Harkening

Harkening
Written and Recorded 2013

"Harkening" is a song that I wrote, recorded, and then let die. This was one of the last that I tried to write for Of the North near the end of the band's life. At the time, I thought it would be a nice addition to a stale setlist and had even asked our cello player, Kent, to write a part for it. But the band broke up and I fell out of love with the song. It feels undeveloped and forced to me.

This song is clearly intended for a larger ensemble and needs those extra voices to disguise some of the song's shortcomings. When I'm truly honest with myself, many of the Of the North songs were OK and were dressed up/disguised because of the huge instrumentation. I'd like to think this is one of the last songs to go that route of "Part-writing" over songwriting. The band that I am currently a part of, Whiskey Doubles, is extremely focused on good songwriting and exposed arrangements. It's a wonderful challenge that has made me step up in a BIG way. But I wouldn't be where I am now without the lessons I've learned along the way. It's all about the journey.

• This demo is missing a solo over the bridge that I'm pretty sure I wanted Kent to do. I never heard all of Kent's cello part for this song, but it probably would have helped.
• The interlude section in this song is just bad. I remember wanting to not start another song with the tonic chord. So I forced it and this is the result. Again, it feels undeveloped and it just keeps coming back throughout the song. I really, really dislike it.
• Overall, I do like the verses of this song. I took extra care with them because there isn't a lot else going on there. For some reason, the lyrics remind me of the movie Angels and Demons (not the book, unfortunately.) It doesn't help that the term "harkening" is often associated with angels. Whoops.
• It's no coincidence that the best parts of this song (verse and chorus) have simple chords and let the vocals lead the way. Perhaps I could have stripped the song down to those two parts and worked with it more, but they just didn't seem strong enough to save.
• Another songwriting philosophy that I have tried my best to stick to is from Elliott Smith. In college, I watched an interview he did about the songwriting process. While most of it was not very helpful due to terrible interview questions, he did throw in one gem. He talked about how he needed to complete a song, no matter how terrible it was, before moving on. That way it's not just hanging out as some incomplete piece of garbage, maybe wondering what it could have been. You can finish it, learn from it, and put it away.