Less Than You Need – MP3
This weekend, I spent nearly eight hours on one song. This is not that song.
That song is called, “For You,” a simple crescendo in D. It began a few weeks ago as I sat and reacquainted myself with my guitar. A simple D pattern and a few lyrics emerged. And so, with some time on my hands Saturday night, I invested in the idea. By the time it was too late to keep my eyes open, I had eighteen tracks (mostly guitars, but also one suitcase standing in as a bass drum).
Sunday night, then, found me watching my new favorite show, 60 Minutes Classic on VH1 Classic (all my favorite things: rigorous reportage, and rock ‘n roll!). After an hour of Elton John interviews, I had the inspiration I needed. I walked into the bedroom with some sort of a melody and something of a rhythm in my head, then spent a few minutes finding it all on the fretboard.
It wasn’t until the section that later emerged as the chorus, though, that I thought I had something even a little bit different.
See, there are two primary criteria for what sort of thing generates excitement after twenty years of songwriting: 1) a new lyrical idea (“Haven’t you already used the word “atmosphere” Abbi asked the other night) and 2) a new musical idea (which, given my limited palette, means a new groove or new progression). It was the falsetto that excited me and made me think, “Huh, you might have something there.”
So I jammed myself into my walk-in closet turned recording studio, and began recording what I now call, “Less Than You Need.”
And what you hear here is pretty much that. The lyrics are scratch. I basically turned out the lights and started singing. In fact, I sang with such enthusiasm (at well after midnight!) that my forehead hurt at the end of the take. I’ve since gone and fleshed out the lyrics a bit more (see below). But you get the idea. Maybe you’ll hear why I got just a little bit excited.
[audio:lessthanyouneed.mp3]Less Than You Need
Take me down the river road
Show me where the river flows
Lay me down inside the waves
Make me young again
Take me down to the sea
Let the ocean swallow me
Let me sink beneath the waves
Make me young again
If I should be less than you want me, less than you need
Fall to my knees, and pray that you want me, pray that you need
Take me to the mountain high
Let me stand below the sky
Let me sleep inside the rain
Make me young again
If I should be less than you want me, less than you need
Fall to my knees, and pray that you want me, pray that you need
I fall to my knees (I’m callin)
I fall to my knees (I’m callin)
I fall to my knees
Take me down the river road
Wake me up before you go
Wash my wounds and leave me be
If I should be less than you want me, less than you need
Fall to my knees, and pray that you want me, pray that you need
