January ‘24: New Song
“C’est la vie”
Prompt: too many choices too little time
Submission of Member: Sid B
Downloads:
I know I definitely shouldn’t give all the disclaimers about a demo, but here we go anyway… 😜
I just wanted to jot some ideas down and I’m trying really hard to “practice” and get more efficient in my recording/production workflows, so while I really should have spent yesterday working on a final mix for a different song, I couldn’t help myself and decided to flesh this out just a tiny bit. So the recording is not amazing, the takes are not good, and you’ll probably hear that my vocal sounds a little “overcooked” but it’s because OH MY GOD why did I write such a challenging melody? I did a million takes for this despite this being a scratch-track/demo and had to take each section bit by bit because the song was just too new (basically wrote it yesterday morning) and I hadn’t had enough time to let the quirky melody penetrate my brain before digging straight into the session… even afterward I had to tune it (mostly because I didn’t want the melody to “imprint” incorrectly into my mind from listening to this). Point is - it’s a demo, so listen with forgiving ears!
The idea for this one, melodically and harmonically, including the refrain and the verse that goes:
one day you’re soarin, yeah, you’re flyin’
the next you’re sore and yeah you’re cryin’
…actually “arrived” almost fully formed for me back in November… (unfortunately right when I really prefer to be focusing on writing holiday songs, so this idea had to wait). When I get a “download” like that I try to create a voice memo immediately if possible for review later. I think I’m just so intimately familiar with these kinds of songs I let my imagination just decide what it would have most likely been if someone else had written it back then, if that makes sense. Interestingly, I was able to basically transcribe it exactly from the original voice memo and just finalize/develop the lyrics. Love when it comes together like that.
There are two pretty specific melodic… references? Which are: that the primary refrain line at the top of each A section is modeled after Erroll Garner’s classic 1954 ballad Misty, and, weirdly enough, a little phrase in my bridge is a lift of a line in the bridge of All I Want for Christmas (is My Two Front Teeth) 🤷♀️ (the 1949 Nat King Cole rendition of which - linked - just… swings so hard that it has clearly deeply permeated into my musical consciousness).
Lyrically, this one really fits (again) with a lot of the other songs I’ve been writing for the Holly Frost project lately about enjoying life, seizing the day, etc, with early-to-mid-20th-century “models” like:
Enjoy Yourself (1949)
Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries (1931)
Breezin’ Along with the Breeze (1926)
Are You Havin’ Any Fun? (1939)
(those dates are the publishing dates of the song by the way, the links are just to versions I enjoy)
The tag with the gang vocals is loosely based on the call-and-response sections I love so much in recordings of bandleaders like Cab Calloway and Louis Prima.
In addition to input from my own personal experiences, for “true” live shows (as in not live-streams where it’s all request-based, or background music gigs where no one is really listening to me) I use a framework for building out my set list called The Live Music Method (developed by live-show industry consultant by the name of Tom Jackson). I’m mentioning it here, because, according to his formula, there should be a point toward the middle of the set that has big energy and is really fun (aptly named “The Big Fun Moment”), and, if possible, should include audience participation. The best part of having this song with this tag that could theoretically be repeated and ad-libbed over forever is that it makes a good candidate for a “big fun moment.” I can’t think of a better example of this kind of thing than a Louis Prima number like this one.
The terribly-performed midi-clarinet was, again, mostly just to jot down a musical idea, though I do like the idea of developing this with gypsy-jazz production elements sometime in the future: upright bass, a couple acoustic guitars, and some accordion, possibly. It certainly fits the musical vibe and era but would be a cute tongue-in-cheek reference to the frenchy “c’est la vie” tagline.
I’ll be playing this for you live for the first time tomorrow, and I’ll be spinning the latest to-come public release recording (which I’ll ALSO be delivering for you tomorrow!) during our January Vault event! (You can get access/find the link over in the concerts/events tab here in The Vault.)
Interested to hear what you think of this one, and the new fully-produced ONE BIG DARK ROOM public release that’s coming SOON!
❤️LoveLetter
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