Sometime Somewhere
Music by Lee Oser and Marvin Etzioni
Lyrics by Lee Oser
It’s always interesting, when you’re working with the three chords of blues or country music, to see where the fourth chord takes you. It’s like introducing a shade amidst the primary colors. “Sometime Somewhere” has six chords and the chorus hinges on the one minor chord in the song. The melody leaps up and drives home the lyric. It was the last song I wrote for the record, and I recall the raw energy, the drive to write something catchy. Marvin went to work on the structure like a sculptor handling clay. The words are deliberately simple—Dr. Seuss for grown-ups.
It Doesn’t Matter Much to Me
Music by Lee Oser and Marvin Etzioni
Lyrics by Lee Oser
I’m a writer of bridges, and the bridge pleased me because it starts on B minor and resolves on B major. All the best writing on the record was fluid in that way. The chords were invitations, not formulas or routines. To be sure, rock has its standard forms, and this song started as a blues riff in B major (transposed to E major, since Kate sings higher than I do). Initially, I thought the verses were about corporate types dressed up as political saints. That kind of managerial posturing is rampant these days, especially in my line of work. In retrospect, though, I think I was commenting on my own smelly ambition. Those “no, no, no no’s” at the end should be sung by Dr. Faustus sinking through a trapdoor.
You Win
Music by Lee Oser and Marvin Etzioni
Lyrics by Lee Oser
It started with the chorus, writing in a Buddy Holly vein. The verses are poppy and move the song along, but I found my own voice with the bridge. Word-wise, it’s the comical side of the Battle of the Sexes, the ju-jitsu grappling with someone else’s will. I remember Kevin Kraft helping with the verse about the drones. Kevin is great that way. He listens carefully and occasionally spits out the excellent suggestion.
Reach Out (Touch the Divine)
Music by Lee Oser and Marvin Etzioni
Lyrics by Lee Oser
I love God and I hate partisan politics. Or maybe I love the idea of God. It’s hard to say. I think politics has become a God-substitute, and the constant obsession is sick, a mass psychosis. So I was playing the Druid or Witch Doctor, trying to find a groove to move the dancing animal, the primordial being who is too wise to waste time on hate. Marvin brought a lot of insight into this number. He made sure it stayed on point both musically and lyrically.
She’s Not Here
Music by Lee Oser and Marvin Etzioni
Lyrics by Lee Oser
A perfect example of automatic writing. I have no idea where it came from. I was sitting at the kitchen table with my guitar, and it emerged as if by ventriloquism. I had the body of the song in fifteen minutes, except that Marvin later came up with this beautiful chromatic trick to set up the bridge. We always said that was our “Lennon-McCartney” moment. As regards the words, the task was to avoid clichés. Not a total success, but there can be life in clichés, if you know how to find it. The “afterlife of clichés,” one might say.