I’ve collected some thoughts about each of the songs from the “Songs From My Dad’s Old Guitar”. I always liked looking at album pictures and reading lyrics & credits.
“Songs From My Dad’s Old Guitar”
In 2024 I was working with Horizon Music Studio's John Thiel, to record songs for this project. I brought drum sticks, a bass and electric guitar along with my Dad’s custom made “Dean” acoustic guitar.
*This particular “Dean” is not affiliated with the well known US company of the same name. My dad’s guitar was made by a guy up in Edmonton in the 1970’s. My dad used it to perform solo shows 6 nights a week up until he purchased a Takamine. The ‘Tak” had a better plug in pickup system as opposed to the “Dean” where he used a mic aimed at the soundhole. The “Dean” sat in my dad’s studio for years. One day he happened to bring it out of its case and I played it for the first time. I fell in love with it right away and basically told him he wasn’t getting it back.* I digress.
I started the recording process with the song “Never Enough Time”. I had prepared a cool bass line and had a concept of some drum patterns. I quickly realized that I might just end up cluttering it up so I abandoned the other instruments and kept it simple and airy. I did add some other guitar layers and came up with the thought of doing everything all on the one guitar. The title followed just as quickly as the format.
I had so much fun recording these songs with John. John has an abundance of musical talent which shines through in his engineering. Plus he’s easy to hang around. In many of these tracks some of the bits that made us laugh were the parts kept. Hopefully that fun translates for the listener.
Each song will have a little story and structure notes. I love song structures.
*V=Verse - C=Chorus - B=Bridge - S=Solo
Never Enough Time
I was participating in my first co-writing session thanks to the Calgary Songsmiths. The writer I was paired with resided in Texas so we met online. We spent our first meeting talking and getting to know each other a little. Our styles were different. Hers being more earthy folky while mine seemed more electric, at least online. She had some ideas about what she wanted to concoct together and mentioned: Something with a bass line. Something slow tempo for me, which would be mid-tempo for her. Something about time and the environment. When we ended our session I wrote “Never Enough Time” in about 15 minutes and sent it to her. It wasn’t anywhere close to what she was thinking so we continued the process and managed to write a different tune. That all being said, I loved what I had written. I think it really showed my headspace on the different stages of the passage of time. I’m particularly fond of the mother’s line “it’s sweeter the less that we stay”. I think her wisdom wasn’t just directed to her child at that moment but in the child’s questions about the meaning of life and death.
- V/C/V/C/B/S/C/V. I think it’s fun to end off a song in a verse. Especially when you end off on the Title. Also of note…the speed of the song, and the percussion, are accidently exactly like a ticking clock.
I’ll Be Your Home
That same songwriting session that produced “Never Enough Time” also brought “I’ll Be Your Home”. Before I was to meet my cowrite partner I did some social media recon. I checked out her profiles and music in an attempt to get a head start on finding some common musical ground. One of the things I noticed was that her partner lived in another state. I thought that was an interesting problem. I’ve often said something along the lines of it doesn't matter where I live as long as I’m with my wife…that’s home. So I had this whole song fleshed out the day before I met my co-writer. I mentioned my detective work and the song I had been inspired to write. She confessed to doing the same homework, but didn’t get a song out of it.
I have written a few songs with homes and their construction as a metaphoric device. In this particular song home is used as a feeling, but the last line “You are my foundation, I’ll be your home” strays into the physical concept of a home’s construction, however it is the perfect wording of how I feel about my wife…she is my foundation.
- V/V/B/V/S/B/V. Another song where I ended on the title in a verse. Although I delivered, what I think is, the best line in the last verses tag. I’m also happy that there’s no Chorus in this song. I love structural things like that.
Adeline
I probably have a little regret choosing the name Adeline. I think I would have preferred Madeline. The softer M might have been better. Oh well.
This song was a piece of music I had written in the late 90s or early 2000s. It was originally titled “To Subtle For Me”. The music always stuck with me but I had reservations about the lyrics. When I revisited the song more recently a different concept came to life and fit the melody. The musical interlude/bridge was also new. Voila
- V/C/V/C/B/V/C. One word title, one word chorus.
Love Sick Fools
This one was written around the time Sheryl Crow had her first big hit. So for whatever reason I kinda hear “All I Wanna Do” when I play “Love Sick Fools” Of course no one else does. I was always skeptical about the line “…sick on each other” but realised it’s a cool turn on an old phrase and people seem to take it exactly as I intended. My wife actually used this for an audition piece for an acting role. Needless to say she’s usually the only person singing along during my performances. I can’t remember if she got the part despite the song not being the kinda vehicle for a theatre audition. I hope I pronounce matryoshka correctly. I double-checked and was mortified that I had been calling the Russian nesting doll by another name for years.
- V/V/B/S/V Another song without a chorus.
