Category: This Grenade Will Love You

on by

Sunday is approaching and I have put together Seven tracks I think we can squeeze into a day of recording. Daniela wanted to do the fast version of Haunted House which should be easy enough. Only two of the songs are new (less than a year old) so I hope to breath new life into the others. It will also be interesting playing and recording loud as opposed to quietly in my apartment.

Tonight I focused on the bass lines for ‘Grenade’ and ‘Blue Skies’ which are the toughest as they don’t really need one. I wrote something very basic which I may not even use. There are two ‘fudge’ spots in both songs where the lyrics need changing or revision, as of tonight inspiration has not come and they remain as is. I’ve been stuck/unstuck for the last few months to be honest but if I wait it out it usually breaks.

‘Blue Skies’ was written for a short screenplay I wrote (The Big Day) and is story specific so I’m a little stuck in that respect. I think of it as a piano song, for some reason I can hear it clearly in my head as piano and upright bass, simple and short. This song really grew on me. The first person I played it for while busking together in Central Park hated it, I’m glad I ignored his advise. Years later I still play it live on the increasingly rare times I perform.

‘This Grenade Will Love You’ has a double chorus at the end which needs better lyrics and the whole song in general is a variation on the same structure of chords played at different locations. This is why the bass line is hard to write. I’m not sure how it will work out, I still love the song and won’t give up on it just yet.

We are rehearsing this Thursday 6-9pm to go over all the songs and make sure we are prepared for Sunday. In the last two years I’ve spent so much time at the rehearsal studio I feel like I work there part-time.

I decided to keep a journal of the band as a writing exercise but unfortunately there is not much else doing. I’m sure after Sunday I’ll have something interesting to write about.

Track Listing (so far):

  1. Wherever We Are
  2. This Other World 
  3. Everywhere
  4. Haunted House – Fast version
  5. Goodbye Old Friend
  6. This Grenade Will Love You
  7. Blue Skies
The Big Day/Blue Skies

on by

*Very rough demo above*

This is a new song added to our E.P. list. It’s a fast one with a country/blues feel to it. The guitar is in an open D tuning. Leslie does a great piano riff over the verse while Daniela keeps a steady rolling beat throughout with brushes that’s not too overpowering. I still need to work out the bass which always changes the entire color of a song, maybe this weekend over a few beers. Regarding the lyrics, I think we’ve all been close to someone like the person in this song at sometime. I’ve known far too many.

This Grenade Will Love You

Verse #1
I have to hide, have to crawl,
Deep inside your heart,
After everything you’ve done.
I travel wide, can’t escape,
Those words like butcher’s knives.
The past, a rising tide.

Chorus
Conversations playing ‘round,
My empty head, both soft and loud.
This grenade will love you,
You say, this grenade will love you,
Each and every time.

Verse#2
Echoes in the night, and you lose your mind,
And you drown yourself in light,
Then watch all sorrows taking flight.
Leaving you here, a ship without a wheel,
And you’re anchored to the vine.
Oh grenade, tell me that you’re mine.

Chorus
Conversations playing round,
My empty head, both soft and loud.
This grenade will love you,
You say, this grenade will love you,
Each and every time.

Middle Eight
It’s a shame you’re going nowhere,
Can’t move forward, cant remember.
A troubled heart sleeps, a troubled heart sleeps,
and it floats in cheap wine.

Chorus
Conversations playing round,
My empty head, both soft and loud.
In libation’s wake we sail,
Try deny it, I’ll see you in hell.
This grenade will love you,
You say, this grenade will love you,
Each and every time.

on by

Plans for the weekend include writing out the music for ‘This Grenade Will Love You’. This will be difficult as I have no idea what key it’s even in. I de-tuned my guitar as an experiment to “find” new sounds/music and the song wrote itself in about 10 minutes. A strange and rare happening but I like it. I’ve never played it live or to anyone outside of Supersmall. It has a country folk feel to it. Anyway, I’ll need two guitars to get it done, one de-tuned and one in correct tuning.

I’m also working on a new song. I’ve been very productive lately and I want to get as much done while I’m in this space. I have the melody, first verse and chorus complete. It’s currently titled “It’s Just The Way It’s Meant To Be”. It’s an odd folk song about obsession, maybe it will work, maybe it won’t.

I also need to rewrite a song called Refractory Space. Daniela gave me lyrics to work into a song and when it was completed I had ventured too far from the point of the song, so I got to reign it back a bit. I like the melody so if the song doesn’t work out I’ll keep the tune for another day.

Next rehearsal is this Thursday. The aim is to get two other songs finished.