"Lower"

UPDATE SOMETIME BETWEEN XMAS AND NEW YEAR'S, THEN REWRITTEN ON 1/3, BUT IT'S AFTER MIDNIGHT SO I GUESS 1/4: Originally (woo! plastered!) I wanted to end with a different song, which was I project I'd half- recording a long time ago (beginning of this year, I'd guess). It was much wordier, loop-heavy, and very "controlled"-sounding. I gave it up because I couldn't get the old and new guitar sounds to match. I tried going to drop-d, but it still wasn't right, which got me here. In the end this is almost certainly a better fit anyway, what with being more spontaneous and longer and stuff.

One thing both song had in common was this intense, dark, manner to them. It's basically metal but much different than than heavy wood or dread or 22 minutes--the first song (which never got a name) was more trip-hop, where this is more prog.

DOWNLOADABLE VERSION:
Rerelease Notes: This one's the same.



In the end really happy with how this turned out. It's almost fully improvised, and it feels loose but not shaggy or foot-dragging like "Grace" (or some parts of "Testify"), and it's alternately contemplative and violent, but still has the right energy that the fast and slow parts feel like the same song.

I had my guitar amp and my computer on the floor and just used the Mac's built-in microphone. Because I was standing, the mike was about six feet away (probably more, I wasn't standing on top of it). As a result the lyrics are probably a bit hard to make out. Although, the fact that you can make out anything should tell you how loud I was singing. It's not a complicated story, basically a cross between Paradise Lost* and "Viva La Vida"; I wanted something epic but also uncomplicated, and just sang what the title suggested to me.

Lyrics:
I thought I had it all (xseveral)
My kingdom, my kingdom, on fire
My body, my body, in chains
But the only thing
The only thing I missed was you

*If you had told me at the beginning of year one that I would have songs based on both Paradise Lost AND The Divine Comedy, I would have assumed you were joking. People change, plans change.