See? I'm back again already. Here's a new song I wrote for Guts. It'll be a lot more aggressive-Neil-Young-meets-Sebadoh in that format, but this is the prettier acoustic version. It's called "Been Away."
I've also been spending a lot of time with my new bass, mostly figuring out and practising this song, which has probably my favourite bass line of all time.
It's actually the Hatful of Hollow version I've been learning — a bit more subtle and soulful. I can play it OK with a pick, but it really requires finger style plucking to be done right. It's about time I learned how to do that, so maybe this is a good excuse.
I got to see The Smiths in the summer of 1986 on their The Queen Is Dead tour with my sister. Remember that, Dana? Still the best rock show I've ever seen. It was outdoors at Canada's Wonderland in Ontario, and it rained gently until the band came onstage. Morrissey said, "Sorry about the rain. We blame The Queen!" and they launched right into the thumping title track of the album. Very exciting. The rain let up in the middle of the song, and stayed away for the remainder of the show.
The big finale was "How Soon Is Now?" where maybe 50 people got up on the stage, swayed back and forth, and sang along with Morrissey. Johnny Marr's tremolo guitar seemed to be everywhere at once, pulsing through all our chests in a wave of love and misery and solidarity that felt like it would never end. It was completely transcendent. When they walked off the stage in triumph, the rain immediately started up again in big, plopping drops.
Somewhere at my parents' house I have a tape of that show, recorded on a Sony recording Walkman that I'd spent a lot of babysitting money on and smuggled in, in a backpack. It probably sounds terrible, but I sure would like to dig that tape up sometime, as I think of that show as one of the defining moments of my adolescence. Then again, maybe it's best to leave those kinds of memories intact in their erroneous perfection.
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4 comments:
Hey I really really like your song!
I do remember that concert though not in as much detail as you do. I remember being so happy to go with you. I had just turned 15 and you were so much cooler than me! I remember the backpack with the recorder (that we had to be quiet around) and the rain and of course the girls flocking to the stage at the end.
Really beautiful song by the way. I would be interested in hearing it more "aggressive" and maybe rougher around the edges.
Thanks, guys. Me too. So far it's a little TOO rough around the edges for public consumption.
I saw the Smiths on the same tour but in Scotland - I still have a section of Morrisey's shirt he threw into the Mosh-pit! Great days
John from Aberdeen
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