Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2014 17:23:27 GMT -5
Well, hey, nobody has posted here in awhile so here is the first draft of a new one, tentatively titled "Mercury Dime," but that can always change and probably will.
It is an economic song. The first line came to me Saturday while I was driving down the street in my neighborhood and saw some woman stopped at a stop sign. Her door was open and she was leaning out adjusting her driver's-side rearview mirror and I thought, "That car is new enough that it ought to have one of those toggle-switch thingies inside to adjust the mirror, but maybe it is broken." And I noticed bits of duct tape on the car so I'm guessing there were other things broken down that she never got around to fixing.
So I wrote down "She rolls down the window and adjusts the rearview/It stopped working some time ago" and today, on my lunch hour, I sat down with it and a guitar and the rest spilled out in about 15 minutes. Or maybe 20. I changed it from being about an unnamed woman to first-person.
I'm sure it'll go through more edits. I worry that the "Buffalo nickels and Mercury dimes" line makes the protagonist sound older than he is, but it does harken back to a different time. Plus, I like the way it rolls off the tongue when singing.
Any thoughts/insights/criticisms are welcome, and, as always, the song is copyright 2014 by David Hanners
Roll down the window, adjust the rearview
Damn thing stopped working some time ago
It’s really important to see behind you
‘Specially when you got nowhere to go
Daylight comes up fast in the left lane
Leaves me behind in no time at all
When I was younger, would've given it a run-for
Now it’s just the way life seems to fall
chorus:
There was a time when we used to make things
Buffalo nickels and Mercury dimes
Now the ones at the top are raking it in
While you and I fall further behind
Sleep don't come, not like it used to
Nothing but reruns on the TV
Climb in the car, head down the highway
Where Dreams give way to Uncertainty
Drive past the mill where I used to work
Windows of plywood, front gate locked tight
“No Trespassing” sign guards all the memories
From a time I slept at night
(chorus)
Roll down the window, air seems so stale
Breathe in an ache that never lets go
It’s important to see behind you
‘Specially when you got nowhere to go
(chorus and end)
It is an economic song. The first line came to me Saturday while I was driving down the street in my neighborhood and saw some woman stopped at a stop sign. Her door was open and she was leaning out adjusting her driver's-side rearview mirror and I thought, "That car is new enough that it ought to have one of those toggle-switch thingies inside to adjust the mirror, but maybe it is broken." And I noticed bits of duct tape on the car so I'm guessing there were other things broken down that she never got around to fixing.
So I wrote down "She rolls down the window and adjusts the rearview/It stopped working some time ago" and today, on my lunch hour, I sat down with it and a guitar and the rest spilled out in about 15 minutes. Or maybe 20. I changed it from being about an unnamed woman to first-person.
I'm sure it'll go through more edits. I worry that the "Buffalo nickels and Mercury dimes" line makes the protagonist sound older than he is, but it does harken back to a different time. Plus, I like the way it rolls off the tongue when singing.
Any thoughts/insights/criticisms are welcome, and, as always, the song is copyright 2014 by David Hanners
Roll down the window, adjust the rearview
Damn thing stopped working some time ago
It’s really important to see behind you
‘Specially when you got nowhere to go
Daylight comes up fast in the left lane
Leaves me behind in no time at all
When I was younger, would've given it a run-for
Now it’s just the way life seems to fall
chorus:
There was a time when we used to make things
Buffalo nickels and Mercury dimes
Now the ones at the top are raking it in
While you and I fall further behind
Sleep don't come, not like it used to
Nothing but reruns on the TV
Climb in the car, head down the highway
Where Dreams give way to Uncertainty
Drive past the mill where I used to work
Windows of plywood, front gate locked tight
“No Trespassing” sign guards all the memories
From a time I slept at night
(chorus)
Roll down the window, air seems so stale
Breathe in an ache that never lets go
It’s important to see behind you
‘Specially when you got nowhere to go
(chorus and end)