Lyrics: Part 2 - Leave It All Behind

Today's lyric sheet involves "Ch ch ch changes" that were made for the song Leave It All Behind. If you take a look at these pictures you can see all of the things that change from the original idea to the finished product. You can listen to the actual finished song by clicking here.

One thing that you might notice is that I wrote in 3 or 4 different types of ink, so my Dexteresque detective reasoning tells me that this song was not written all at once. Probably over many days. So many times songwriting for me is not getting struck by lightening and BAM out comes a full fledged idea. It takes work and time. But for me, often times that process is pretty magical.

Another thing that happened is the guitar tuning of the song changed. It eventually ended up being in DADFBE but on this sheet it was DADFAE.

Also, the lyrics have changed quite a bit from what they were. A verse was chopped of when I started recording the song. Oh yea, in "Todd Talk" underlining words means to put emphasis on them and "Bam Bam Bam" means to syncopate the words just in case you were wondering lol.

Lyrics - Your Every Move

Writing songs is a funny thing. In the next few blogs I'll give some examples of how shit goes down when it comes to lyrics.

Firstly, for me at least, music almost always comes first. That's a whole other blog's worth of trial and error, tape recordings of me mumbling, lost recordings, crushing self esteem blows.... with 1 out of every 20 attempts turning into a song......More of that at a later date!

This first example is from the song Your Every Move
from my album The Great Unknown.

This is a cool example of the lyrics coming together really fast. If you click on this image you can see the lyrics more closely. Most of these are what I actually used in the final version of the song (this is pretty rare).
The "Oh, oh oh" at the top of the page I didn't end up using at all. I totally forgot and that's why this song isn't on Top 40 Radio. Blast!!

I've come up with many shorthand ways to get my ideas down on paper. The X31000 in the middle of the page is a guitar chord. It lets me know which strings not to play and which to hold down.

I do enjoy the fact that some of the lyrics that got scribbled out were complete shit. "Caviar"??? Really? This is why I'm thankful for editing. I think writing is all about letting everything come out without judgment at first.....then going back later and judging the crap out of it. Writing lyrics is like being a little kid who gets to dress himself for school. Editing is the parent who makes sure you don't leave the house looking like a damned idiot.

Next up...Leave it All Behind

Leave It All Behind

One kooky thing about this song is the chorus. That weird guitar noise in the chorus is actually a keyboard ran through a distorted guitar amp. I love making crazy weirdo sounds. It's probably better that I don't have a band, because I would be able to make a whole lot more weird noises if I didn't have to hold down rhythm by myself all the time. In this song the stomping noises were done by my foot on a guitar case. Gotta make due without a drummer!

The guitar in this song is tuned low to high DADFBD.

This song was the last that I wrote for the album, I sort of gave myself a deadline at the end and this one snuck out. Sometimes deadlines can make cool things happen, sometimes they make nervous breakdowns happen. But since I can record everything at home, and have unlimited time pretty much, it leads to me trying to make everything perfect, but perfection doesn't exist. HERE is a link to a Seth Godin blog. I like some of the things that this fellow talks about. I think he helped me finish my album and take the plunge into being a working musician.

My new album The Great Unknown is available to buy HERE

Waiting Blues

I've always really loved the feel of Spanish music. I visited that sound on an old song called Deja Vu. Recently I'd been listening to a bit of Rodrigo y Gabriela and I think that sound had an influence on this song. It's one of the few groups that E. and I agree kick total ass. You can check them out HERE. Prepare to have your mind blown.

I tried to get some intensity in this song through some loud/soft dynamics. This song has minimal overdubs. Elizabeth wanted even fewer instruments (like always) but on this song there is still only 1 acoustic rhythm and 2 electric lead guitars. This is my weird version of a blues song.

This song is also going to have a video!!!! If you'd like to hear more about the Kickstarter campaign for the video you can go HERE. The guys from Mutual Co. are helping me get this thing off the ground and I think it's going to look fantastic. More details on that coming soon!

The Great Unknown

2 special guests on this track: James Lee Smith played lead guitar once again and Britt Scott sang backup vocals. Two Savannah Badasses. I hope to work with them again soon. I was listening to James' lead yesterday actually, and noticed how on the last note of solo he goes for a lower note, instead of a giant climactic high note like you'd usually hear in songs. It has a very tasteful effect. Especially because the chorus has more of a laid back underwater vibe anyways.

On a side note, it's so much easier to blog about someone else's playing/performance than it is your own.

In this song I'm reminiscing on the past, where I've been and realizing that the best things can happen when you give up and plunge into the great unknown. Now that can be about the highway, your future, or even God if you like. It's your call. It's your world, I'm just a squirrel trying to get a nut.