There were hot words in love. Now there's just bickering. Don't touch me that way. Please, don't touch me at all. I don't how it happened but it makes my skin crawl. Why be so friendly? You shouldn't start now. I was just feeling sorry for you anyhow. Though the EZ-Strike legalese says to take care with the flame. But the fire's all gone. Oh, there might be a flickering. There were hot words in love. Now there's just bickering. Once you were romantic. (And you were sincere. You're no Mother Teresa.) And you're no Baudelaire. Though the EZ-Strike legalese says to take care with the flame. But the fire's all gone. Oh, there might be a flickering. There were hot words in love. Now there's just bickering.
Joe Pernice Bony Gap Music (BMI), admin. by BUG/BMG.
Friends,
I hope this finds you all well. Not going to lie to you: I’ve been struggling watching what’s happening in the Lower 48 and around the world. Some horrible, stress-inducing things going on. At my worst I feel powerless to help bring about positive change. But thankfully for me (and those around me) I’m able to extricate myself from my “worst” moods. (If you’re reading this you’re probably well familiar with my music. Should come as no surprise that I can go pretty dark. But to quote myself: “Though I lose my mind I always find my way.”)
So…having acknowledged that there are some very fucked up things going on in the world, I must stay creative—for my own sanity. And if my doing so gives anyone even a momentary reminder of the life-affirming power of creativity, the need for community and the inexplicable joy music can evoke, then hell, it’s a win-win.
*****
I’ve been writing a lot of “country” songs lately. I know why. Because they’re seemingly simple and anything but. I think I had forgotten that. When I split from my band the Scud Mountain Boys back in 1997, I was so tired of the Alt-Country, Low-Fi Country, Americana labels. If I had been more mature or whatever, I would have moved on to the Pernice Brothers without rejecting wholesale “country” music. I never wanted to hear another pedal steel. Or so I thought. Twenty-five or so years of making stuff does things to a person. I’ve been in rooms—literal and figurative—I never imagined existed. Becoming a parent when you’re an Italian-American Peter Pan shunts you (me) into unscheduled canals and passageways. Suffice to say, I’ve changed.
I’ve mentioned the Waylon Jennings LP Dreaming My Dreams before, I’m sure. I revisited it maybe three or four years ago, and it was revelatory. Many people consider it a masterpiece. I’m one of those people. Without parsing the record song by song and production choice by production choice, let me simply say that it reopened my eyes to the country song. (At the end of the day, I do think good songs are good songs regardless of their modifiers.) I would say I’ve written about 30 country songs over the last year or two. This tune Bickering is among the unfinished and in-progress.
I’m no music historian, but it seems to me country music has its fair share of his-and-her duets. I’m a sucker for the form. I guess Islands in The Stream would be the biggest hit? I pretty much love everything about that song. Another favorite is the Hoyt Axton number Boney Fingers. I could also listen all day to Lucinda Williams’s verse in Steve Earle’s More Than I Can Do. Hers is one heavy duty vocal performance.
I started to write Bickering as a duet. Two people who can neither live with or without each other. It’s a simple idea. And for that reason it’s probably the best one. Soon after starting the the writing process, I had a very specific voice in mind to sing with me. That is, a real person you all probably know. I sent her a demo, and she’s into it. Thing is, I don’t feel like the song is done. And I also find myself wondering, Can I release another duet? I know I can, but should I. Neko Case sings I Don’t Need That Anymore with me on my album Who Will You Believe? And Aimee Mann sings a song with me on my upcoming LP Sunny, I Was Wrong.
No matter how I slice it, I don’t yet feel like Bickering is done. It very well may be, but it doesn’t feel that way yet. I figure I’ll plow ahead with the OG plan to write a duet and go from there once finished.
On the demo included here, I sing both his and hers parts, and I’ve tweaked them to be sung by a single voice. The lyrics above are the duet form. (Confusing? How do you think I feel. I have to live in me.) The first verse is to be sung by the her. The second verse by the him. The last verse is to be a trade-off sung by both. The choruses and bridges are sung ensemble. The form works, but I don’t think my lyrics are correct yet.
Click here to hear Neko Case and me sing I Don't Need That Anymore.
Click here to preorder Sunny, I Was Wrong or buy my prior releases.
The demo included today was recorded live to my iPhone. I used my Shure MV88 condenser mic for iPhone. And I played my nylon string LaPatrie acoustic guitar detuned a whole step. Capo on first fret, so I believe this version is in the key of F#.
As always, thanks for listening and reading. More than ever, take care of yourselves and those around you.
