it's ok to be sad
"a black cloud follows wherever you go..."
i began writing this song in february of '06
when i'd just started recording snowing in my heart
i didn't finish the words until december
it was a struggle for me to complete this song
i had at least 3 totally different versions
of the lyrics
before i finally settled on one
i was changing and writing new words
even when i put down the final lead vocal
"it's ok to be sad" was the second to last song completed
once again i had another hole in the album's song sequence
i wanted a moody but uptempo song
this tune seemed to fit the bill
this recording features no less the 5 electric guitar players
john lefler creating the verse atmospherics
carter albrecht with power chords and a signature melody line
steve duncan with the crazy distorted lead guitar on the chorus
danny delamatyr
and
lastly
me
filling out the other bits
it was an electric guitar army
jason garner went keith moon ballistic
on the chorus sections
i put down the bass as a "scratch" in one take
when i listened back later
i liked it enough to keep it
why over-think it?
the rest of the song was over-wrought enough
as it was
this was a monster to track and mix
rip did a great job reigning it all in
"sometimes our lives don’t go quite as we’d planned
we suffer daily and can’t understand
it’s ok to be sad…"
whenever i play "it's ok"
i will always think of gregor from cafe pfeiifer
in buchen germany
while i was waiting around before my set
he cranked sad on the jukebox no less than 6 times
and then
when i was playing my acoustic set
he started shouting out "ok to be sad - ok to be sad!!!!"
all through my first and second sets
i hadn't been playing it at all
because i wasn't sure how it translated to solo acoustic
anyway
i went for it
and as soon as i sang the first line of the song
a big grin took over his face
he then proceeded to bang his head
and make the rock horns
right up at the front of the stage
until the final chord rang out
and then he gleefully clapped and whistled
in appreciation
i still can picture clearly how happy it made him
it's a fond memory of mine
i began writing this song in february of '06
when i'd just started recording snowing in my heart
i didn't finish the words until december
it was a struggle for me to complete this song
i had at least 3 totally different versions
of the lyrics
before i finally settled on one
i was changing and writing new words
even when i put down the final lead vocal
"it's ok to be sad" was the second to last song completed
once again i had another hole in the album's song sequence
i wanted a moody but uptempo song
this tune seemed to fit the bill
this recording features no less the 5 electric guitar players
john lefler creating the verse atmospherics
carter albrecht with power chords and a signature melody line
steve duncan with the crazy distorted lead guitar on the chorus
danny delamatyr
and
lastly
me
filling out the other bits
it was an electric guitar army
jason garner went keith moon ballistic
on the chorus sections
i put down the bass as a "scratch" in one take
when i listened back later
i liked it enough to keep it
why over-think it?
the rest of the song was over-wrought enough
as it was
this was a monster to track and mix
rip did a great job reigning it all in
"sometimes our lives don’t go quite as we’d planned
we suffer daily and can’t understand
it’s ok to be sad…"
whenever i play "it's ok"
i will always think of gregor from cafe pfeiifer
in buchen germany
while i was waiting around before my set
he cranked sad on the jukebox no less than 6 times
and then
when i was playing my acoustic set
he started shouting out "ok to be sad - ok to be sad!!!!"
all through my first and second sets
i hadn't been playing it at all
because i wasn't sure how it translated to solo acoustic
anyway
i went for it
and as soon as i sang the first line of the song
a big grin took over his face
he then proceeded to bang his head
and make the rock horns
right up at the front of the stage
until the final chord rang out
and then he gleefully clapped and whistled
in appreciation
i still can picture clearly how happy it made him
it's a fond memory of mine
posted by salim nourallah at 11:39 PM
2 Comments:
"sometimes our lives don’t go quite as we’d planned
we suffer daily and can’t understand
it’s ok to be sad…"
The story of my life.
love,
r
When we were recording this song, one of the first tracks we cut was this monster drum track from Jason Garner that immediately signaled "power-pop-punk" to my easily-influenced brain. I was so surprised when I heard it later, how it had this mellow, atmospheric quality (except for the bridge). I never would have imagined that take on the song. Another testimonial to Salim's production genius.
Post a Comment
<< Home