This year my wife has given me the best FAWM present. She’s taken the kids away on a half term holiday, leaving me at home to concentrate on writing and recording. Amazing, right?
So I wanted to write a song for them, for my family. I find the idea of home and what is home a really interesting area. I was brought up in Greater London, spending 25 years in SE London (with a few years out in other places, but let’s not get too technical here), then moved around a bit before settling in SW London. I feel like both are hoke but SE London now feels a bit more alien, like it’s a old friend I can’t quite connect with in the way I used to.
Home is now with my family, wherever they are, that’s home. I bumped into someone the other day who was with his 19 year old son (mine are 8 and 6 for context) and something had happened, an argument or something, they seemed a bit off with each other. As he was leaving he asked if I would have kids again if I had known then what I know now. My answer was a definite yes.
The song grew from the first part of the song, I wrote it at home quickly jotting it down earlier in the month. Then when it came to record I wrote the other parts really quickly, following the melody. But I think a lot of this song comes down to being really inspired by the harmony I put on ‘home’ after the first chorus. Weird how one word can really drive a song but i was excited when I found I it.
I wanted the song to have a bit of space, to feel like it’s rattling around. I also added a bit of distortion to my vocal to get a bit of a Julian Casablancas vibe, not sure it quite worked.
I wrote the beat first and let it play through the song, adding a bit of tambo and changing the bass drum every now and then. It could probably be sorted so it gets a bit more exciting or builds - there are some dodgy bits in there, including an out of tune guitar I noticed when finishing up, so I just turned it down
Overall I’m really happy with this one, I was feeling a bit of pressure to make sure I use this valuable time effectively and end up with music that shows what we can do when we have the space and time. With this song, an ode to family, I can relax a bit.
Hold what is dear close to your heart
Cos the end is just a start
when you come back home
Hold what is dear
Cos you don’t know what you’ve got
Until it disappears full stop
And gets on the road
Because our house feels so empty
Without you around
Won’t you come back home
So long
Getting lonely on my own
Won’t you find your way back home
Rattling around
Too much space for me alone
Come back here where you belong
What you come back home
I’ve not spoken to a ghost
You’re the ones I want the most
Won’t you come back home
Won’t be long
Oh How far now will you roam?
Won’t you come back home to me?
The house is dull not a scream or a shout
I can hear the birds outside
Cars drive by as the world marches on
I wonder if will I survive at home
So long
Getting lonely on my own
Won’t you find your way back home
Won’t be long
Oh How far will you roam?
Won’t you come back home to me?
@sailingmagpie Mar 2022
Love that melody on the "So long..." section and the distortion on the vocal is cool. The groove to this reminds me a little of Gomez. This is a definite head-nodder. Those distorted guitars that come in occasionally have a real punch to them.
@davidtaro Mar 2022
What a gift indeed. Haha, I'd be too afraid to ask! My kids are 7 & 9. I've moved the other way SW to SE, so I was really digging the liner notes. There are some genuinely lovely melodic moments here. The bluesy baritone notes towards the end of the verses. Then that high 'lonely' is properly gorgeous too. Onto my second listen now, and it's a real grower. I'm getting more of a sense of the overall shape of the song - there's a fantastic Kinks-y feel to it all, and that bit of vox distortion is subtle and works ever so well. Nice job!!
@kajati Feb 2022
Wow man, I can appreciate that, my wife went up to Madrid today and left me here so i could work on stuff too, but I'm just here procrastinating and listening to fawm songs when I came across the gem. It is a really well-executed piece of work, nicely balanced, with lovely sounds, and great harmonies.
really enjoyed the listen.
@majordanby Feb 2022
Yeah, this has a cool groove to it. I like the percussion and backing bits that pop in and out.
You’ve even managed to find a cool bridge which worked well back to the verse and chorus.
Love those heavy guitar bits at the end.
Great work.
@bandybum Feb 2022
Love the laid back vibes, loads of space, cool sentiment well delivered and that chorus lift is gorgeous! Great sounding guitars and the moody vocal is bang on. Nice work, SW ;)
@thedutchwidows Feb 2022
I was about to write "What a gift!", but I didn't want to repeat Nadine. But, what a gift! That's an amazing thing to do...
This is a great concept for a song, and really nicely conceived. There's something in the rhythm of the verses, maybe the way the guitar sits against the drums, just really pleases my ear. The vocal delivery, particularly in its timing, is excellent - really well-paced and melodic.
This might be a leap, but have you come across The Sun and The Moon? They used to be members of The Chameleons, and have released a few things over the last decade or so. I suspect this album would be right up your street: https://thesunandthemoon1.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-escape. Or it might not be, but thought I'd share in case it was. I haven't been able to stop listening to it all week (particularly track 2, which I can't get enough of).
@nadine Feb 2022
What a gift! I hope they listen to this song when they are back home. I love the blues touch in this song. Especially the syncope. Cool track!
@regis Feb 2022
I love the concept. In non-pandemic years I usually spend a work week out of town for training, so missing home and family are themes I relate to (not so much this year, as maximum telework continues - I'll admit to being extremely jealous of your gifted isolation, the closest I get is a day off work on Monday while the kids are in daycare).
Those harmonies add a lot of resonance. I'm not sure about the vocal distortion for this one, but this is a good time to experiment.
@radiobenedetto Feb 2022
I like the laid back vibe of this. The chorus at 1:07 has some really nice chord changes. The idea of where home is is interesting to me as well. I couldn't get away from home fast enough and I have friends from there who are still very fond and nostalgic about it and I just can't muster the nostalgia the way they can. Great vocal sound as well. Well done!