Hard to believe it, but we are at the 2nd last track... How about that.
Our Time is a really important part of this album, because in many ways it's the song that got the whole thing started. There are a couple of songs on the album that were written before this one, but Our Time gave way to a big group of songs that all feature heavily. I hadn't written a song for quite a long time before this one came along (probably over a year), and I remember it being a real conscious decision to force myself to sit down and get it finished. As I have mentioned previously in these blogs, writing is rarely ever an easy process for me, so more often than not there does have to be some element of "forcing" involved, at least in the sense of making myself take the time out to sit down with the song and really give it the required attention.
In many ways, I have my bass player Pat Savina to thank for this song. I was filling in for him one afternoon teaching a few of his guitar students, and he asked me to teach one particular guy a "drop D" tuning. I knew what that was, but I had never played a song with a drop D tuning (for the non-guitarist - it's where the bottom E string is tuned down a note to D). As fate would have it, the student never turned up, and there I was with my drop D tuning and half an hour to kill before the next kid came in the room. In that time, just by a process of trial and error really, I managed to come up with the initial ideas for a song that would eventually become "Our Time". The "drop D" tuning in turn led to me trying an Open D tuning, and this ended up being a favourite of mine for the album (Sarah, Love Potion, The Edge, Lonely Man, Set in Stone, Flying). I don't actually think I realised how many there were until I just typed them!
At this time in my life, I wasn't really feeling extremely creative to be honest, so for "Our Time" I really tried to put an emphasis on the story within the song. Like most of my songs, it's still autobiographical, but for this song I shifted the focus onto my Dad rather than me. It's s story about the Christmas dinners we used to have when I was growing up, and the history behind those special once-a-year meetings in the city. I saw my Dad a lot more than that, but there was always a sense of occasion about those Christmas Dinners, and this song is I guess a tribute of sorts. A memory of those times we shared whilst I was growing up. Not to say that it's finished mind you - I'm sure there are a few more Christmas dinners to come...
For the recording - a lot of the usual suspects - my brother on Drums, Pat Savina on Bass, Carl St Jaques on the Viola and myself on whatever else I could think of to make it sound respectable. The most enjoyable part of this song however was the big crowd sing-a-long we organised for the end of the song. I was lucky enough have a bunch of people stay back after one of my shows in town, and together we laid down a big chorus for the outro. It's an effect I tried for a live recording at Bar me a while back, but this time we used some nice microphones and got a whole bunch more people to join in. I reckon the end result sounds pretty cool. But hey I am biased - better check it out for yourself...
Hope you enjoy "Our Time". Just the one track to go now. And one more week till the launch...
Cheers,
Renny
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OUR TIME
Sitting around this old table, faces washed in from the storm
Spinning your folk tales and fables,
You’ve been perfecting each day since you were born
Some people may judge this here setting,
Some folk may cast their condescending eye
I’ll let them have their opinion,
Cause from where I’m sitting, something just feels right.
For every year I remember, we’ve gathered at this symbol of some previous life
And I know it don’t give you an answer
To why the currency changed when you were still in your prime.
But closure is not why you come here,
That sort of thing couldn’t be further from your mind
We seldom get to spend a night together
But right here and now, this is our time
Our very own moment in time
She’s a cruel old town that held you down
And threw you away, far away from here.
But you held your neve, you made the changes
That have kept you running, kept you in the clear.
Still we return to the scene of the crime.
But everything is different now, you’ve left this world behind
So spare me your explaining, cause I’ll never be complaining.
Sitting around this old table with the chandeliers and the million dollar views
It’s a silver-plated land that you’re no longer made for
But you still live the life you choose.
No this memory won’t fade, I’ll keep it with me for the rest of my days.
No this memory won’t die, I can see it so clearly
This is our time.
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, Organ, Keyboards, Percussion – Renny
Drums – Matt Field
Bass – Pat Savina
Violas – Carl St Jaques
AND THANKS TO THE OUR TIME CHOIR!!!
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