"The Bunker Boys" by Ziffler
The subtitle of this week's entry is a flashback to a band I was once in. Any time we wrote or rehearsed a more "sensitive" song, we would jokingly preface it by saying, "This one's going out to all the ladies." It gave us an excuse to write sappy songs without admitting to ourselves that we actually like them. This song is a sappy song and gosh-darn-it, I like it.
The beauty of not writing for a band or for an album is that I get to write whatever I want without feeling like I need to conform to a style - even if it's my own style. I did something with this song that I almost never do: I wrote it in a major key. [Gasp!] I also used a fairly standard chord progression and a fairly standard song structure of verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus. I chose to head in this direction because 1) I wanted to keep this week's song fairly straight-forward and 2) it was something new to try. I do have a few other major key songs, but they are few and far between.
I was pleased, for the most part, how this song progressed at an early stage. I wrote the parts (verse and chorus) on the guitar and quickly laid down some scratch vocals (no lyrics yet) and filler instruments including bass, accordion, and this lovely scratchy singing synth patch that I created. So far, so good! Initially, I had not written a bridge, but something told me to give it a shot. I'm glad I did because the bridge in this song is the best part. It takes the listener to another place, both sonically and emotionally, then resolves into the final chorus, doing exactly what a bridge is supposed to do. There's a reason they call it a bridge.
Then came the lyrics. The dreaded lyrics.
THE BUNKER BOYS
I travel down stairs and I find you there
To celebrate my birthday, to my surprise
All the years have made me glad
To rise above the urge I've had
To raise my voice at you
Oh I, once again,
Can't help but feel
That I am the same as you
Does the two-headed man have one soul or two
Is one himself without the other
Are we all each distinct one-and-onlys
Or are you connected to me?
I fell down the stairs today
You broke my fall, set me right again
Am I so vain
To think that I am one without you?
I can't help but wonder
(Oh, ahh)
Does the two-headed man have one soul two
Am I myself without you?
How can it be said we each stand alone
You're a part of me
And I'm connected to you
----
This is a song inspired by Chang and Eng Bunker, the original Siamese twins. There are nearly an infinite number of variations of conjoined twins. On one extreme, one twin can completely absorb the other, resulting in pretty much a single "normal" human being. On the other extreme are Chang and Eng, who were joined by only by a small piece of cartilage at the sternum - nearly two complete human beings. Somewhere in the middle, the lines get blurred. What gives an individual his soul? Does the absorbed twin in the first example have two souls? Do Chang and Eng share one soul?
Ok, on to actually writing the words.
My typical lyric writing approach backfired on me. This was a rare song where I knew going in what I wanted to write about, though I had no specific lyric ideas. As is my usual approach to melody, I recorded mumblings on a scratch (temporary) vocal take and ended up with a melody I liked. I also ended up with a few phrases which now seemed like they just had to be a part of the song. One of these phrases is "...to raise my voice at you." I liked the phrase, but even more than that, I loved how it led into the following phrase where I literally raised my voice and pitch.
The problem? Now I had to figure out how to work these phrases, or at least similar sounding phrases, into the concept that I wanted to write about. It took a few days, but I managed to get some words I was happy with. But then there was a new problem: The chorus - both chord progression and melody - sounded exactly like the chorus of Billy Joel's "Piano Man". I wish I was kidding. Nothing against Joel, but this had to go.
Three different chord progressions and countless melody variations later, I finally had a chorus I was happy with. Interestingly, the original scratch vocals were still there in the last chorus after I made the chord changes. Surprisingly, they worked for the most part which was nice since it allowed a contrast to the first chorus.
And finally, I was pleased to discover that the software I'm using easily allowed for a ritardando (slowing of the tempo) at the end of the song. This was an afterthought that couldn't have been easily achieved (if at all) using old-school recording technology without re-recording the individual parts.
-Uncle Ziffler
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