I’m a big fan of lyrics. IMO, when you’re writing music that even approaches the territory of “pop,” you’ve gotta pay special attention to the lyrics. It’s what people tend to grab onto first. Well, second, I think, just after the melody.
I’m not a fan, however, of including lyrics in the liner notes of CDs. I love it when OTHER bands do it, but I ain’t doing it. No way. Why? Well several years ago an old band I was in received some harsh criticism from a reviewer, in regards to our lyrics. Now, just to get this out of the way, I don’t really pay much attention to reviews. But at the same time I realized, unless you have some AMAZING lyrics, you’re setting yourself up for negative criticism by posting them in your liner notes. It just makes it too easy. And why put such a focus on something unless it really is your strong point? So I haven’t done it since.
Since then though, I like to think I’ve gotten a little better at writing lyrics. Lyrics can be tough, but I will say that ever since I started playing more guitar, they’ve come easier and easier for me. I try not to overthink them. But at the same time, if a lyric’s bugging me, I try to figure out why, and try to change it to something I can be happier with. But that’s about the extent of my editing process.
So anyway, for folks who have been kind enough to give a listen to “… Tambourines,” I thought you’d like a closer look at the lyrics, how I came up with them, etc. So over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting the lyrics to each song off the EP, along with a little about the inspiration behind them. Here’s the first … Working Title.
“Working Title” is not really “about” any one thing in particular. Which makes it a little atypical as compared to most my other songs. I usually write about a previous experience in one way or another. This song grew from the simple lyric “Someone better call someone for backup.” It just popped into my head one day. For no apparent reason. The vocal melody did too. Which made for an interesting challenge—coming up with a guitar part to match it. I rarely write songs that way (with a vocal melody first), because I’m not a good enough guitar player to be able to sit down and figure out something that will work with it. I really should try it on piano sometime. But I guess I got lucky on this day, as the guitar part came pretty quickly to me. It’s sort of a combination of two older songs “What’s Wrong,” and “Over It,” but sped up a bit with some different accents, and more rockin’.
When I sat down with my guitar for this one, I really had no more than that first vocal line to work with. Once I found the guitar part that would work with it, the rest of the lyrics came pretty quickly. But like I mentioned, while I was writing it I didn’t really think it was “about” anything. Looking back, I think some aspects of it might pertain to some of my work life, but for most of it, I think of it as an attempt at getting mildly political. At the time, George W. was still President, and he had just finally dropped the “oh shit, we’re screwed,” bombshell about the economy. (Remember how for months he claimed everything was just fine, then suddenly just threw his hands up?) So now that the song has been done and recorded for a while, I think of “Working Title” as a response to someone just sort of pulling the rug out from under you. It could be anyone. The leader of our country, a significant other, a friend, a boss … it happens. And it really does seem much harder for most people to convey bad news … which results in them either lying, or not even addressing the matter at all. But sometimes, it really does feel better just to say it.
Working Title
Someone better call someone for backup
Someone better sound the alarm
Yesterday it seemed like things were working
Today it seems you’re causing me harm
I can tell my the look that’s on your face
that you’re trying to hide some big disgrace
No one ever wants to be the bearer
of anything that sounds like bad news
But sometimes it feels better just to say it
especially when there’s not much to lose
I can tell by the way you shift your eyes
that you can’t tell the truth from all your lies
Did you really think that nobody would notice
that everything we built just turned to shit
And I’m trying to believe we didn’t blow this
but the numbers don’t add up, your piece won’t fit
Someone better call someone for backup
“Working Title” by The Good Graces
