Production

Songs I Like – Ride Like The Wind

Posted on by IJ

Song: Ride Like The Wind Songwriter: Christopher Cross

Here’s a song I return to over and over again, just for my own pleasure…especially the live version, which you can see in the video below. It’s just wonderful to listen to and watch.

Unbelievable to me is the fact that the original song was recorded in 1979 on Cross’ debut album of the same name…I was barely an adult!

So what is it about this song that is so compelling? Of course, it begins with a piano/orchestral/percussive build that leads to the familiar piano hook and the sound of the howling wind. Then comes Christopher Cross’ vocal:

It is the night
My body’s weak
I’m on the run
No time to sleep
I’ve got to ride
Ride like the wind
To be free again

When the chorus hits, nothing beats the addition of Michael McDonald joining in with his distinctive vocal, both in the original recording and the video below. It’s only a short phrase, the one in brackets, but it brings the song to a whole new level:

CHORUS:
And I’ve got such a long way to go (Such a long way to go)
To make it to the border of Mexico
So I’ll ride like the wind
Ride like the wind

I was born the son of a lawless man
Always spoke my mind with a gun in my hand
Lived nine lives
Gunned down ten
Gonna ride like the wind

CHORUS:
And I’ve got such a long way to go (Such a long way to go)
To make it to the border of Mexico
So I’ll ride like the wind
Ride like the wind

Gonna ride like the wind

This is where the familiar “Da, da, da, da….da…da…da…da” vocals and brass come in…almost a chorus-y kind of feel in and of itself. Then, on to the next verse:

Accused and tried and told to hang
I was nowhere in sight when the church bells rang
Never was the kind to do as I was told
Gonna ride like the wind before I get old

It is the night
My body’s weak
I’m on the run
No time to sleep
I’ve got to ride
Ride like the wind
To be free again

LAST CHORUS:
And I’ve got such a long way to go (Such a long way to go)
To make it to the border of Mexico
So I’ll ride like the wind
Ride like the wind
And I’ve got a long way to go (Such a long way to go)
To make it to the border of Mexico
So I’ll ride like the wind
Ride like the wind

Gonna ride like the wind
Da, da, da, da….da…da…da…da, etc.
Ride…
Da, da, da, da….da…da…da…da, etc.

The topic of the song is pretty straightforward: the singer is a guilty man on the run from the law. And, really, the production, the mood and the tempo really bring forward that feel of constant motion. Gotta keep moving, gotta get away.

What’s interesting is that in the original recording, Cross’ lead is practically buried behind all of the da, da, da’s. But in the video below, you can hear his amazing shredding. I wonder why it wasn’t pushed more upfront originally? That was a mistake, I think.

Anyway, it’s a brilliant song that I never get tired of. Have a listen:

Songs I Like – Constant Craving

Posted on by IJ

Song: Constant Craving Songwriters: k.d. lang/Ben Mink

Was it really 1992 when Constant Craving by k.d. Lang was released? That’s more than 30 years ago! And that’s also a sign that you really love a song when it sticks with you (or, in this case, me) for so long.

For many years brain researchers have studied the phenomenon of music and its effects on the brain. For some people, it can induce more powerful memories than taste or smell, which is saying a lot!

In my opinion, the lyrics for Constant Craving must have been particularly personal:

Even through the darkest phase
Be it thick or thin
Always someone marches brave
Here beneath my skin

I see this as the singer recognizing her own strength in the toughest of times. k.d. lang likely had to struggle a lot with herself growing up, as so many of us do for different reasons.

She was born in Alberta, Canada and came bursting onto the music scene as a young country singer in the 80’s. Her first band was The Reclines and my initial memory is a vision of her in a cowgirl outfit, dancing wildly across the stage. The media referred to her as a Canadian Cowpunk. And…she had — has — a powerful voice.

But let’s get back to the song. It was co-written with Ben Mink, another Canadian songwriter and producer. What gets to me in this song is the music…the chord progression, especially in the verses, married to the vocal melody, is magic. There is so much musical yearning and desire between the notes. Definitely a constant craving.

It is in the key of Fm, but I play it on my guitar in Em with a capo on the 1st fret. The bass is what gives some of the chords an unusual feel…playing a C or a G bass note over a D chord, for instance.

The background harmonies in the production of the song are also powerful. I can recognize lang’s voice there in some of them, but I’m not sure if they are all her.

There must have been something magical about that song, because Mick Jagger and Keith Richards actually gave credit to k.d. lang and Ben Mink on the Rolling Stones song “Anybody Seen My Baby”. Why? Because the three words “seen my baby” in the Stones’ song are exactly the same notes as “constant craving”. When it was pointed out, the Stones decided to share the rights instead of making a fuss.

What a breath of fresh air compared to so many other musical/lyrical rip offs and lawsuits!

Constant Craving has always been. On my playlist, that is. Here is the song followed by the lyrics:

Constant Craving

Even through the darkest phase
Be it thick or thin
Always someone marches brave
Here beneath my skin

And constant craving
Has always been

Maybe a great magnet pulls
All souls towards truth
Or maybe it is life itself
Feeds wisdom
To its youth

Constant craving
Has always been

Craving
Ah-ha
Constant craving
Has always been
Has always been

Constant craving
Has always been
Constant craving
Has always been

Craving
Ah-ha
Constant craving
Has always been
Has always been
Has always been
Has always been
Has always been
Has always been

Production Over Songwriting?

Posted on by IJ

The question today is:  Has production become more important than songwriting in today’s music?  It’s not a new question, but it’s important to revisit from time to time. I actually saw a discussion of this on Reddit and it got me to thinking about it again.

Let’s first separate production from arrangement.  Arrangement involves the musical part of the song;  who plays what where and for how long, whereas the production is the more technical aspect;  volume, effects, mastering and everything in between.

Continue reading “Production Over Songwriting?”