FAWM: "Leatherette"

Leatherette

Liner Notes

File under: 🤷‍♂️

The chorus melody has been swirling around my head since the start of the month. I sat staring at a blank notes document for a long time before a topic or any lyrics came. Then it did.

Now, I know there are jokes out there such as these...

(which ARE v funny)

..but some days I'm just like.. come on - it seems so patently obvious that we should all be vegan as a baseline ethical decision. Then I think, no, that's silly, there has to be a reason why the vast majority of people are not. But wait.. is it silly? Why is it silly? Then I cringe at the idea of saying something like that out loud to anyone. Then I think about my other moral failings in life. The virtue signalling. My distinct lack of activism regarding animal rights. I think about Palestine, and South Sudan, and Ukraine, and Iran. And sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia. Then I also think about the Jane Goodall quote: “The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.” And then I think about how she wasn't vegan until 2015!

ANYWAY

I've not articulated my thoughts very well, either in the liner notes or in the lyrics, though I am quite proud of "who’s in the right? well me, of course / and I can’t even get on my high horse". Get it? Because riding a horse is animal exploitation too, man!

#animalrights #fawmtronica

Lyrics

battery-born stamp assured it’s high time on the killing floor

if I had a fin imagine it would you cut it off and let me sink?

let’s go out weather deck put it on leatherette

It’s quick and clean a humming machine swing low, sweetbread

who’s in the right? well me, of course and I can’t even get on my high horse

let’s go out weather deck put it on leatherette

pull of the moon undertow let them keep their skin and bones

let’s go out weather deck put it on leatherette

Comments

@judypie 9h

Spoiler alert - I <3 it! It's so swirly and fun sounding even though you're singing about something so sad :( And yes of course you're in the right! The reason is surely wilful ignorance. SING IT LOUDER. The high horse line IS very good yes :D

@owl 1d

Glad you managed to turn it into a song in the end! This is lovely, I especially like the part where the “oh” backing vocals come in before the breakdown (and then breakdown and buildup v satisfying!) I was pescatarian and then vegetarian for years and ended up going back to full-on meat eating after moving to the Midwest, where it became a lot harder to sustain. It’s interesting to me that most if not all of the staff members at the wildlife rehab center where I volunteer are meat-eaters despite working every day to save even tiny, common animals—it’s a nuanced world, like I think “vegan leather”/leatherette is ultimately worse for the environment than leather but also you don’t have to be the one literally wearing animal skins. Anyway I digress. GOOD SONG

@leepat 1d

eating animals is fine if you can hunt and kill them (and skin and cook them on a fire you made) or if you feed them out of your bowl and it breaks your heart you have to eat them to live on. it’s balance that’s been lost. that said, I prefer the verse melody (and the pulse, and the oohs), but again, it works off the chorus, so yeah, balance…

@thelowestbitter 2d

Chorus melody definitely a winner, shame the lyrics are leftist nonsense (I kid of course!). This builds so nicely and then when you strip it back to just that synth pulse around the 2 minute mark and build it all back up… wonderful. Swing low, sweetbread is a great lyric btw

@mdavisto 2d

Yer an artist, Harry.

I like this 16th pulsing synth, somehow it's less a layer and more the actual backbone of the thing.

For what it's worth, all of the animals I eat are vegan.

@vomvorton 2d

That is rather a lovely chorus melody! Big fan of the synth sounds on this, almost chiptune-y in places. Lovely light tone for some heavier themes. With my tongue FIRMLY in cheek I shall write a song about how everyone else should stop eating any food that contains gluten because that's the REAL issue ☹

@adforperu 2d

bless you for your adforperu listening sesh and comments! Most appreciated.

@cathreu 2d

I'm such a sucker for woah's in any song, but they are just a garnish on this excellent piece of music. Great melody, incredibly catchy and well produced. This will be stuck in my head for at least the rest of the workday. Loooove that main synth sound.

@ampersandman 2d

As always I adore the masterful production. The lyrics are great, they make their point all subtle, without being preachy. My favourite part is the shift into major in the middle of the song, it creates so much tension and resolves so well in the last chorus!

@kaminokai 2d

love that open. excellent melody. big fan of that synth. excellent vocals and harmonies. hints of Thomas Dolby and the Killers (weirdly enough). Awesome. Kudos. I hope you put this on BandCamp.