The Beasts Will Surely Win
I was having a conversation with a fellow musician after a show. He asked a question about why all the “country” guitarists seemed to love playing Hal Ketchum’s song “Past The Point of Rescue”? I explained why I thought this might be the case. Blues became Rock and Bluegrass/Folk became country. Rock is, a lot of times, based around minor chords while Country uses major. Therefore it’s fun for guitarists to solo in different scales. The next day I had written “The Beasts Would Surely Win” as an example of using a minor key. I always loved the line “The beast in me is caged by frail and fragile bars” written by Nick Lowe and performed by Johnny Cash, so I took the concept in a different direction.
- V/V/S/V - Just verses. Maybe I have trouble with writing choruses?
I’ll Get Over That Hill
I consider this a lyrical follow up to “The Beasts Would Surely Win”. Where “The Beasts” deals with the pain of holding in all your secrets and hurt “I’ll Get Over That Hill” is about what happens when the “beast” is actually brought out into the light. The recovery path as it were. It’s not always easy but with time and luck we can push that weight up to the top of the hill and finally get rid of it. Sisyphus is the figure in Greek mythology who is condemned to push a large boulder up a hill, only for it to roll back down when he gets close to the top. This punishment symbolizes the futile pursuit and punishment for his actions.The song does end on a positive note as I feel the path can be accomplished.
I was trying to write something more John Prine like. I’m pretty sure I failed, but I like what this particular failure sounded like.
- V/C/V/C/S/B/V/C I really like the tag where it changes “I can” to “I will” and raises the melody up to imply belief and happiness in the process.
I Forgot Why I’m Drinking
I’m very proud of this song, specifically the structure. It’s written to be quiet in the chorus and loud in the verse. Normally it’s the reverse in most songs. The quiet chorus’s act as reality while the verses are where the singer is imagining some heroic reason for his situation. The bridge acts as a measure of understanding and realization for the singer. The last verse then becomes quiet as the singer is aware of the sad reasons he’s where he is. Of course…he had been drinking a lot so the last chorus is loud and back to dreamland.
Crystal
This is a complete 1 take track. No extra bits or fix jobs. It has some string buzz, slightly missed notes but it’s just perfect the way it is. Hence the title.
- V/C/V/C - Even an instrumental can follow the same structures.
My Baby’s Only Got Eyes For Me
I was talking to my daughter about imposter syndrome and some of my feelings of not being worthy of my wife’s affection. This song came out the next day and I played it for my daughter first. She said I pretty much nailed exactly what I was trying to get across.
Even though this whole project sprung from the idea of using only my Dad’s old guitar for all the sounds this track really felt like the guitar wanted company. I thought the clarinet would be stunning and came up with the further idea of a trumpet as well. Huge thanks to Cedric Blary, clarinet and Andre Wickenheiser on the trumpet.
Middle Aged City Slicker
I have to confess, this one is pretty much the most autobiographical song I’ve written. In getting other people to record my songs I can understand there is no way any country performer would take this particular theme on. It’s so against any of their images or brands. I have none of those issues. In essence, I wrote a song I don’t think anyone else can sing but me.
- V-C1-V-C2-S-V-C3 I enjoy the concept of a chorus that changes every-time around. Still seems pretty cohesive.
My Life - Overkill - Dancing In The Dark
I’ve made a living playing other people’s songs for a long time. I thought including a few was a cheap way to drum up traffic for my original songs. All kidding aside I wanted to include a few of my favourite songs. I did have to be specific with picking songs that I thought I performed a little differently that would fit into the whole project. Funny enough I picked three songs that were released in a 6 year period from 1978-1984
I have always loved My Life. I Loved it right from the moment I first heard it, on some school kids' record player during lunch break. It’s been a consistent top 10 song for me ever since.
Men At Work came along at the time I was fully hooked on videos. While I never saw them live I did get to see Colin Hay play with Ringo. This was always the big hit of his that I gravitated to the most.
I’m a late comer to Bruce Springsteen. He was everywhere. But he wasn’t exactly what I was into at any time as I was growing up. I accompanied someone on Dancing In The Dark at an open mic and I ended up playing it with a capo. I heard the potential harmonics and when I shifted to a different key for my voice I ended up really enjoying the song. Funny enough I probably do about 10 different Springsteen songs now. Weird.
The follow up answer as to what other covers I might have been considering recording: “How Did I Get Here” by Fastball, “I Want Love” by Elton John and maybe “In My Life” or “Penny Lane” by the Beatles. Honestly, there's far too many other songs that run around my hamster wheel.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy the songs and hopefully I’ll get to perform them for you somewhere and sometime on and down the road.
Thanks to my wife, Crystal (my foundation) All the kids, Justin, Josh, Aidan, Spencer, Sierra and Lilyana for being around, influencing, and inspiring my creative endeavours.
Thanks to all the musicians I’ve performed with over the years.
Thanks to John Thiel for all the fun/work.
And of course thanks to my parents. My mom mostly for my attempts at storytelling. My Dad for the day to day everything in a life of music but most importantly for his old guitar.
Matt Beatty April 2024
