them. Not only that but for them to believe it, wanting to be certain of the fact that they truly KNOW.
It’s really bloody challenging to get across the sheer depth of feeling needed to express in normal day-to-day life.
“Hey, so completely out of the blue it just viscerally occurred to me how fragile and ephemeral life is, and we all are, so it felt like the right moment to thank you from the bottom of my soul for the way that you have introduced me to the world. I feel so incredibly lucky and safe and seen. Cheers, anyway, could you pass the salt?”
So I played it on repeat and wrote along…
The line: “Mum and Dad, fancy that, you filled me with the faults you had” immediately jumped out as a potential chorus, very much inspired by the Philip Larkin poem This Be The Verse.
This Be The Verse
By Philip Larkin
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another’s throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.
I sat there for hours, writing in circles and crying. An unplanned, completely uncontrollable outpouring of love and appreciation… on a bloody Wednesday afternoon.
“You gave me the best of you.”
DAY 2
The following day I looked at what I had written so far and sat down to play again. It broke me almost immediately and I felt like I had something special, so I setup the camera to capture the emotion, and cycled through it on repeat for an hour or so. Here that is, with the barely held back tears, and quite obviously, absolutely shattered demeanour.
“Little bears and dreambeasts.”
DAY 3
The following morning the house was empty, so I sat down to circle around and around the song as it began to build itself into some kind of coherent shape. However, there were A LOT of tangents on the way.
You’ve pretty much got yourself an entire live set of unreleased tracks, interspersed between songwriting and general rambling and nonsense.
Thinking maybe livestreaming a writing sessions like this once a week, every couple of weeks could be fun…
Here’s another hour of music for your audiovisual pleasure. There’s timestamps below if you want to hop around or listen to particular tracks.
The Tangents
12:50 – “Red Moon”
15:44 – Funkiest lil interlude known to man
18:49 – “Sore Thumb”
38:57 – “In My Mind”
44:15 – “Ain’t Got Time”
46:42 – Thinks there’s someone in the house.
57:51 – “My Horizon”
1:01:15 – “A Sad Song For When You Next Fall Apart”
So, even though we don’t have a finalised structure or anything yet, I think “Mum + Dad” is coming together. It feels like all the words are there now, it’s just arranging them in the correct order.
Mum + Dad
You’re all I’ve ever known
You taught me right from wrong
I read between the lines
Sometimes
You made November warm
You read me storybooks
You love to play with words
I think that’s why I sing
You gave me your guitar
You worked so fucking hard
You moved us to the country
I cycled in circles in the rain
*Catch it all before it falls*
You drove us through the dark
To watching shooting stars
I’m OK being weird
That’s a privilege
Mum and Dad, fancy that
You filled me with the faults you had
————————————–
Know that I, know it’s true
You gave me the best of you
You gave me the best of you
You make me feel tall
When I’m a child inside
You’re gentle and you’re kind
A hug on both sides
Little bears and Dream beasts
The loveliest of trees
The highwayman came riding
Past a pile of stones, and three white hens
Catch it all before it falls
My family and other animals
I’m back in the studio on August 19th, so if I can get it into some semblance of ready to go, then this one might just be on the agenda. Maybe it should be?
What do you think?
Speak soon,
DAVIDD