Release 8: Rails

Release 8: Apr 16, 2012 RAILS       BUY FROM         OR       PAY WHAT YOU WANT AT

My life is a jumble of lyrics scrawled in notepads. It's a list of musical ideas stored on my phone, hummed from the corners of shopping centres and buses. Instead of relying on mysticism, the 'bolt of lightning' religious experience of profound inspiration, I've trained myself into the habit of recording every tiny idea that goes through my head. No matter how stupid, derivative, pretentious or insane it may seem at the time, I drop whatever I'm doing and hum, strum or scrawl down that idea, without judgment, to be re-listened to or re-read later.

As you may expect, this can sometimes be a rather anti-social habit. I do, regularly, run off to a quiet corner or pull out my phone mid-conversation to tap down a sentence. I've been caught in the men's room singing (and then watched suspiciously by the newly urinating gentlemen as I exited the room). The plus-side is that I have a very lengthy library of song ideas. Often, my songs appear when a few ideas just obviously fit together. Sometimes I'll have an idea I think is strong enough to warrant pushing it around, re-writing lyrics over and over until it works. Occasionally, I get the 'bolt of lightning' and that can be pleasant.

I say this because 'Rails' came about 24 hours before I released it on my website via these techniques. Thanks to a busy week at work (stoopid work, getting in the way of stuff) and a flu last week reducing my vocal capability, the couple of ideas I'd been working on got sidelined.

So, I opened the ol' bag of tricks looking for a new song. The verse melody was an idea I had (as near as I can tell) in late 2009. The lyrics were largely formed earlier this year while I was sitting at Brisbane airport at 5am. Once these fitted together, the chorus melody and the line 'all you need to find is a way to get back on the rails' just seemed to fit in and draw the parts neatly together.

I put 99% perspiration into every 1% of inspiration I have. That's what I DO. I don't believe talent is some mystical process where musical skill appears like magic. But I've always been a cynic like that. When I was in Grade 2 I told Cathy Mills that Santa Clause didn't exist and she cried her eyes out for the rest of the day. But fuck 'er, she had it comin'
xx