FAWM: "Kowloon"

Kowloon

3 days ago by @edwinb · @stephenwordsmith

Kowloon

edwinb +1

00:00

Liner Notes

I read the lyrics to @stephenwordsmith's Kowloon (see here: https://fawm.org/songs/323304), a song about the Internet back when it used to be fun, full of pleasing metaphor and rhetoric, and thought it would sound interesting in the kind of #nerdfolk #ukulele and harmonica style that I enjoy making. So, I decided to have a crack at it. I did wonder if it should be a touch slower, but this is where I ended up, so here we go...

It's always a joy to work with @stephenwordsmith's lyrics!

Lyrics

A synthesis of photos and a wave of ragged tune Fill every inch of space in this old alley in Kowloon You knock on doors of screaming paint and stretch to peer inside Each window with no map but wit and instinct for your guide

All neon signs and halogens erratically arrayed To cast the most unfriendly light and throw the deepest shade Upon your tunneled vision as you chase that golden goose Which lurks in sudden corners and beneath the pavers loose

For everything is in discord and nothing is the same A different face to every voice that calls to you by name The crooked words and pictures peering through the push and shove Betray such empty pockets but a world of time and love

They do as hearts command and never care if you're impressed They sing their songs and hawk their wares and disregard the rest And maybe, if you're lucky, one will brush your glowing cheek With a single golden feather from the quarry that you seek

The world is now a greyer place, symmetrical and safe No searing lights of pink or popped-up obstacles to strafe An endless map of urban sprawl, no passage leading off it All owned by half a dozen fools who know no path but profit

With every curtain open to reveal the same tableau A billion lives more perfect than the ones they'll never show But few who dare to wonder how we came to this so soon From the light within the darkness of the alley in Kowloon

Comments

@gindark 2d

Wonderful collab, bringing these lyrics to life. My favourite lyric section was the bit ending with "half a dozen fools who know no path but profit". Social commentary at its most skewering from @stephenwordsmith . And great scanning of these words from @edwinb even with tongue twisting sections like "searing lights of pink or popped-up obstacles" - not easy but you made it sound so. And weirdly the subject matter and style meshed far better than I would have guessed from lyrics alone, super playing!

@coolparadisoMod 2d

loved the lyrics when i first saw them, and you've captured the spirit of them really well here! enjoyed the whole song! this is very folky in the best of ways!

@beacon 3d

This is masterful. I couldn't figure out how to set these wonderful lyrics and you've done them like it seems obvious. My hat is off to you Sir!

@ductapeguyMod 3d

I really like your band sound. It suits you to a t. And Stephen is a master of words.

@stephenwordsmith 3d

I keep coming back to listen to this one to think of things to say about it, but the more telling thing is that by now I'm just playing it because I like the song 😀

You are an absolute master of this genre - I appreciate the subtle ways in which the song builds and the notes change from verse to verse, which adds interest to a very repetitive lyrical metre. You deal with some twisty lines with effortless ease - the story and images come across so clearly, supported by a uke that allows them just enough space to breathe. The instrumental break is perfect, giving us a pause to reflect on what we've just experienced with the goose chase.

And the genre is an interesting setting for a lyric - I think it's the 'folk' rather than the 'nerd' that shines through, despite the subject matter (although the comments so far agree that the metaphor is very subtle - fair enough). This lends a certain timelessness to a piece which could easily have turned into an awkward period piece, lying in an uncanny valley where the subject is too recent to feel poetic and too historic to feel relevant.

This is my favourite of our collabs so far; really great work with this one.

@mrmagpiepromotions 3d

This is such a wonderful little number wrapped in metaphor (like all my own serious songs, I'm doing silly ones for FAWM though) that I almost missed the meaning. Wonderful. I really like your delivery, it's like early Frank Turner in some ways.