Ep. 18: Song “No Wall” (Influenced by The Beta Band)

This song is influenced by the group the Beta Band. My first exposure to this group was a scene from the movie High Fidelity where one of their songs in played in the record store. I later witnessed the group open for Radiohead, which really got me into them. Their album, Hot Shots II is one of my all time favorite albums. But their song “Dry the Rain” (off their also excellent Three EPs album and the one featured in High Fidelity) is probably my favorite track of theirs.

So, as you will probably notice, my song heavily borrows on several of the production elements from “Dry the Rain”:

  • The strumming pattern of the acoustic guitar.
  • Layered drum machines and tambourines for the beat
  • Double tracked vocals to imitate the sound and mood of “Dry the Rain.”
  • Electric guitars for texture (one has a cool tremolo sound and another has more of light overdrive).
  • A big, epic ending theme that eventually fades out (along the lines of “Hey Jude”).
  • 8 vocal tracks that sing the ending theme with Ohs (As you can hear, I didn’t have pop filter so there’s a lot of wind from my mouth blowing against the microphone but since the song has so many layers, it kind gets buried in the mix so you don’t hear it).
  • For some extra punch at the end, I added to some handclaps and sleigh bells to the rest of percussion.
  • Each time ending theme is played, more instruments are added: organ, strings, brass and a heavily distorted guitar

This is one of my favorites in the project so far. I think the dense layers make it sound really interesting.

Lyrics:
Give me one more try to make things right,
I’ll make it up to you
And I will be right where I belong,
For a night or two, yeah

How far we go depends on you
Whether I’m right or wrong
How far we go depends on you
And I’m standing by

There’s no wall to walk behind
There’s no place for me to hide
When I’m away from you
There’s no wall to walk behind
There’s no place for me to hide
When I’m away from you

Turn me inside out define the flaws
and pinpoint the lies,
And you’ll never doubt that I was wrong
Never wonder why, yeah

How far we go depends on you
Whether I’m right or wrong
How far we go depends on you
And I’m standing by

There’s no wall to walk behind
There’s no place for me to hide
When I’m away from you
There’s no wall to walk behind
There’s no place for me to hide
When I’m away from you

We always dreamed that there was more
But we’d never find the door,
To escape from here
There’s no wall to walk behind
There’s no place for me to hide
When I’m away from you

Download “No Wall” from Bandcamp.


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