Thanks, as always, Michael for the shout out! I also really loved the latest New Pornographers album, and I only didn’t put it on my list because I was trying to not overlap with the other writers! In fact, my upcoming 75 best songs of 2023 playlist features the song you shared here! The acoustic duet with Aimee Mann! I’ve been humming it in my head, earworm style all week, so don’t be surprised if it appears on my stack. A little bit of kind criticism though-- Aimee should have been given lead vocal on one of the verses. I feel she was slightly under utilized.
Spot on, Steve - was definitely expecting to hear her solo somewhere in the song. Great harmony and her voice was definitely more present on my stereo speakers than my phone (unsurprising!), but still…
I was wondering if there was a contractual issue - I note this:
“ On January 9, 2023, A.C. Newman announced via Twitter that the band had moved to a new label, Merge Records, alongside announcing the band's ninth album Continue as a Guest, a single from the album, "Really Really Light", and a tour starting in April. The band's press photos confirmed Bejar's second departure from the group – although he has a co-writing credit on "Really Really Light".[18][19]” - Wikipedia
Seems odd, but maybe the label objected to a non member of the band having a solo part. I’m pretty sure Ms. Mann remains independent given her pretty public label criticisms I the past, but dunno
Interesting. Yeah, it could be something lame like contractual bullshit, but Aimee is also known as being shy and not wanting to steal the spotlight (or maybe even share it) so it could be as simple as that.
I’ll be interested to see where the tour goes - bet you’ll be able to see them before me. Be cool if Ms. Mann toured with them. I saw her years ago at a small venue just across the state line into Idaho. Great evening, but she kinda got peeved when she passed around a hat for requests but everyone wanted ‘til Tuesday songs.....
They played in San Francisco just a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t go. Money is tight and I’ve seen them probably 4 times already. I don’t think Aimee joined them. Maybe at the L.A. show.
I won’t judge!! Thanks for saying eloquently how I feel about my free Substack - I’m glad folks have the opportunity to make a few bux, but I don’t need them and would add more to my accountant’s bill than it would be worth!
Ha ha, you're very welcome. I've just watched people get so distorted chasing growth and I knew I didn't want that. Here's my favorite of three different posts I've written about songs: https://tompendergast.substack.com/p/tonight
Agreed! Interesting post! One reason I write about music in my life is so I don’t write about my, well, life - but I admire the bravery of those who do!
Whidby? Nice - I live on the other side of the mountains!
Ooh, I don’t think I know that tune. I’ll check it out. So you live on the dry side? We occasionally toy with the idea of moving over there, but then our kids are so nearby …
Really great resource, Michael, there’s some great recommendations, very useful. I know it’s obvious (because he worked with Brian Wilson / The Beachboys) but I love Jeffrey Foskett’s vocal / backing vocal harmonies. Also I know what you mean about singing songs in D Major / B minor. I’m currently trying to figure how to convincingly sing the chorus of ‘Old Man’ by Neil Young, I just can’t hit those notes, nowhere close, I have to sing it an octave down, which doesn’t really cut it. Transposing it doesn’t work for me, doesn’t sound so good in other keys. What to do?! 🤷♂️
Interesting question - I looked up Old Man on Chordify - their algorithm hears it a CMaj/Am, but the credits and sheet music company seem to think DMaj/Bm. I kind of get the discrepancy because no matter which key there are lots of non-diatonic chords and the chorus seems designed to highlight the dramatic rise in pitch (probably for the harmony possibilities it creates).
