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A song for a killer


mpeddle

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I just read a quote of Ted Bundy which became the chorus for this song fragment I wrote. It's pretty much biographical of him. Let me know what you think. I'll try and write some more lyrics and finish it off tonight.

 

1 verse, 1 chorus, rough recording thru laptop mic :

http://www.soundclick.com/MatthewPeddle

 

Once again, sorry for not recording anything well, but I'm more focused on the songs than quality demos.

 

Lyrics :

 

Verse 1

I smell your rose-dipped throat

in the parking lot

Present invented pain

down my cloth-wrapped arm

You don't know it's not real

 

Chorus

We are your sons

We are your fathers

We are everywhere

We are your sons

We are your fathers

We are hiding 'neath the stairs

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"cloth-wrapped"

 

Is there a better, more evocative word? Crippled? Bandaged? Twisted?

 

Also, "You don't know it's not real" just seems kind of Flight of the Concords or Tenacious D to me. Not in this context, perhaps. But I'm sure you can come up with a nifty way to denote phoniness beyond this.

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I don't like the cloth idea. But it didn't bother me that much.

 

Down my sleeve, (my pin-striped sleeve)?

"Wearing your throat on my pin-striped sleeve"?

 

I did have a thought that I liked.

 

 

Watch:

 

We are your sons

We are your fathers

We are everywhere

We are your sons

We are your fathers

We are hiding 'neath the stars

--

I took the 'i' out of stairs and I got "stars".

It's unexpected. I like it. Feel free not to use it.

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The verse might be a tad sing-songy, but that's likely a case of getting comfortable with it. Given the subject matter, you might want to treat it menacingly.

 

 

I'm actually quite conflicted on how to sing that part best. I had a gruffer delivery as I was writing it, then switched to a clearer tone, then a higher melody...then...not sure. I think it should be different from the chorus, and I'd love to hint at something sinister...but I'm not sure what will create that feeling.

 

Also, "hiding 'neath the stars" is possible. I think I went for stairs because it's an easy rhyme. Probably the laziest line in the song. Anyone else have a strong opinion about that?

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Just a thought here...

 

This is an opportunity to present the killer in a realistic light. Just like the chorus does. So the verse is cool, but a little Hollywood for my taste. I little too Bogey Man-ish and wordy for effect. Look at your chorus. It's "everyman lingo". And that's the point too. That's what's so effective. So language like "Present invented pain", though effective on one level in a Poe-like way, just might contradict what is so effective in the chorus.

 

I apologize, but my playback is hosed at work here, as of this morning. Haven't heard the tune, just reacting tothe lyrics on paper.

 

I smell your rose-dipped throat

in the parking lot

Present invented pain

down my cloth-wrapped arm

You don't know it's not real

 

I can smell your rose-dipped throat

cross the parking lot

Show you a make shift sling

Tied with a hang man's knot

And though the injury's make believe

The hunger in my eyes is not

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Thanks Lee. That's very true.

 

Reminds me of Sufjan Stevens' take on John Wayne Gacy. In my opinion, that's the finest song ever written about a serial killer, largely because of its sympathetic lyrics and creepy tone/texture

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Rose-dipped throat and cloth-wrapped arm don't work. It sounds like you're forcing the words to fit in the meter. I know rose-dipped is colorful, but "I smell your throat" seems way more effective to me as an opening line.

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