Tuesday Tune: When a Star Fell Down
In honour of Yuri Gagarin flying into space 50 years ago, it seems only apt that today’s Tuesday Tune is based on space…sort of. I was going to post a song called My Little Orbit, but I have decided to leave that one for a bit. It would have been apt, as it is about a satellite that has fallen out of orbit from a planet’s gravity and is collapsing. But I forced Kyri so far out of his comfort zone for that song that I want to do it justice, so will leave it for another day.
Musically this is quite a special song for a number of reasons. Firstly, it started of with a rhythm guitar, but half way through recording, we decided that it would work better with a woozy Wurlitzer organ running through it. It was recorded shortly after the 4 track sessions, and as a result, we didn’t over produce it, which was something we had been prone to doing prior to that. We again experimented with stereo, phasing the bleeps across from one ear to the next. The other reason it is special, is that it is one of the very few songs that I play on. Around 2.08 in, a twinkly guitar refrain comes in. It is very light, but I play that tiny solo. It isn’t much, but I am stupidly proud of that bit. I think it is a pretty little bit of the song. Actually, case in point, when I played it first time, it sounded quite leaden, and didn’t add anything. However when we added a shimmer effect, it gave that whole cold feeling of space perfectly which is what I was after.
So, as with all the songs I write, When a Star Fell Down is about more than one thing. It is about a star falling down, but it is also about how we all fall, but things merely go on. It is about how ideas of who we are change, and how fear makes us believe in the supernatural, in God and that sort of stuff, when actually nothing changes. A shooting star is just a piece of rock burning up in the atmosphere.
Normally with my lyrics, Kyri and Alex make tiny changes to make them fit the tune they have come up with. They drop a word here, or add another here. This is one of the few times where Alex entered a whole new bit. After my little guitar bit, he entered a middle 8 verse which I absolutely love. It has two words specifically which I am amazed he got in there, but made them work. He managed to get ‘expunge’ and ‘remiss’, and they really propel the song along. You are surprised to hear them, and I always smile when I do, because it reminds me of the time we were recording.
It was at Kyri’s, and although never awkward around one another, we asked one another to leave and wait in his living room. It was weird hearing one person in another room belting stuff out without us being present. Although I think it worked really well in this instance. I think Alex wouldn’t have pushed his vocals at the end as much if we had been watching. I don’t think it would have been produced as well if Alex and I stuck our oars in whilst Kyri was doing it and I would sure as hell never have played my solo in time if they had been watching.
I really like this song, as I feel more involved in it than many of the others. It is interesting as the tune, although keys led, was technically pulled together by Alex, and of course, I got to play.
- Anand
