Some songs come easy. An idea will spark a writing session, ideas will flow, and by the end of one or two sessions, a song will exist in very close to it’s final form.
15 Minutes was not one of these songs.
What eventually became the album’s dark, epic opening track began as a piano ballad called ‘Let Go’. Dan showed me the song and I set out to put a bass line to it. So far so good. The intro/verse line came easily and remains essentially the same as you hear on ‘Hold Back Light Show’. A few sessions with the full band and the song sounded pretty much done.
We recorded ‘Let Go’ during sessions for our an independent album we were working on at the time. We got all the way to mixing the song, but it became obvious that it just wasn’t working. The chorus was falling flat and the song overall was too much of a ballad. An honest friend of ours laid it out; “Well, it will probably get you girls, but ‘meh.’”
Now sometimes in this situation a song would just be left to die, but we dug the verse and melody. ‘Let Go’ was stripped down and rebuilt. I think in the end we probably went through 4 or 5 fully written chorus’ before arriving at one that fit. Of course with the new musical direction of the song, the old lyrics no longer fit. What Dan came back with was dark and edgy. Gone was the piano ballad. 15 Minutes was born.
In the recording sessions for H.B.L.S., Byron pushed 15 minutes to be even bigger, even heavier. It ended up being one of the hardest songs to mix, with so much going on that needed to be tamed. I lost count of the number of times the question “Hey Byron, how’s it going?” was met with the response of “Oh, not bad. Just tried yet another mix of 15 Minutes.”
The song you hear on Hold Back Light Show is the result of over two years of evolution, some easy, most not. In the end, some songs are worth fighting for.
Check out 15 Minutes on our myspace. Let me us know what you think.
If patience is a virtue then you’ve just written it’s anthem. 15 minutes is a cool song, guys. The hard work paid off.
See you in a week and a half!
Rob
Thought it may be interesting to post the original lyrics of ‘Let Go.’ Had to go back in an old journal to remember it actually. While I was writing I had the worst case of writers block and it took months to finish it (as is indicated by the random scraps of paper, receipts, napkins stuffed into the pages and pages of scribbling).
LET GO
What have I missed? It’s been almost a year.
Come whisper the meaning of life in my ear.
We’ll sit on your roof with a bottle of white
And watch extra-terrestrials burn up the sky.
You’re the prettiest girl that I’ve met in real life
So I’ll blow you a bubble to catch the whole night;
In its soapy reflection we’ll rename the stars
As a new constellation that we can call ours.
But you’ll burst the universe on the palm of your hand.
Let go.
It’s been almost a year, what have I missed?
Come kiss the meaning of life on my lips.
I’ll whistle it later before I forget
And catch all the notes in a butterfly net.
But you’ll burst the universe on the palm of your hand.
And I’ll burst your whispered words on the sharp end of my pen.
Let go.