Reality

< Originally Posted To My music blog - 14/01/08 >

Here’s another acoustic track for you to have a listen to. It’s also another one I recorded while in France a couple of years back. It’s a simple arrangement with just 2 acoustic guitars and a vocal but when I wrote the song it just seemed like the sort of thing best kept simple. I considered adding drums, bass and the whole shebang but I really think it’s probably best left as it is.

It’s a pretty self-explanatory song if you listen to the words. I love comedy programs and funny films, I think it’s the escapism of it probably, as it is for everyone else I suppose. I always loved programs like Cheers with it’s familiar characters. Somehow the world they inhabit seems so much nicer and fuzzier (if that’s a word) than ours. I just wrote this tune one day after watching one such program, looking out window and realizing that real life can be a bit shit in comparison. Hardly profound I know but there it is. So that’s the basis of the song really, that feeling you sometimes get that you’d like to live in one of these programs where everyone’s always happy. “Crawl right through the screen” as it says.

Musically it’s just a few simple chords but I think it’s quite nice. The recording is a bit rough around the edges and I might re-record the song to improve it a little but I just wanted to get the track down before I forgot it really. I think a harmonica or something similar might be a nice addition but I haven’t got one in the right key at the moment. I used to use harmonicas quite a lot with my tunes, probably inspired by Neil Young who’s something of a hero of mine. I even have one of those neck brace things so I can play the guitar at same time, like a proper folkie, all I need now is cardigan and a pipe Sadly most of my harmonicas have been lost or claimed as toys by my brother’s kids. I’ll have to start building up a collection with a few keys again and get back at it.

(click image to enlarge)

So there you go, hope you enjoy the tune and please feel free to comment and let me know what you think. It’s true what they say you know “sometimes you wanna go… where everybody knows your name” hehe