Lake union flood
Lake Union Flood - MP3
Lake Union Flood (new & improved) - MP3
Contents
Lyrics
i closed my eyes when i jumped in the bay you led me through muddy flats and i forget why i was so scared crossing Deception Pass when i left behind the wires that had held me back when lake union rose to your window and my lips touched to your shoulder with breath abated were you waiting for an escape or did the flood find you too we stared into each others eyes of blue oh my ranier how i forgot you were here when the storm breaks in your tower with your hands as cold as ever do you wish my warming wings would swing you up and wrap around you, as i do? when the sound collapses you will know that we are the most persistent tone we are water running out of room flooding over bridges to resume when lake union rose to your window pain and my lips touched to your bare shoulder blade breath abated were you waiting? and did the flood find you too?
Music
Guitar
All chords played sans 5ths during the verse.
Verse
f-aminor-bminor-g
f-aminor-bminor-g-f-eminor
Chorus
constant plucking low f in the bass
alternating with high note in chord
fmajor-fsus2-f7-f6-f5-f6-f7-fsus2
am7-cmaj(g in bass)
fmajor-fsus2-fmaj7-f6-f5-f6-fmaj7-fsus2
em7-dminor-c(no 5th)-am7-gmajor
Bridge
I'm not sure about these chords, but they're all fingerpicked.
Am9 Am9/F D9sus4
Am9 Am9/F D9sus4 Gm9/B♭
Author's Notes
Thanks for your suggestions, Sara. I added a little pre-chorus thingy and I haven't decided if I like it or not. Let me know what you think. A couple things need to be fixed on this new recording. For one, during the verse it sounds like there's phasing between the guitar and piano. Either that or my guitar was out of tune (oops!). This new version also has a bridge (with shaker and snaps) that I'm so excited about. The vocals definitely aren't as warm and intimate as on the previous recording, so I'll have to do those over as well. I'd love to hear your comments!
Recorded on a PowerBook G4 using a MOTU 828 mkII w/ 2 microphones: a large diaphragm Studio Projects condenser and an SM57 (thanks ljw!)
Comments
the song is lovely! i really really like the way you sing it. the words and the piano/guitar playing together are great. i like "flooding over bridges" for the bridge.
i love the melody, especially on the chorus. it's pretty grand and a nice dramatic shift from the verse, but i feel like the song is a little too dense, in a way. maybe there could be a break or a brief, building transition into the chorus from the verse? just a suggestion. also, are you singing harmony with yourself in the chorus? turn it up!:)
Sara 11:52, 1 September 2006 (PDT)
i like the prechorus! the bridge is gorgeous. when i first downloaded this chris was at my house, and we both just stopped talking at the bridge and stared at the computer and were totally blown away. the whole song just opens up. i think the snaps there are really neat, also.
Sara 21:37, 18 September 2006 (PDT)
lovely is the word i would use, as well. i really enjoy the way the first refrain becomes the last verse with a few added syllables. bravo on that move.
just heard the new version! i'm grateful that you played the intro twice. i loved the way you dove right into the refrain out of the verse in the old version, though, so i'm not wild about the pre-chorus you added. when you went straight into refrain, it gave me a kind of breathless feeling that i thought was very appropriate for the song.
holy shit, the bridge is playing right now, and i love it so much i could die. the part before you start singing somehow reminds me of the cure--that piano part. did you change the lyrics from when you first posted them up here? because there was a line in the bridge that i wasn't wild about, but now i really like it. maybe i just needed to hear the melody.
ok, so my favorite parts of this song, as you know, are the ends of the first two refrains where you sing "for an escape" and "swing you up". the suspension under this and the melody just slay me. but you don't end the song with this section, which in my opinion is a crime! you just repeat the first bit of the refrain.
here's a crazy idea: sing the first line of that last refrain, and then stop: "breath abaited were you waiting...."--and give it two bars at least to just hang there... and then play the end of the first refrain, as you did the first time--"...for an escape (and) did the flood find you too?". you might have to tweak the last line a bit to get it to fit, but i think it'd be worth it. i just think you really need to milk the end of that refrain at the end of the song. ooh! you could even drop the meter at the end, after the fermata i suggest above, and play the last line more slowly. really draw it out for maximum effect: "for an escape and did the flood find you too".
love the song, my man. this is among your best yet, in my opinion.
Gabemcelwain 08:55, 5 September 2006 (PDT)
