Comments on: Song-A-Week #19: Hold On

By: kate

kate — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 22:39:57 +0000

holy freaking crap matty. the newly proposed verse is EXACTLY RIGHT.
but i agree with chase…it doesn’t exactly fit with the song the way it is. your song is, i think, profoundly hopeful coming from you at this time in your life,(b/c place also = person) while the last verse is that drippy unresolved feeling that lurks at the corner of our minds. it’s a subtle but important difference.

By: Chase

Chase — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:12:22 +0000

I like the intent in the proposed verse, and think it could work but not too much with the other verses. 1 + 2 with 3 seem disconnected to me. I would revise the first two, but it’s your song.
More later. Maybe.

By: katie knows best

katie knows best — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:21:44 +0000

P.S. I miss you too…

By: katie knows best

katie knows best — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:20:38 +0000

I like the proposed EP idea, and I mean… I like it BUNCHES. And of course I would sound awesome on this song… like I do all the time. Gimme a break! And I pretty much agree with everyone… so maybe that sounds a little lame. But I’m leaving it in the text box. This is one of your best songs because it MEANS something to you. Remember that.

By: matt

matt — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 23:41:56 +0000

yeah chase, this song is sortof about that, but through a little more physical of a metaphor. And with that in mind I propose another verse:
Cuz sometimes loved ones, they go disappearing
some of their promises run out of truth (or: stop being true)
doesn’t seem right that they are their own person (or: how can they be their own person)
when they are such a vital part of you.
I’ve got some ideas for some editing of the song. It definitely needs some tightening up and a third verse which will probably be something along the lines of the one I just posted. I think i’m going to move some verses around and choruses and some surprising things… I think it will be good. More on that later.
I’m thinking of doing an EP, with this as the closer, I’ll take your advice and do the explosions in the sky thing and the build thing. And I would really like to get Ethan in a big room for the drums… Drums the size of the kit on Coldplay’s “Fix You.” But I may have an opportunity to get seth to play, so we’ll see. but i think this is more of an ethan song too.
I wonder what katie would sound like on this song? I was actually thinking that the harmony should really be a girl while I was recording it. Maybe seth knows some really good voices down here. doubt it though.
I am going to put in lots of strings and i wouldn’t mind having a really good brass section but that’s really just wishful thinking. Listen to “No Cars Go” from the last Arcade Fire record and then listen to this song and you’ll get it.
Proposed EP:
Worlds Unknown
??
The Way Off The Ground
Drive
Hold On
“The Way Off…” is a bit of an oddball on there currently, so whatever is track 2 would have to bridge that gap, and maybe another bridge in between that and Drive. But I really like that song and it fits with all the desolation and loneliness malarky.
I need 1950′s sci-fi art for this one. Comment on the verse, the song arrangement, and the proposed EP – please!

By: Chase

Chase — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 23:00:58 +0000

I like the female voice idea too.
Did anyone else got the same feeling from the chorus as I did? I mean, to me it’s like Matt is singing directly to the disconnect I feel from all of you.

By: kate

kate — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 14:09:28 +0000

i loved this song for what it is about, matty. thank you for expressing a feeling that has meaning to me. i thought the whole song was very beautiful.
i think you should make the chorus sound more separate from the verses. there’s something that’s kinda long and sustained (electric guitar?) that goes on the whole time. but the words of the chorus (Refrain?) have too much punch to drift away into the verses; it should be different sounding. and i, too, think part should be sung by a female voice, b/c you always sound good with that addition.

By: john

john — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 08:11:06 +0000

I’m right there with chase on this one. I think this song is great. the explosions building thing is exactly what i was thinking too. I think the beginning of the song could use a little sparser instrumentation and maybe less ebow and more something like a little bit of mandolin or banjo-ish sounds. Also, the harmony of the chorus should be a female voice (i’m thinking some of the stuff that ryan adams did with emmylou harris).

By: mallio

mallio — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 22:43:20 +0000

Great song. I want it to be on a movie soundtrack. I’m half considering filming a movie just to put this song in it. The movie would probably suck, but then this song would start playing toward the end and everyone would be like “man, this is great song” and forget about how bad the rest of the movie was and then i’d look good.

By: Kristina

Kristina — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 13:50:26 +0000

I think this one is one of the best so far. I agree with Chase, “I think this song is incredible Matt.”