Feb 2022 movietitlechallenge synth darkwave
This was the first FAWM song I wrote, and it was an abomination and I scraped it.
It was also the second song I wrote and and it was campy and weak, so I scraped it.
Third times a charm.
This was written for the #movietitlechallenge and the title I was given was The Descent.
The Descent is a movie about subterranean naked mole rat people... I mean it has subtext and all that, but bah. If subterranean sized naked mole rat people isn't your thing, you probably won't like The Descent so it's splitting hairs, ironic given the naked mole rat people.
I decided early on that I wanted to go with a Goblin/Carpenter inspired darkwave style thing given The Descent is a horror movie, and I have a love for both 80's horror and 80's horror soundtracks. Getting an instrumental that I was happy with was relatively easy, but felt a little light. More 'Zombi 2' than 'Susperia'.
I struggled with the lyrics for a long time. I wasn't committing to write something about the film itself, but the title, which was a requirement, carries a lot of weight. The draft about roofer safety never went anywhere and eventually I just started sketching out the beats of the movie (btw, it's been a decade) hoping I could find something in there... and I did. Through the magic of metaphor, it read like I was talking about something other than a bunch of ladies being eaten by nude rat vampires in a cave.
There were a few lines that I needed to touch up, but most of them had this abstract quality, likely owning to the fact that what I'm talking about is stupid, and silly.
As an example of how "on the nose" these lyrics actually are, the second verse is a direct reference to the alternate ending the U.S. version of the film has, when the original British version has an ending where the last woman sees her child blowing out a birthday candle, then the light disappears and see is eaten by the critters.
Oh... and I got "The Loved Ones" as a title in this summers 50/90 and never did anything with it, so I promised to fit it into this song... lucky for me, she watched all her friends get turned into rat snack. It's a twofer!
Once I knew that the "right on the tin" style worked for lyrics, I decided to try it out with the music. There are things creeping in the dark... fine, put some bassy "shadows" in, and fill them up with shuffling, chattery things, exactly like in the movie.
Spent more time on this than I should for FAWM, but I think this has some serious promise. I would go back and re-record the vocal track, add a layer of 80's guitars 'Dream Warrior' grit and fix up some mix issues, but for the most part I think this is the tightest FAWM song I've written.
[VERSE]
I take one step closer
To the point of no return.
The unknown lurking in the shadows
Their hunger eyes
Peering from the darkness
Waiting for my light to go
[CHORUS]
The light fades away,
I’m left to nightmares, undreamt.
I’ve said good bye to all the the loved ones,
Hello to the descent.
[VERSE]
There’s no escape
No alterations the story
Trapping me in the role I chose.
The dream of a child
Gone with the fading embers
The gnawing of nothingness encloses
[CHORUS]
The light fades away,
Trapped with nightmares, in the flesh.
I’ve said good bye to all the the loved ones,
Hello to the descent.
[BRIDGE]
A visceral stillness,
a beat of calm before I’m pulled below
As the flood of sensation takes over
The last thing I will know.
[CHORUS]
The light fades away,
To all the things I never meant
I’ve said good bye to all the the loved ones,
Hello to the descent.
[CHORUS]
The light fades away,
The claws of nightmares in the flesh
Good bye to the the loved ones,
Hello to the descent.
@dreamscuba Feb 2022
I really like the vibe to this. Is it industrial. It does remind me of Depeche Mode. I met the lead singer once, cool guy. This song is really well arranged and executed... Great job on the movie title challenge.
@davidtaro Feb 2022
Dude, the liner notes are a masterpiece in and of themselves. They cracked me up! The song has such a cool, off beat 80s vibe, like something Bowie might have done if he’d only had the guts to experiment a little ;) I love the hard panned percussion elements, creepy as hell. Also having just perused your Soundcloud, your album artwork game is STRONG. Well done!
@rwhosings Feb 2022
If nothing else, (and there's lots else) Hello to the descent is an absolutely great line!
This is so cool!
It's not my usual cup of tea, but it really works as a whole piece.
@colgoo Feb 2022
I really like the movement in both my ears that you achieved in your production. This brings me back to 80s music, in a good way. Really great writing and production!
@keithcuts Feb 2022
Ohh so industrial !
Instruments are fiyaaa
Dark theme rings hard in the chorus
Awesome
@nahlej381 Feb 2022
Hell ya dude! Love the percussion and atmosphere. Your lyrics are always great. This is wild!
@the7thnight Feb 2022
What effect are you using on your voice? It's really cool! The mixing is really nice here. I like the contrast between the softer synths and the very scratchy stuff. I definitely could see this working well with mole rats. Definitely NOT going to watch that movie based on your description of it though XD