Neil Fein's Blog

Arrr.

Welcome Home is coming along. I wrote new lines for the bridge, keeping just a bit. I think I may get rid of even those last vestiges of the "old" song. I'm reaching the point where I'll have to stop fiddling with it.

Playing with the music for Push, I realized that, taken out of the "Welcome Home" structure, the music depends on the foreshadowing of Time Runs Ahead (same chord structure as the chorus), and it doesn't quite have the same impact if the two songs aren't part of the same structure. But that's a damn good melody, if I do say so. But Time Runs Ahead is difficult to sing, dull on stage, and needs a rehaul anyway. Perhaps it will live on in this way only.

What else... Dance In My Kitchen will work nicely when I get around to actually stitching it together; I sat down and marked up the lyrics, it should work well. Got rid of a few metaphors that are repeated elsewhere, turned the first two verses into a pre-chorus, and so on.

She Told It To Me Twice is quite nice, I just don't like the last chorus. I like the idea of switching the wording around a bit for the repeat, I just haven't yet found the way to do it.

It will be nice to get all this off my music stand so I can get to work on sonething new.

I've been getting more and more writing done the more I go away from ballpoints and use pencil, maybe it reminds me of my art school days.

(If I keep appending "More..." to these entries, I'll end up with an entries titled Yet Even More Writing (Yet Again).

I did some more work on "She Told It To Me Twice", I added an extra chorus with alternate lyrics. I'm not sure if it makes the song too serious.

I was speaking with Craig and we were talking of 11 September. We were also talking about the old "Welcome Home" song, and I made the connection between the two. I threw him off the phone and rewrote the first verse as the start of a story about a guy why used to work in WTC and now does not. I liked it so kept going; I worked in some very nice imagery. I'm also trying for another feeling: The last time I was in the city, I had a feeling of belonging in that place, something I've not felt since college. And part of me has always been scared of making the jump to living there.

Even though the song still needs work, it's in good enough shape to play for criticism, so I'll do that tonight. I just wonder if I'll come across as look-I-can-write-a-9/11-song-too, not the point at all. (This crowd produced a CD of them.) This song makes "She Told It To Me Twice" look like comic relief.

Still haven't been able to get anywhere wirth "Dance"; will keep at it.

Editing music is harder than I thought it would be. I'm going to have to pull about half of "Dance In My Kitchen" out and rewrite to fill in the line structure, it's not just a cut job. I knew this, of course, I just have to complain about it.

On the brighter side, I was able to rewrite "She Told It To Me Twice" quite well. It's a much tighter song, a bit shorter.