The Heartbreak Blinders' Greatest Hits

The Heartbreak Blinders' Greatest Hits - MP3

The Heartbreak Blinders' Greatest Hits (Live by The Passerines 9/22/06) - MP3)

Lyrics

at the city limits black top ribbons
twist into a cloverleaf
the crown jewel zig-zag's white green name tags
measuring the gravity

the shadow cast by your brilliant past 
tries vainly to lay flat against the road

(refrain:)
someone put you in the car
and belted you in facing forward
and put the heartbreak blinders on the stereo
someone made up someone's mind 
and someone left someone behind
it doesn't matter that you didn't want to go

reflective paint the patron saint of
movement boasts devout support
it's such a shame that no one claimed
an inch of your unspoiled shore

sleep pulled over on a shoulder
someone had the sense to call their own

(refrain x2)

Music

chords

will upload soon. song's in C major.

structure

A B C A B C D C, as standard as they come.

Author's Comments

The chord progression of the verse of this song is the same as the excellent OK Go song "Let It Rain" (Though they do wonders by throwing in a measure of 3 every so often). I wrote the verse before I realized this, and abandoned the song for a while out of shame after I did. But there are only so many chord progessions (First Coat's "Lime" uses these chords, just swapping the second and third ones), and my refrain is really the focus of this song anyway, so at some point I stopped feeling guilty about it.

This song was initially much slower, kind of adult-contempo fare. I envisioned it about two thirds as fast with an acoustic guitar, rhythms recalling the Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize?". The live version as performed by the Passerines adopts something akin to that arrangement.

This demo was recorded during one of the many peaks of my rabid Bicycle Day obsession; this was my best attempt at arranging a song the way they would have. Hence the guitars on the refrain and as much drumming as I could muster. I remember trying to write a decent bass part, and going back to listen to Elizabeth Hill's work on a Bicycle Day record, looking for some specific qualities I could try to copy, and then I realized there was no trick to it. It was just what I would have been doing if I was awesome.

sj

you're so kind. thank you for writing such nice things about this song; i'm glad you like it. i should tell you that among the particular moments i was thinking about when i wrote the beginning of this song was the time you drove emily and i down to indiana to go apple picking, and we got to the end of stony island where it just turns into a highway. that geographical transition was extremely powerful for me that day, and has stayed with me since--the city kind of trailing off, or rolling out, or wrapping up. so, know that you were literally the one driving the car when the seeds of the imagery you enjoy so much were planted. i hope that doesn't ruin it for you. : )

i'm glad you enjoy the clever lyrics. it's such a thin line. it took some work to keep them from being too hokey or obvious. for instance, the second prechorus about the shoulder was the one idea i could keep from a much more heavy-handed verse where the narrator is jealous of the road he's driving on because it's part of the adopt-a-highway program. really.

the transitional figure you enjoy was an attempt to do what bicycle day would do. i play the part on the bass in the Passerines version (Emily on drums, Lixian on synth), and repeat it at the end before the last chord as per your suggestion. as you might imagine, it makes the ending.

i couldn't find any room in this arrangement for backing vocals, though i did try. but on the much more open Passerines version, Lixian wrote a truly lovely line of "ooh"s that she sings over the second half of the refrains, which gives that section even more momentum.

i think that a studio version by the Passerines will probably end up being the definitive version of this song. it'll have a much better vocal take on it, that's for sure. i apologize for recording vocals for this demo before i could sing the song very well.

Comments

man. i love this song and listen to it every day. the imagery at the beginning is very evocative. it's so good i would almost expect it would be the case where the in first verse you've spilled your guts and there's nowhere else to go from there. but no! this song just keeps going and getting better. the line about sleeping pulled over on the shoulder... clever and so freaking cool. the thrumming bass and simple drums over the verses remind me of the cars, in addition to being very driving, which is appropriate. the chorus melody is awesome. the guitar figure that transitions between the parts fucking owns. the "alto" guitar solo is really powerful.

i don't have a single critical thing to say. this song is pure fun and pure genius! my complaints are like, dude, it is too short. but that's ok. it loops well. i love it!!!!!

i would still love to hear the heartbreak blinders doing falsetto backing vox in the second chorus at least, or maybe just quietly in the verse, or some oohs on the transitions? but then the whole thing is so well put together i'm not sure that more vocals wouldn't be too much. i would also love to hear that awesome transitional guitar figure before the final chord, though maybe it would be too cheesy.

Sara 20:43, 18 September 2006 (PDT)