This tune was a recording nightmare. I’ve had this vague idea and a few lines batting around in my head since last week, but I would pull out my acoustic and I just couldn’t get it to work. So, last night while sitting around in the midst of a Harry Potter marathon (btw, wildly off topic, but the early movies are still adorable. I laughed so much.), I got the idea to pull out my electric thinking maybe mixing it up a bit would help me break through whatever wall I was running into.
That much seemed to work out, and I ended up finishing drafting this one at something like 2 or 3 in the morning while watching Prisoner of Azkaban (not relevant, but still a fact).
So today, when I decided to do a rough recording, I realized I had a dilemma – the amp I was using to mic my vocals with the acoustic is my electric amp. Since I need that for the electric guitar, I would have to figure out something else to mic my vocals with. Tried the clip on mic and got a pitiable amount of volume. Eventually settled on using my acoustic amp. This was still a nightmare, because even at max volume I couldn’t get a pittance of the volume of the guitar at the lowest volume setting. Boy, the jimmyrigging involved in this recording…I can’t even…
And then, when I think I’ve got a set up that will at least suffice to rough something up, my chair starts sinking again. My chair does that. I need to fix it. I just haven’t because it involves a trip to the hardware store and finding some sort of pipe that will be sturdy enough, and yet that I can actually cut through. I’m not particularly a fan of the hardware store. (To be fair, I’m not particularly a fan of stores in general, though…)
So, I would start off at mic level, and then suddenly the mic was up at my forehead. I had to start over about 6 times before I got lucky enough that my chair didn’t sink a foot in a period of less than 5 minutes. (BTW, as I type this, my chair is fine and hasn’t sunk in at least 40 minutes. Thank you, Chair, for being an asshole.)
So, as usual, this is pretty rough. It’s less than 24 hours old. There’s something about the vocals that I’m finding hard to sing-I presume it’s that it’s mostly in Em. E isn’t one of the strong points in…whatever my vocal range even is. Oh, and for no reason the callus on my ring finger has partially peeled off, so that’s going to be tender until it builds back up again. Joy.
Catch Fire
It’s time to face the facts
they tell you there’s no going back
they say it’s in the friends you’ve made
aren’t you afraid?
There are secrets that all liars keep
Nightmares only haunt you if you sleep.
It like being wrapped up in barbed wire
when they say you lay in the bed you made
this is a game you never get to win
I hope the fear is sinking in.
If you’re not careful then you might catch fire
you might just be bigger than you are
what if the life you lead makes them all liars
how will you hide the battle scars?
Maybe you’ll catch fire
Scars might turn to stars
if you’re tired of being tied
to who they say you are
then burn a little bright
let them see the light.
Every night fades into the day
words alone can’t keep the sun away
It’s time to face the facts
moving forward means you can’t turn back
Life is more than just a masquerade
aren’t you afraid?
Maybe you can catch fire
Your scars can turn into stars
Let yourself burn bright
morning always comes after the night.
If you’re lucky you might just catch fire
You might shine much brighter than a star
the life you lead might make those bastards liars
you can proudly wear your battle scars
they’re all you have to show them who you are.
