My new song is called Earthbound, and it’s coming along nicely. I just laid down a take of the lead vocals last night, so now we turn the corner from writing to fleshing out the arrangement. It’s a winter-themed song, sort of an impression of my morning commute, coming out of Grand Central Station into the winter weather, becoming part of a crush of people, and arriving at Times Square in all it’s neon monstrosity. It’s always dark this time of year and cold, and the city is sort of an alternative virtual reality devoid of nature. A Kafkaesque metaphor of rebirth and metamorphosis.
The sound I have in mind is sort of an 80’s post-prog pop. So there’ll be a good deal of synthesizers but little to no saxophones.
The chorus is based on a riff Lizzy made up, and it turned out to be a great hook for the theme I was developing, a sort of hopeful transcendent mantra. So I incorporated into the song in the same as I did with It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Day. I’m gonna have her sing on it too.
Not to be outdone, Michelle has been wanting to get in on this too, and has been pitching a song idea called “Ouch My Toe.” I told her I wasn’t too sure about that one, so now she has a new on “You Can’t See Me”.
So here are the lyrics now. Look for a rough mix coming in the next few weeks.
…
Earthbound
I wanna fly up in the sky
Like a butterfly or a swan
I wanna fly away up high
Rising closer to the sun
Concrete canyons
Rooftop roadways
When the rain appears
Slush melts into Gotham gullies
And washes out to salty seas
Like tears
Subterranean
Stone stairways
Under watchful gargoyles
Navigate a cryptic maze
Vaulted like the heavens only Earthbound
Long slow climb out of the underground
Alight and dream of flying
I wanna fly up to the sky
Like a butterfly or a swan
I wanna fly way up high
Rising closer to the sun
Glassy cages
Steely windows
A tyranny or rectangles
Sometimes the sun still shines
Silver splinters strike the street
Forming angles
That kindle hopes of warming
No moon in our sky
No stars in our night
We’re in the dark side of the year
Helicopters hang in hazy red light
Plasma prisms dance down on Broadway
Sweet young vampires come out to play
And drink of dreams of dying
I wanna fly up to the sky
Like a butterfly or a loon
I wanna fly way up high
Waxing closer to the moon
I wanna fly up to the sky
Like a butterfly or a swan
I wanna fly way up high
To the perihelion
It wants you
It’s never thru
Colossal tempting
Troubling teeming
Pulsing flashing
Glowing gleaming
Pale of darkness
Dearth of dreaming
I wanna fly up to the sky
Like a butterfly or a swan
I wanna fly way up high
Rising closer to the sun
I wanna fly up to the sky
Like a butterfly or a swan
I wanna fly way up high
To the perihelion
I wanna fly up to the sky
Like a butterfly or a swan
I wanna fly way up high
Rising closer to the sun
— John Szinger, 2009