Written and Recorded 2012
Written in the same batch of songs as "Say," this song is one of the few that feature the mandolin. At this time in Of the North I was still trying to play as many instruments as possible. With that in mind, I created the interlude riff and then kept the part very simple while the verses were being sung. I thought that riff was super catchy at the time, but being only one measure long, it gets a bit old.
We really tried getting this song to work a few times. When Kent came in, he added more depth to it by doubling the riff on cello. Here's a video of the "core" members of Of the North performing the song at a great place in Riverwest called Art Bar. This was probably the best it ever went, but it never quite clicked for me, especially live.
- The video has a slightly altered structure, taking out an extra interlude section before the final verse and adding a few measures at the end of the verse. These things definitely helped and made the song tighter, but it didn't fix the problem I was having.
- I don't mind the verses. In fact I think the concept is really strong and evokes vivid images. But as they say in the Food Network world, the execution is just not there. The last line in particular, "can take the place of one," falls flat and doesn't punctuate those previous lines as it should.
- The "ahhs" over the main riff/interlude are also lackluster. But the part that I really dislike is the bridge. I was definitely trying to go a little too Mumford on it and it just doesn't work. It's really long, and really boring.
- All in all, I think there could still be hope for this song down the line. I think if I extended the main mandolin riff into more of a real fiddle tune/line, and made a few other cuts/changes, it could make another appearance in the future.
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