Well look at that – two songs with girls' names, and I’ve stuck them right next to each other. It seemed only fair that they got to enjoy each other’s company for the rest of time – I’m sure in real life they would be great mates. In comparison to Sarah, Molly Mae was a little less of a metaphor and a little more based on a real person to begin with, although in the final analysis it’s not as specific as I sometimes make it out to be. Really, it’s about that mysterious person that catches your eye – be it on the bus, on the train, at the supermarket, at the bar, or perhaps working at the café down the road – you know what I mean – the type that you never really meet, but who nonetheless warrants a little more attention than the rest. We’ve all had someone like that cross our path from time to time – I guess this is my way of explaining the situation through music.
There is, therefore, an element of fantasy in this song – the thought of “what if you and me could get together one day” - but at the same time there is the inherent realisation that the “fantasy” can exist only as a result of a corresponding defeatist mentality, whereby you are acutely aware that it would never actually happen. I’ve had this discussion with people in the past – the common view is that if your “Molly Mae” (whoever it might be) ever progressed beyond that initial point of admiration, it would ruin the whole experience.
Recording Molly Mae was a real sticking point at first, because I never really knew what I wanted to do with it. The pre-production sessions were basically concentrated on getting the bass and drums right, and not much else. But whereas with the other songs, I had some idea in my mind of how I wanted them to sound in the end, Molly Mae for a long time never progressed passed the point of being a good little ditty – fun to play live, a song people seemed to like, but lacking something production-wise.
In a solo setting, I always found the dynamic of song seemed to work, so I knew I probably didn’t have to change too much when the band came into the equation – it was just a matter of adding something interesting that gave it a bit of “pizzazz” (for want of better term). Enter the organ…
I had borrowed Kent Eastwood’s (fellow Sydney artist) Nord 2 keyboard for a couple of weeks, and I decided to dig up a dirty organ sound and run it through my old Traynor guitar amp. I couldn’t tell you why I made either decision, but once I started jamming the fun began. And the frustration I might add, because I had never really tried to play an “organ” part before, and if the truth be known I had little or no idea what I was doing. But as the hours ticked by, the part began to make sense, and the whole song began to take on a bit of a “novelty” feel. There was a chance I was going too far, but this organ-through-the-amp thing was sounding just crazy enough to be kind of cool, and in any case I was having a great old time getting the part together. As for the next door neighbours, I can’t be sure if they were feeling the love, but in my defence I did go and apologise when I was done.
The backing singers (or the “oooh bop bop” girls as I like to call them) were almost a matter of course once the organ was in there doing its thing. Again, I’m not sure where the idea came from, but in the spirit of trial and error I was all of a sudden running back and forth to the microphone, trying to produce the best “ooh bop” girl I could come up with, and layering up a three-part harmony to run throughout the song. When I had settled on all the parts, I was stoked. It was a bit wacky sure, but even though the ideas were from left field, I was happy that it seemed to have changed the song for the better. In my mind anyway, I’d captured the type of mood that the song evoked when I was first writing it – that playful aspect of the relationship I described above – and I suppose that’s what was missing up to this point. Judging by other people’s first reactions (pretty much everyone I played it to), it could be argued that I had lost the plot slightly, but then again sitting in a little room by yourself for days on end can do that to you. And slowly but surely, they are all coming around to it… Just as I did!
To add the finishing touches, Sarah Humphreys and Sam Buckingham came in to help me re-do the backing vocals (there is still one “Renny” in the Ooooh bob bob girls….), and I dug up my old mate – the Clarinet – to add a final little melody to the last chorus. I may not have lived up to the school’s expectations on the old clarinet, but as it turns out I had learned to play it well enough to put a wacky little part at the back end of Molly Mae, so I suppose I must have been paying attention at some point. Finally, a bit of tambourine seemed to be in order so I've done my best "Oooh Bop bop" girl impersonation with that too... Rumours still circulate that it was on this song that I broke my “clap free zone” rule for this album, but I cannot confirm or deny these reports. No comment.
Anyway, enjoy “Molly Mae”.
And guess what – it’s the first single! (See below for details of the launch).
See you next week for some Love Potion.
Cheers,
Renny
(Against my prediction, it tuns out this was longer than last week. Typical...)
------------------------------------
MOLLY MAE
Oh Molly Mae, you look like a simple girl
I like the way you talk and the way you move
But I hate what you’ve done to my world
I gotta tell you, oh listen babe,
You got me licking all my wounds
Oh what I’d give, if I could put the same spell on you
....
Baby I could use you around, but man I’m such a hopeless clown
If you build me a bridge I’ll probably burn it down
....
Oh Molly Mae, you know I’m just a simple man
Yeah I ain’t that rich and I ain’t that flash,
But I promise that I’d love you just the best that I can
Believe me, I only need a fighting chance,
But please forgive me sweet, I got two left feet
So don’t you try making me dance
....
Baby I could use you around, Oh Molly I could use you know
So build me a bridge and I’ll try not to burn it down
....
Oh Molly Mae I will not do you wrong
Cause girl you know your sweetness wrote this song
I’ll stand in line forever if that’ll take me to the head of the queue.
It’s a damn small price to pay to get to you.
....
Oh Molly Mae, maybe I’m headed for a fall
Yeah but I’m fine with that, I’ll just keep on coming
My heads never been shy of that big brick wall, oh baby
I’m gonna keep banging away
Till that wall starts breaking, the earth starts shaking
And maybe you’ll stop and hear what I’m saying
....
Baby I’ve figured it out, just as soon as that wall comes down,
I’ll build us a bridge we can follow it right out of town
Baby I could use you around, oh Molly I could use you now
So let’s build us a bridge, we can follow it right out of town
I’ll build us a bridge, we can follow it right out of town
Yeah I’ll build us a bridge we can follow
Right out of town.
....
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Organ, Percussion, Clarinet - Renny
Drums – Matt Field
Bass – Pat Savina
Backing Vocals – Sarah Humphreys, Sam Buckingham
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