Through the Window

Therapy

Through the Window by Ziffler 



This song was written years ago and it remains one of my favorites. I have tried at times to adapt this to be played live but it has always fallen short of the demo version. My blog posts to date have started with the music, then moved to the lyrics. But today, the lyrics come first.


Through the Window

Some may say

I am far away

Dark cloud today

Red turned to gray

Saw the world begin to move

And I want to fade away

Fade away

On the other side of the window

There was too much pain

So I closed my eyes in shame

Never looking

Any sign of bitter weather

On a blissful day

Makes me look the other way

All along the way home

I’ll wait until I am numb

I’ll wait until I am home

--

I've been thinking about posting this song for quite awhile, but the recent tragic shootings in Aurora have made this song very relevant. How does one cope with such news, especially so close to home? How can one even process this information? This song wasn't written with any specific event in mind, but more about the general way in which I respond and cope with other people's pain and suffering. For better or worse, I take a position of detachment. I generally choose not to watch the news. I choose not to really place myself in the shoes of those who are suffering. I'm not proud of this response, but it is the coping mechanism that has arisen that works for me. I'm not suggesting that this is always the case with me, but that's what this song is about.

And writing music for me is a sort of therapy, especially with a song like this. Writing lyrics can help me recognize my own inner struggles. Looking "through the window" is how I feel sometimes when I'm faced with such pain or struggles. It feels as though I'm on one side, the safe side, and the suffering is on the other side. Of course, there are no answers here. I've revealed no alternate methods of dealing with pain. But simply the process of writing provides a sort of relief.

As for the music, there is just one thing I want to point out, and that is the synthesized choir-like vocals that can be heard throughout the song. For this, I sampled my own voice, recording several notes of "ah"s. Each "ah" is looped seamlessly so that when triggered by a keyboard, the notes sustain indefinitely. This results in sort of a surreal vocal part, especially when playing notes which are outside of my natural range. Adding to the unnatural quality of this vocal is a fast vibrato which is tied to the tempo of the song. This provided a wonderfully appropriate tension throughout the song which reflects the inner struggle of the lyrics.

If this effect sounds familiar, it's probably because I used the same keyboard patch in my song Simply which was posted in April. While I haven't used it since, I have re-created this patch with my current software and will likely use it again in future songs.

If this post has left you feeling down, I apologize. Perhaps revisiting another song will lift your spirits.

Uncle Ziffler

Mother's Day

He he he huh, yeah

Mothers Day Song by Ziffler

Some have perhaps heard this one before, as it is several years old. But I can't resist re-posting it on this Mother's Day as it is one of the more entertaining songs in my collection. At least to me and my family. Or at least to me.

Several years ago, my brother and I decided to write a song for our mother for Mother's Day. At the time we had been trying to use an early version of a voice-over-internet phone call. It wasn't a great solution to the long-distance call at that point, but we could easily record a conversation. So the day before Mother's Day, we called up Mom and secretly recorded the conversation. We of course tried to prompt her to say certain things like "Mother's Day". But we also got some great things we weren't expecting like "Sunday. Son-day!", the choke, and the comment on the echo, which had sometimes been an issue with that type of internet phone call.

As for the music, we pretty much came up with it by the seat of our pants. If I remember correctly, I handled the bass and guitar parts while my brother took care of the keys and drums. Then we chopped up our mother's words, bounced them around, changed pitch at one point, and added some echo where appropriate. All in a day. Then on Sunday we e-mailed the song to her and she claimed that she liked it. But mothers are supposed to say things like that, which is why we have a day to celebrate them.

So thanks Mom, for everything you've done for us, and have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Love,

Ziffler

Simply

The Influence

Simply by Ziffler

Often, one of the first questions you'll hear in an interview with a band or musician, especially a new and unique artist, is, "Who are your influences?" Then they'll spew a list of bands that you probably never would have guessed. Some make sense, like when Nirvana cites Pixies as an influence; but even then, it's difficult to say, oh yes, this Nirvana song sounds like this Pixies song. That's because the best bands (in my opinion) are the ones which try to have a unique sound. If Nirvana sounded like the Pixies, then they would not have been a special band.

Influences can come from anywhere, and they don't have to be musical. As noted in my earlier post, The Snake, The Crow, I was inspired by the mood I was in that day. Of course, behind the mood influence was years of listening to music that reflected that same mood. Music doesn't come from nowhere. Could I tell you specifically my musical influences on that song? Not a chance.

However, once in a very great while, I hear a song and decide that I want to write a song like that. In cases like these, there is a single, direct influence. Songwriting is, hopefully, an ongoing learning process and trying to write a song within specific guidelines is an exercise. You analyze the song, try to capture its essence, and maybe lift a few specific ideas from it. In the end, hopefully, you have a new song and have perhaps reshaped your ideas on how to write a song.

I decided that Simply would be a nice segue from the previous post about remixes because this song was inspired by a remix. Beck has a wonderful album called Guero. Shortly after this album was released, he released a second album called Guerolito, which was a collection of the original Guero songs remixed by guest artists. I fell in love with a song called Broken Drum and I decided I wanted to write a song as beautiful as that.

