Crossfire:
Well I'll be perfectly honest with you, I don't have a whole lot to say about this song. It is what it is I suppose. I can tell you that it's one of the older songs on the album, and that I wrote it at a time of uncertainty in my life, where a lot of things weren't really making sense to me. Hence the "Caught in the Crossfire" line that keeps returning. That's a bit how it felt. As a general rule, I am not usually able to write much when I am in those periods - the songs tend to come afterwards via a process of reflection. A lot of songwriters will tell you that their best work often comes from the more difficult times in their lives, and whilst I would agree with that to an extent, I rarely seem to get the music out until after the event. Crossfire I guess is a bit of an exception to that rule.
The emotions in this song are pretty raw, and I didn't want to lose that from a production point of view. As such, it remains fairly sparse throughout aside from a slight build through the second verse. There was a really strong energy with the band on this recording, which made it one of the easier songs to work with when I took it back to my home studio. Fortunately I had a nice old upright piano at my disposal (thanks to my grandmother who no longer uses it), and that would become a really important part of how the song took shape.
A big shout-out again to the viola skills of Carl St Jacques, who seems to have an amazing ability to capture the mood of a song when he plays. It was purely a stroke of good fortune that I was able to work with him on this record, as most of the time he is based in the USA. I can't imagine what he must have been thinking when I set up the mic in my brother's living room (in a place called "The Purple Palace" of all things...) and told him to "Jam", but to his credit he remained as professional as ever, and ended up giving me some really beautiful parts to work with.
Thanks also to Kent Eastwood, whose accordion drones added a nice bit of energy to the track through the middle section. A curious decision you would have to say, as we had never used the accordion on this song before, but I think it really made a difference. And last but not least, the beautiful voice of Sarah Humphreys, which would not be out of place on any recording. www.myspace.com/sarahhumphreys - please check her out if you haven't done so before.
As for the rest, well that's just me doodling on a few different things, but no-one really needs to know about that...
Next week, Set in Stone.
See you then,
Renny
PS - National tour dates taking shape... Check out the gig guide for all the info.
----------------------------------------
CROSSFIRE
I left my heart in the open again
Now I’m running out of breath in the land of no man
Will I be caught in the Crossfire, caught in the rainstorm
I got myself in a bad place again,
Now I’m running in the dark, down a street with no end
Don’t wanna be caught in the Crossfire, caught in the rainstorm
C’mon courage, tell me your name, come and make friends with me
C’mon courage, come and feed me again, cause this could be the end of me
The end of me
I left my soul in the spotlight again
Now I’m lit up in a field where I can no longer pretend
Will I be caught in the Crossfire, caught in the rainstorm
Show me a way I can make this all a dream,
Show me a way I can live here, show me a way I can breathe
Don’t wanna be caught in the Crossfire, caught in the rain storm
C’mon courage, tell me your name, come and make friends with me
C’mon courage, come and feed me again, cause this could be the end of me.
My body breathes, but my mind cuts off the air
Honey I wish I didn’t love you, I wish I didn’t care
Looks like I’m caught in the Crossfire, caught in the rainstorm
Looks like I’m caught in the Crossfire, caught in the rain
Looks like I’m caught in the Crossfire, caught in the rain
Don’t wanna be killed by the Crossfire, killed by the rainstorm.
Don’t wanna be killed.
Vocals, Guitars, Piano, Synth, Percussion – Renny
Drums – Matt Field
Bass – Pat Savina
Viola – Carl St Jaques
Accordion – Kent Eastwood
Backing Vocals – Sarah Humphreys
No comments:
Post a Comment