FAWM: "Echofall"

Echofall

Liner Notes

linear

i tend to get down real on my songwriting, especially when things aren't going well. it's all kinda madness and the therapist is always going to ask you about your parents.

i tried to sit down two nights this week "and write for fawm" because i "needed to". needless to say nothing came out. was kinda sad about it but nothing to do but kick rocks. couple days later i'm at five songs, and can just coast home the rest of the way. the lesson here is to stop being maniac and just give it time.

details

written 2/7/2026 fawm made up words 10:45 - 12:01

notes

not a perfect take, but good enough. i came up with the idea of echofall for the made up words first week challenge. i knew what an echofall was, but i couldn't come up with a story where an echofall was happening (that's not true, i couldn't come up with one that i liked). the end result was this, which i'm happy with.

#acousticonetake #madeupwords #fawm #singersongwriter

Lyrics

[c3] echo fall

g d/f# em c is a short time, or is it long to spend your lifetime without a father around a mother beat down, long since gone no more family, that you want around

[chorus] g d/f# em c this is the sound of an echofall caught in the place where the evening stalls whiskey poured neat, lights down low d/f# c d g echo falling, tonight d/f# c g echo falling, tonight

[v2] g d/f# em c his mamma mean, a hand me down thinking daddies should drink and drink showing up on a wedding day starting fights in his old weird way

[chorus]

[bridge] em d/f# em c looking in the mirror with my blood shot eyes

i see his reflection staring back at me

this affliction haunts me at every turn

d/f# c could this be, d g more than skin deep

Comments

@oswlek 4d

Great stuff, Lee. I know the fear and pain of the lyric well, so if hit deep. The melody and chords are well constructed. Has a good flow.

If your indulge a suggestion, I think it might be worth seeing how it sounds to skip the first tonight at the end of the chorus and go instead with

Echo falling, echo falling, tonight.

For clarity, I mean jumping straight from 0:57 to 1:01(ish) on the version here.

Good write.

@jeff9 1w

A truly powerful set of lyrics here, Lee. You really bring to life the idea that the inevitable possibility of inheriting the worst traits of our forebears is metaphorically a kind of echo, and a pretty terrifyingly haunting one at that. It has a sort of Dylan-esque quality to it that's really appealing. I wonder if that might even be more pronounced if was in a lower key and/or semi-spoken. Might be fun to experiment with that.

@mikehex 1w

Echofall (noun) An impact of repercussion resulting from the influence of an unseen but identifiable force.

At least, that's how I would write the entry in a dictionary. I had trouble believing it was a made-up word, the song brought out such a vivid example of a man becoming the father he only knows through his mothers expectations and the palpable absence. The mirror scene is really well done. Beautiful and sad, I really like this work.

@chrisgray 1w

Lee, LOVE this chorus, and echofall is a beautiful, resonant word-- also love "that place where the evening stalls". Really like your story structure on this. Intro your theme in V1. Then you get so much family history in just 4 lines in V2. Then you follow the echo of this sad story into the present. I think it's a great choice to pose the ending as a scary question: am I becoming what I despised? I like this a lot, and enjoyed the song and your performance. And thanks much for your thoughtful comment on my song.

@andygetch 1w

On a listen I would swear the music has a lot more than the 1, 4, 5, and 6 chords (thanks for posting them). The melody augments the guitar in that way. The family references really hit home for me and bring back memories I have written a fair bit about. I guess I grew up near the echofalls too.