Love-Hounds-request@EDDIE.MIT.EDU (12/28/86)
Really-From: IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Kate's article on the making of The Dreaming, Part II:
Her explanations of the tracks on Side One of the album
"Sat In Your Lap"
I already had the piano patterns, but they didn't turn into a
song until the night after I'd been to see a Stevie Wonder
gig. Inspired by the feeling of his music, I set a rhythm on
the "Roland" and worked in the piano riff to the high-hat and
snare. I now had a verse and a tune to go over it but only a
few lyrics like
"I see the people working,"
"I want to be a lawyer," and
"I want to be a scholar,"
so the rest of the lyrics became "na-na-na" or words that happened
to come into my head. I had some chords for the chorus with the idea
of a vocal being ad-libbed later. The rhythm box and piano were put
down, and then we recorded the backing vocals "Some say that knowledge
is..." Next we put down the lead vocal in the verses and spent a few
minutes getting some lines worked out before recording the chorus
voice. I saw this vocal being sung from high on a hill on a windy
day. The fool on the hill, the king of the castle... "I must admit,
just when I think I'm king."
The idea of the demos was to try and put everything down as quickly
as possible. Next came the brass. The CS80 is still my favourite
synthesizer next to the Fairlight, and as it was all that was
available at the time, I started to find a brass sound. In minutes
I found a brass section starting to happen, and I worked out an
arrangement. We put the brass down and we were ready to mix the demo.
I was never to get that CS80 brass to sound the same again -- it's
always the way. At The Townhouse the same approach was taken to
record the master of the track. We put down a track of the rhythm
box to be replaced by drums, recording the piano at the same time.
As I was producing, I would ask the engineer to put the piano
sound on tape so I could refer to that for required changes.
This was the quickest of all the tracks to be completed, and was
also one of the few songs to remain contained on one twenty-four
track tape instead of two!
"There Goes a Tenner"
"Everybody synchronize watches. Remember there's only half an
hour to do the job. We've been rehearsing for weeks, so nothing
should go wrong. Let's run through it one more time:
I go in and distract the guard,
Frank's out the back in the getaway car,
The sign on the door turns from open to shut,
We keep them all covered, you blow the safe up,
We grab the cash, make a hasty retreat,
And tear across London using the backstreets.
Remember, be careful, give nothing away,
The arm of the Law is as long as they say."
"Pull Out the Pin"
We sat in front of the speakers trying to focus on the picture --
a green forest, humid and pulsating with life. We are looking at
the Americans from the Vietnamese point of view and, almost like
a camera, we start in wide shot. Right in the distance you can see the
trees moving, smoke and sounds drifting our way...sounds like a radio.
Closer in with the camera, and you can catch glimpses of their pink
skin. We can smell them for miles with their sickly cologne,
American tobacco and stale sweat.
Take the camera in even closer, and we find a solitary soldier,
perhaps the one I have singled out. (Sometimes a Vietnamese
would track a soldier for days and follow him, until he eventually
took him.) This soldier is under a tree, dozing with a faint
smile and a radio by his side. It's a small transistor radio out
of which cries an electric guitar. I'd swear it was being played
by Brian Bath, but how could that be, way out here on our stereo screen.
I pop the silver Buddha that I wear around my neck into my mouth,
securing my lips around his little metal body. I move towards the
sleeping man. A helicopter soars overhead, he wakes up, and as he
looks me in the eyes I relate to him as I would to a helpless
stranger. Has he a family and a lady waiting for him at home,
somewhere beyond the Chinese drums and the double bass that
stalks like a wild cat through bamboo?
The moving pictures freeze-frame and fade -- someone stopped
the multi-track, there's more overdubs to do.
"Suspended in Gaffa"
Whenever I've sung this song I've hoped that my breath would
hold out for the first few phrases, as there is no gap to breathe in.
When I wrote this track the words came at the same time, and this
is one of the few songs where the lyrics were complete at such an
early stage. The idea of the song is that of being given a glimpse
of "God" -- something that we dearly want -- but being told that
unless we work for it, we will never see it again, and even then,
we might not be worthy of it. Of course, everybody wants the
reward without the toil, so people try to find a way out of the
hard work, still hoping to claim the prize, but such is not
the case. The choruses are meant to express the feeling of
entering timelessness as you become ready for the experience, but
only when you are ready.
"Leave It Open"
Like cups, we are filled up and emptied with feelings, emotions --
vessels breathing in, breathing out. This song is about being open
and shut to stimuli at the right times. Often we have closed minds
and open mouths when perhaps we should have open minds and shut mouths.
This was the first demo to be recorded, and we used a Revox and the
few effects such as a guitar chorus pedal and an analogue delay system.
We tried to give the track an Eastern flavour and the finished demo
certainly had a distinctive mood.
There are lots of different vocal parts, each portraying a separate
character and therefore each demanding an individual sound. When
a lot of vocals are being used in contrast rather than "as one,"
more emphasis has to go on distinguishing between the different
voices, especially if the vocals are coming from one person.
To help the separation we used the effects we had. When we mastered
the track, a lot more electronic effects and different kinds of
echoes were used, helping to place the vocals and give a greater
sense of perspective.
Every person who came into the studio was given the "end backing
vocals test" to guess what is being sung at the end of the song.
"How many words is it?"
"Five."
"Does it begin with a 'W'?"
It is very difficult to guess, but it can be done, especially when
you know what the song is about.
I would love to know your answers.
(And she got answers. For months there was an ongoing
competition in the club for the correct solution to this puzzle.
One American fan and friend of IED's -- less-than-friend of |>oug's --
would call Kate up at her home every few days, asking, "Is it
blankety-blank?" Kate would laugh and say, "Keep trying!"
After more than a year and three more Newsletters, a Dutch
fan finally figured out the correct answer. It was a big surprise to
most fans, who had been looking in entirely the wrong location,
so to speak...)
Next: Side Two of the album