Streets - Alt Demo

Hola!

Here is an alt version of streets I recorded on my phone.  

I wrote Streets on xylophone in 2017 or 2018. The song is meant to be a conversation between two people who are talking over each other through out. This demo is essentially my attempt at sitting down and seeing if I could play the song by myself on guitar. It took some reconfiguring, obviously.

This demo has me reflecting on the "marching in the streets" motif that repeats throughout Swords. The first time I used it was Stairwell in late 2015.

Critters sleeping in my shed 

Creation swimming in my head 

The city's marching in the streets for an awakening

I began writing Stairwell at a time where I was beginning to experience some hometown success with my band. Very minor stuff in hindsight. But we were playing shows and people were into what we were doing. This came after a couple years of struggling to find my footing creatively. Its one of the more personal songs on the album because of the constant pressure to get a real job, move out of my parents' house, get married, etc. I put all of my time, energy and money into the irrational belief that this was all going to pay off somehow. So when I sing about "cities marching in the streets for an awakening," I'm referring to an internal desire for all of this to mean something, to go somewhere.

The midwife has been pacing

This ground it isn't breaking

But I can feel the cracks beneath my feet

The fact that Stairwell was the first song written for Swords and is also the most personal probably isn't a coincidence. The 2016 election and following administration made it difficult to write about anything other than my bewilderment with the state of the world.

Suddenly people were marching in the streets in Charlottesville. Marching in D.C. for gun control, women's rights. Less than a year after the album is finished, every major city is marching for Black Lives. And then we have January 6th, which eerily feels like a manifestation of Streets. 

David Lynch talks about "fishing for ideas." This concept that we aren't capable of creating ideas, we catch them, like fish. They're already out there. My experience tells me he might be onto something. There are so many elements of Swords that have revealed themselves to me over time. Things that I know I didn't intend in the moment. Lines that I couldn't logically defend, but knew inherently were right. The "marching in the streets" line in Stairwell feels like a good example. It almost feels as if there were some supernatural entity that could see the full picture - how things would unfold - guiding my subconscious.

Since I spent so much time talking about Stairwell, here's a recording from a rehearsal in 2016: Stairwell 2016 (ft Greezy on bass and Eric Crisp of Strung Like a Horse on drums). 

Have a great weekend!
Nick