Feb 2022 anti-valentine harsh delayeyeyeyey
Having a bit of a Tweedy Wilco fest and one of the things that struck me when I first heard Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was how brutal the opening track is. It really grabs your attention. Saw the anti valentine challenge and figured I'd have a hand at trying to create something brutal.
I signed the contract
you did the same
we planned our lives together
and on that very day
I held my tongue
I didn't say
what I really wanted to say
how do I say I don't love you?
without telling you why
how do I break your heart?
without making you cry
I don't want this connection
I don't want to belong
If a break is the answer
that's what I want
I'll get my head out of this place
it's not always going to feel this gray
this picture can be distorted
and twisted in any way
but I hold my tongue
this was never meant to last
and I knew that
and I know that now
how do I say I don't love you?
without telling you why
how do I break your heart?
without making you cry
I don't want this connection
I don't want to belong
If a break is the answer
that's what I want
@cblack Feb 2022
So many feels. The voice, the drums, the background swells... So many feels.
Really enjoyed this. It sounds iconic to me. Great lyrical base.
Well done!
@sync Feb 2022
Wow this is heavy. Def brutal. Gut wrenching. Hard for me to understand that you didn't just go through this. Very empathetic writing. Great lyrics, production, and execution. Very effective! It makes me think of that comedian that said the best possible scenario is that we grow old with someone and one has to watch the other die. There is always a break even if it's at the very end...
@vomvorton Feb 2022
Love the filtered vocal and soft keyboard section, that's not something I've really heard you do before and it's really effective - all the more so for coming as the big switch after the more straightforward opening section. Really nicely done!
@trolls2 Feb 2022
i like the struggle the singer is having with his own feelings 'i don't want this connection' i like how there's a polysemy of the word 'break' but also a polysemy of emotion-he's saying one thing but possibly feeling another....the vocals are really evocative-'this wasn't meant to last' who is really breaking whose heart? ' is it a fear of getting closer or really wanting to go? has an outer space feel at the end...great work.
@paulh1237 Feb 2022
Love those dragging drums on the second half of the verse with the 'ooohs', super cool. And then it totally changes and I dig that a lot!
@bjunker Feb 2022
Cool song. I love the tempo change -- and all the space! -- in the chorus, and the telephone filter in the second chorus makes it even more introspective. I also think the drums are neat -- very much in tempo, but feeling like they are about to collapse at any moment.
@billwhite51 Feb 2022
more introspective than brutal. the brutality comes later, when action replaces thought....and the crying begins,
@thedutchwidows Feb 2022
The first chorus and the drop into it are both sublime, and the you trump that with knobs on for the second chorus. I love the lyrics, and there feels like there's a deliberate halting-ness to the vocal delivery that matches the lyrical sentiment. Lovely space-y production too. It's really well done.
@raspberry33 Feb 2022
Not quite as brutal as Harry Nilsson could be ("You're Breaking My Heart") but there's a bit of venom there. Interesting change-up of the rhythm midway. The answer to your question "How do I say I don't love you" might be "Dead Flowers". Anyway, cool song!