I Can’t Help Myself
by @clocktoys
Liner Notes
The thing about ‘throwing the kitchen sink’ at a recording is it can be quite hard to have second thoughts - quite hard to calm things down later after a cup of tea and a lie down. Without having to start again from scratch. And I cannot be arsed to do that. Lazy git that I am. #Indie #singersongwriter #ipad
Lyrics
I can’t help my I can’t help myself I can’t help it I can’t help myself
Help myself Oh help myself
What’s one more Regret What’s one more Waste of my time
I can’t help it etc, etc
Comments
There's a James-Bond-chase-scene-on-a-surfboard menace to this that I really dig. With such spare lyrics (though they are effective, so that's not a complaint), it helps to have the strong musical underpinnings you've created here.
Love the arrangement, the sort of offbeat grooviness of it, especially when the muted guitar comes in and plays against the shuffling drumbeat in a really nice way. The reverb-heavy guitar chords sets a powerful mood, again I get a Morricone vibe, in a great way. And that kind of rattling sound that comes in around 1.14 is intriguing. I like these kinds of songs, heavy on atmosphere with just a few repeated lyric lines that are very distinct but also wide open to interpretation.
Having to work with my wrong hand mostly (I can move the fingers on my dominant hand but for short periods only) makes mixing and editing a pain. The basis of this was lying around for a while and so I thought I'd try to do something with it! I was trying to make the track sound more rough and organic. It certainly sounds rough!
I totally agree about the James-Bond-chase-scene-on-a-surfboard menace feel! I think I counted 13 words, which is very impressive to get your point across so efficiently and effectively. I once challenged myself to write a song with only 12 words. It’s called “12 Words” lol.