Hi! It’s me! Ian Freud! You remember me, right? Ian Freud? Case Western High? I did the whistling belly button trick at the school talent show. I dated your sister Mary Pat a couple of times till you told me not to? Well anyway, it’s been a few months since I updated anything on this here webzone, but by no means has it been a quiet time. And look! Here’s a new song for you to enjoy.
Lyrics
The past is at the window
But it doesn’t ring a bell
She pretends she doesn’t see it
But if she did she wouldn’t tell
She keeps still just like her mother taught her
And she doesn’t say a word
She’ll always be the daughter
Of secrets left unheard
Then she feels the morning
Bright upon her face
Holding it together
She runs the human race
Where will the future take her
Through the wind and rain
But hold her close to your heart
And keep each other sane
Secrets hide in shadows
That clamber up the walls
A hundred unread emails
A thousand unanswered calls
Thoughts
Not going to lie. I kind of love this one. Despite it being pretty fresh out of the box, I’ve already forgotten the genesis of the musical parts of the song. One of those weird moments of alchemy I guess – where a song kind of ‘happens’. The only bit I’m sure about – and it’s a little bit lost in the mix – is a faintly exotic riff, which I first penned some time last year when I was footling around trying to write something like the folksier end of Led Zep.
The lyrics though came from another song altogether – a kind of limpid, lightweight pop ballad that I wrote a couple of years ago but couldn’t quite get over the line. It was very much in tone (and content) like a Beautiful South record. In fact, I had a vague idea of pitching it to Jacqui Abbot, who I kinda-sorta knew through Twitter. In the end though, the song fizzled out and it was by happy chance that I realised the metre fit this new song pretty much perfectly.
So. The two were slammed together and presto! Another chart topping megahit from the Carps hit factory!
Musically, it does actually have a certain harmonic richness. Ostensibly in E major, it has a lovely A minor – C6 – D6 movement in the verse, and the chorus itself is in G, which is at least slightly unexpected. I’m also quite fond of the extended guitar passage in the middle. Originally, there was a further layer of guitar noise which sounded colossal (and very noisy) but it seemed a bit hysterical on reflection so that was stripped out.
And the finally component is the bass, added again by my great friend Mark J Smith – who really took the rhythm track in a totally different direction to where I imagined it would go… which is exactly why I’m enjoying this collaboration.
I think some time last year I proclaimed that I should be slung overboard into the sea if I hadn’t finished my album by the end of 2022, but as it happens I’ve had a sluggish last few months, with too much in my head to properly focus on getting things finished. Now that we’re into 2023, I can see some kind of end in sight and hope to have the album done in the next month or so (if I can stop fiddling around with new songs).
And that’s all the news for today. Now fuck off – you’re blocking my sun.