Monday, June 13, 2011

That's the Anthem

In another time, in another life I was a musician myself. I gave it up eventually because, frankly, I wasn't particularly good at it, and I've never felt that was any great loss to the listening world.

The one thing I do miss, though, is songwriting. Again, that's not saying I was particularly adept at it, but I always enjoyed the process. Lyricism is a peculiar art, one where the sound of the words is as important as the meaning, and I've always believed that such is where the true magic of language lies.

So when my pal John Anealio approached me about co-writing a proper tribute to our fellow GeekDads I was honored. John's an amazing musician and an impeccable songwriter, but he still wanted me to help him carve a genuine song out of the larger idea he had going in.

Using a melody and some scratch vocals provided by John, I started writing down tiny snippets. These odd little vignettes based on things that I saw or did during an average week – everything from driving to work to watching Doctor Who – were eventually pared down into some simple verses that Sai Anealio then polished to a brighter sheen.

Still, my meager contributions are nothing compared to John's fantastic performance and skillful production, not to mention his underlying verse-chorus concept that got the ball rolling. He really managed to combine the best of both his straight-ahead, guitar-guy sound and his bigger, broader electronic sound into a truly unique outing. (Hell, I'd go so far as to call this the most John Anealio-y John Anealio song yet!)

So give it a listen. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I hope you dig it too.

4 comments:

Shannon said...

Great work!! Instantly likable, with a fantastic melody. Thanks for the new music!

Unknown said...

Hey Z.

Thanks for the kind words about the production of the tune. I do spend a ton of time putting these together, to get them to sound right, so it really feels good when folks notice that.

But thank you for your lyrical contribution. This song would be just another idea in the pile if you didn't step in with the excellent verse lyrics that you came up with. So again, thank you.

Stevie D said...

This song is hot! And catchy as hell. I think it may just be stuck in my head for the rest of the day! Good job Z!!

Z. said...

Thanks for listening, Shannon.

It was really my pleasure, John. And again, man, fantastic job!

'Preciate it, Stevie. :)