Moon Walk
Jul 19, 2020
kurds
Brain Dig
The lyrics for this were inspired by an event that took place when I was 13 or so. I was with my 3 year old sister and my 6 year old brother, along with my aunt. My parents had gone on a run together and my sister desperately wanted a bubble bath. Why, cause bubble baths are awesome.
She can’t wait for my parents to come back and so, while neither me nor my aunt are looking, gets on her tricycle and jets off in search of them. Problem is, we lived next to a 40 mph road. My aunt and I lost our shit looking for her and then after a while went down to the main road. An absolute hero of a human, a neighbor saw her tricyling down the middle of the 40 mph road and ran out and scooper her up and had her in his arms, looking around for where she belonged. The events of that day haunt me still and I’m so glad we didn’t lose her. 17 years later and she’s one of my best friends and I’m so grateful for the act of that person that day. (By the way, one of my sister’s nicknames is Moon.)
TLDR; Sister wanted a bath and ran away from home as a 3 year old, almost dying in the process.
Lyrics
Verse 1
Our moon ran away to the ocean, behind us
She rode away in fervor, desperate with blindness
Chorus
And there were no more promises made, we
Let you down oh, no
And we won’t have anything to say, we
Let you down oh, no
Verse 2
There was a time where we had to go and find you
There was a time you had to leave and get found
Bridge
She survived the heat
You came back to guide us
You were alone but free
In search of the forces that bind us
_____
Thanks to my partner, Sheena, for providing her voice to this tune!
Looking for feedback on
I think the outro is kind of goofy, thoughts? Any guiding philosophies for mixing? Thanks!
Discussion
nurphgun July 24, 2020 11:55am
Congrats on writing such a catchy chorus – “let you down, oh no” is my fav part. This is an awesome pop bop. The bass line is so cool. Vampire Weekend vibes. Great work.
Nate July 24, 2020 10:57am
cute fill at the beginning! Good writing for sure, playful timbres and licks really work.
The ideal for mixes is that you hear all the stuff you wanna. You can think of a “reference mix” that is close to your overall sound-world and balance; you can also just go piecemeal — things that have sounds you like, and sort of mish-mosh them together. “the ideal guitar tone would be from song X”.
Being able to listen intrinsically to the mix is important (e.g. the vocals are a little hot), but listening extrinsically can help widen your creative palate — and really help you be more “objective” with what you’re going after. Listening closely to one thing, or the relationship between one thing and the entire mix, really helps you get there over time!
My faves: I think of an Alex G (more lo-fi bedroom sound) , Elliott Smith (of coursEE). And I love the band porches. They have some older demos, and play with drum machines too.
Better Oblivion Community Center has their “sound” around octave vocals between higher & lower voice. This track feels like Sifjan Produced it: https://open.spotify.com/track/6Zio8fwZm8o7RdH1zK6kB5?si=G496Dro1SJyBuRYkQ2iJ2Q
Darwin Deez (though this song is a little more sad/heavy) has the kinda playful drum noises and lick-y guitars: https://open.spotify.com/track/0gw4QQO1Fh0Iul8fUv5SNp?si=7OPdS2H2Q4-58EcEiWofmA
And if you want more instruction on how to mix, there are soooo many things on youtube. You could listen to favorite bands (e.g from the 90s) engineers talk process, best DIY bedroom solutions, or really fricken whatever you want. Happy to make a rec or two depending.
Good song that deserves some more time and attention on the mix. Love the drum fills and arrangement ideas. Hope this helps!
nick July 23, 2020 9:30am
@@Carseat bouncy is just the right word. Super fun chorus, and while it’s familiar in a nice way, it also makes some melodic moves that feel fresh. Great job with the guitar takes! The rhythms are getting nice tight, sticking to drums. Kudos, my friend. (P.S. Hell yeah @Sheena)
Ryan July 20, 2020 9:42pm
Yo funky-ass key change after the intro/between choruses and verses! Note: if anyone here who actually knows music theory wants to call me out for this not being a key change, that’s fine just let me know. Either way, sweet move. Very Strokes-y guitar. Works with the super sample-y beat.
Mix-wise, I think keep trying out different vocal recording techniques. Seems a bit too dark and muddy. Try adding some compression and verb, too!
alechutson July 20, 2020 7:48pm
Mix sounds a lot better for this one! I would have loved to hear your voice balanced better with Sheena’s – your voice gets a little lost in the mix. Good feels on this track, and the abrupt ending works for me.
Carseat July 19, 2020 9:46pm
Oh I’m smiling. What a lil treat. Love the bouncy guitar in the chorus. And the spunky percussion interjections. Yes.