Inspiration struck us hard this week. We were captivated by a creative vision, and there was no escape. Also, we recorded a song.
Two words: blanket fort. We built a fort over our entire livingroom. It's got two rooms, one district, an entry hallway, and towels for pavement. Best of all, it's keeping the room insulated and helping us survive the ice cold Los Angeles weather.
By Sean
I think my subconscious wrote most of the lyrics for this song. Michael played me the guitar riff right before I went to bed, and I told him that the song had elements that reminded me of the beach boys....and frank sinatra....and elvis. Maybe that was why I had such weird dreams that night. And when I sat down to write the lyrics the next morning, the verses popped out in about 20 minutes, as if I was taking dictation from my brain.
That being said...I did have to tell my brain "NO" a couple times. It kept wanting to put in lots of "oooooooo baby baby" harmonies.........close call.
"Beginner's Luck"
by The Theory of Funkativity
Verse:
I don't mind the space and I don't mind the stares
And I don't mind all of your irrational fears
'Cause i think think even your nightmares are pretty
I wish you and I were just as recurring
Well you know that I am bad on the phone
Your face isn't there to tell me what's wrong
I don't know why you still put me on hold
Are you telling me that I should hang up
Chorus:
No, it hasn't come to that yet
I refuse to give up while there's still a chance
Verse:
Did I accidentally set off the alarm
I think that I might have been trying too hard
If you want we can go back to the start
Like when we smoked in the back of my car
You do a bad job of hiding your love
Try as you might, it continues to show
There's no need to feel embarrassed for us
We'll blame it all on beginner's luck
Chorus:
I hope it hasn't come to that yet
I won't give up while there's still a chance
I know that you have nothing left
Please, if you'll let me, I'll make amends
Verse:
I don't know why you still put me on hold
Are you telling me that I should hang up
Chorus:
I hope it hasn't come to that yet
I won't give up while there's still a chance
I know that you have nothing left
Please, if you'll let me, I'll make amends
I hope it hasn't come to that yet
I won't give up while there's still a chance
I know that you have nothing left
Please, if you let me, I'll make amends
By Michael
"Beginner's Luck" is all about the contrast between a steady walking melody and the slow harmonic progression behind it. The interplay between the two creates an odd sweetness and a heavy sense of directionality. There were some times when I embraced that pull and others when I rejected it. This put the track somewhere in between a love song and a bittersweet ballad.
By Michael
Lately we've been starting the recording processes before the songs are fully flushed out. It's not because of time constraints; toying with the arrangement of the songs at the time of recording lets us make decisions based on the spirit of the moment and tonality of the instruments. To some extent this will happen inevitably at any recording session, but by entering the studio with compositional doors left open we're better able to reimagine the songs.