As this was written years ago, it's difficult for me now to go through the writing process with you. So I'll skip the deconstruction and let you deconstruct it for yourself.

SIMPLY

Sunday, I lie awake

   I'm lazy

Simply amazing, crazy

   This sound

I follow.  The sun’s still low

   In the sky

The laughter of children

   Floats to my ears

I see you with your gentle smile

   Simply

I feel the skip of my weak heart

   Simply

If I hold on to fleeting thoughts

   Simply

A chord to strum, a song to hum

   Simply

Almost slipped away

   The day

Like so many days before

Simply another day

Simply amazing
--

Yes, I know - the lyrics are uplifting! Such a rare thing for me, which writing in this way helped me to discover that I can do effectively. So thank you, Beck.

Before you leave, be sure to treat yourself to the influence for this song, Broken Drum.

Uncle Ziffler

Drift Away [Mobius Mix]

The Remix

Drift Away [Mobiux Mix] by Ziffler

I know you've all been waiting patiently for me to post another song. I'm sad to say that I've had no time for songwriting recently. I have plenty of back-catalog demos to post and write about and perhaps I will have to resort to such things in the coming months. This song, however, is a little different. This song is a remix done by my brother.

A couple of years ago when I actually had a band, we went to record an album at a studio. To make a very long story very short, we recorded all of the parts, but those parts never got mixed into actual, playable songs. Just individual tracks floating around. And that is how they've remained.

One of the members of said band was my brother who played drums for us. While that was his primary duty in the band, he is much more than a drummer - he also writes, records, and mixes his own music as well. This past Christmas I received a gift from him - five songs that we had recorded in the studio that he remixed for me.

Ok, technically he only "mixed" them since I suppose a song has to be mixed a first time in order for it to be remixed. But what makes them different from studio mixes is that he picked and chose the original individual tracks that he liked (bass, guitars, drums, etc.), edited them however he liked, added his own instruments, adjusted tempos, adjusted beats, and, well, whatever he felt like doing. He basically took the band's songs and created something new and fresh from them.

The best way to demonstrate this would be to have the "studio mix" with which to compare. Maybe some day I will get around to mixing these songs as originally intended and will update this post. In the mean time, you'll just have to imagine this song as originally recorded with only drums, bass, guitars, and vocals.

It was difficult to chose which of the five songs to post, but I really like this one. This is a very old song written at a time when I was dealing with the aftermath of a breakup. It's a pretty simple song but a fun one to play with the building gritty guitar solo in the middle. Because of that, I continued to keep it in set lists over the years with whatever incarnation of a band I had.

DRIFT AWAY

I'm standing beside you now
At least where you used to be
Slowly I come to realize
You're only a memory

Some day you drift away
Replaced by other memories
I will be happier then

But still you stand next to me
I can't seem to shake you from my thoughts
When will this emptiness end?
Or better yet, when will I see you again?

When will I see you again?
When will I touch you again?
When will I love you again?
When will I live again?

--

Uncle Ziffler

Far From Here

Ziffler Goes Goth

Far From Here by Ziffler

I have recently taken a job. A job which I thought was going to be a part-time job but has turned into a 60 hour a week job. I'm a mail man. And this seems to be my life now, for now.

And yet last Sunday I found time to write this little gem of a song. Not that it's a great or innovative song, but that it was fun and, quite frankly, easy to write and record. My inspiration was my new job, and how I felt about it. To capture the essence of my new-found exhaustion, I drew upon my inner Cure (note the drums and bass) with a healthy dose of psychedelia.

The song started with the synthesizer which, while it runs through the whole song, can really only be heard in the intro.  The words and melody were written on the fly in one take, though I did re-record the vocals once everything else was in place. The two guitar tracks, played with an e-bow and slide, were also done on the fly, mostly in one take.

I started the song at a very slow tempo of 56 beats per minute. But as I was listening back to the first part, I could imagine a nice drum part sneak up underneath the music. The drive of the drums essentially doubled the feel of the tempo to 112 beats per minute. So I ended up with a nice contrast of the rhythm section providing a driving beat while the melody and guitar counters with a gentle slow pace.

But my favorite part of the song has to be the backing vocal track in the bridge ("Take me from here..."). This is an exact double of the main vocal track but pitch-shifted up an octave with the formant adjusted so it didn't sound like an animated chipmunk. The result is an other-worldly vocal that is, well, kinda creepy. Even creepier is the fact that when you listen to it by itself, it sounds a little like Miss Piggy.

FAR FROM HERE

I want you
To take me home
From here

Lay me down
In the bed
To sleep
And dream

Take me from here
Take me far from here

Rest my head
Rest my soul

----

I know, it's a grim outlook on my new job. The first week was an incredibly difficult adjustment for me. But, while I still don't like the long hours, it has gotten easier. Maybe there will be songs about mail boxes and dog bites in future blog posts.

Postman Ziffler