Anyway - Exploring - this week's little number. For a long time there, Exploring was the only real "new" song I had. I had tried to write others, but they just wouldn't come. At least not in a way that made me want to finish them. As far as songs go, this was one of the quicker ones I have written. Normally the process for me is fairly painful, but I managed to get this one out in about a day. I think I had a gig that I was trying to finish it for. Often my songs have been created because of a perceived lack of a certain type of song in my live set - in this case I felt I was missing a bit of an up-beat toe-tapping number (for want of a better description). I certainly went for the "up-beat" vibe for that first show, but it has since mellowed a fair bit, and the energy on the album recording is pretty much how I imagined it should sound. A cruisy country number? Perhaps...
I can't say the lyrics are among my finest, but the point of the song was not to be complicated (as you might have guessed from the chorus). The point was to write something simple, easy to understand, easy to identify with. And when you are writing a simple song, it certainly helps if you know you only have a day to finish it!
My favourite memory from this song - and I often tell this story at my gigs - was when I played it in India one year on a hotel balcony. Travelling with my girlfriend at the time, we were both sitting on our balcony surveying the town of Agra (site of the Taj Mahal) and I decided it might be nice to get the guitar out. I had borrowed a half-sized guitar for the trip, essentially in the hope that I would have some sort of Beatles-esque moment and write 5 of the greatest albums of all time. In the end, I think I wrote one song, and it's not on this album.... nor is it likely to make an appearance on any of my future albums.
Anyway where was I - Exploring - that's right. So I pulled out my little half-size guitar and started to play Exploring, and as we looked down on the various rooftops about town, we noticed that the kids started to dance and clap their hands. As I continued, more and more kids joined in until the scene before us was pretty surreal. Dotted around the town of Agra, a series of rooftops with children laughing and dancing whilst their parents watched on smiling and clapping as well. I was a beautiful cross-cultural moment (if you could call it that - probably a slightly grander description than what I was after...), and a wonderful example of the power of music. I can't remember if I played the song twice or just did a super-extended chorus, but all the while I was thinking this was a pretty special moment. They had no idea what the song was about, no idea what I was saying, but the beauty of Indian kids is that they can find happiness in the simplest things, and on this occasion it was some weird white bloke playing his guitar on a hotel balcony. One of my fondest memories from my time in India that's for sure, almost out-weighing my disappointment that I wasn't able to write the 5 best albums of all time on my half-sized guitar.
The funniest part of that story was in fact the next day when I emerged from my hotel, and every second kid that I walked past pointed at me and went "Whiiiiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyi" before laughing and running away (have a listen to the chorus of the song and you will understand...). All of a sudden, I was an overnight celebrity in Agra. Madness. I can't imagine if I played on a balcony in Sydney it would have the same effect. Most probably someone would just call the police.
If you are ever travelling in India with a half-size guitar (or even a full one for that matter...), you are more than welcome to play this song and give the hotel balcony experiment a try!
My thanks to Bill Chambers for agreeing to play the lap steel guitar on this recording. Also to the other people that helped put the song together (see below).
Next week - Lonely Man - 9 down, 5 to go - see you then.
Cheers,
Renny
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EXPLORING
.. .. .. .. .. .. ....
No-one ever told me things could be this way
No-one ever told me what to do or what to say
Oh I woke up cold this morning, thinking of your smile
And thinking of you yawning, made me cry inside
....
No-one ever told me, things could be like this
No-one ever let me know about the things that I would miss
Oh I woke up cold this morning, thinking of your smile
Do you think that we can go exploring for a while
....
For a while. For a while.
Oh don’t let this be the end of you and me, can we try
....
No-one ever told me I could feel these things
No-one ever told me ‘bout the songs my heart could sing
Oh I woke up cold this morning, thinking of your smile
And thinking of you yawning made me cry inside
Oh I woke up cold this morning thinking of your smile
Do you think that we can go exploring for a while
....
For a while. For a while.
Oh don’t let this be the end of you and me, can we try.
Can we try. Can we try. Can we try.
....
Vocals, Acoustic Guitars, Piano, Keyboards, Ukelele, Glock – Renny
Drums, Percussion – Matt Field
Bass – Pat Savina
Backing Vocals – Sarah Humphreys, Sam Buckingham.
Lap Steel – Bill Chambers
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