What do? My FWIW only take is transpose to CMaj/Am for a take, see if you can pull off the chorus with its dramatic pitch shift in that key, or - and this might be kinda odd, but kind cool in a Claptonesque way - change key on the just the chorus to CMaj/Am and go back to DMaj/Bm on the verses. FWIW
I may get back to you about this in a week or two, when I've had a proper deep dive into the chords again. Here's the thing - I quite like when people 'own' their version of a cover song, a great example for me is Al Green covering 'Light My Fire'. It's totally different to The Doors' version, yet instantly recognisable as that great song. Al Green just owns it. I try to do this, for example I do a blues style version of Bob Marley's 'Wait In Vain' in E Major. Yet some songs I just want to do the way the original artist did them, I can't and don't want to try to change or improve it, the original artist just nailed it, and Neil Young's 'Old Man' is such a song for me. You're spot on about the confusion online over keys of this song. I try to do things by ear or by watching video and looking at what's being played. At first I thought maybe NY used some altered or open tuning, but it's standard (I think). And at first I thought the key (by my ear) was G Major or E minor. The verses and the chorus seem to indirectly resolve V to I (D to G), hence my assumption it was G Major. However, by my ear there's a few F# root note chords in the second half of the verses (I think F#Major7) so that kind of rules out a straight forward diatonic G Major or E minor key. However, during the next week or two I think I will really home in on trying to nail what the key centre/s are (or are not) and then maybe figure out if I can do a reasonable transposition to another key... if not I guess I'll just have to work out my own version... would be so much simpler if I could just hit those high notes without sounding like a f*#@ing strangled cat! (No offence to Micha.)
I get all that!! Except for the ear part - only because I don’t have the ability to hear different keys by ear and name them. I hear intervals, but identifying the root - not in my skill set. Sorta jelly about your abilities, but my own fault for being careless about my hearing younger. Meh. Have fun and let me know what you figure out - in fact if you write something about the process and what you did to resolve things on your Substack, I’ll definitely link and quote w/attribution - I know it’s a topic a generous portion of my readers would be thrilled with!
I like the idea, Michael. I want to figure this song out anyway, so when I've done it, and written something, I'll let you know. I had a tinker with it just now, and my first conclusion on looking more closely (so not at the sheet music / stuff online, but actually singing the melody and figuring out exactly what the notes are) is that the verses are in D melodic minor (which explains the F natural eg FMajor7 chord, and also the occasional B natural in the harmony). Whilst the chorus is in D major, but with a twist — being that the V chord (under the D major melody) is A minor 7 (so v7), the harmony of which (the flat 3 and the flat 7 in the Am7 chord) gives the melody at the point that lamentful lilt.
Good stuff. Nice to meet you, Michael.
Same - welcome to our little group, which is growing in a good way!
Thanks, as always, Michael for the shout out! I also really loved the latest New Pornographers album, and I only didn’t put it on my list because I was trying to not overlap with the other writers! In fact, my upcoming 75 best songs of 2023 playlist features the song you shared here! The acoustic duet with Aimee Mann! I’ve been humming it in my head, earworm style all week, so don’t be surprised if it appears on my stack. A little bit of kind criticism though-- Aimee should have been given lead vocal on one of the verses. I feel she was slightly under utilized.
Spot on, Steve - was definitely expecting to hear her solo somewhere in the song. Great harmony and her voice was definitely more present on my stereo speakers than my phone (unsurprising!), but still…
I was wondering if there was a contractual issue - I note this:
“ On January 9, 2023, A.C. Newman announced via Twitter that the band had moved to a new label, Merge Records, alongside announcing the band's ninth album Continue as a Guest, a single from the album, "Really Really Light", and a tour starting in April. The band's press photos confirmed Bejar's second departure from the group – although he has a co-writing credit on "Really Really Light".[18][19]” - Wikipedia
Seems odd, but maybe the label objected to a non member of the band having a solo part. I’m pretty sure Ms. Mann remains independent given her pretty public label criticisms I the past, but dunno
Interesting. Yeah, it could be something lame like contractual bullshit, but Aimee is also known as being shy and not wanting to steal the spotlight (or maybe even share it) so it could be as simple as that.
I’ll be interested to see where the tour goes - bet you’ll be able to see them before me. Be cool if Ms. Mann toured with them. I saw her years ago at a small venue just across the state line into Idaho. Great evening, but she kinda got peeved when she passed around a hat for requests but everyone wanted ‘til Tuesday songs.....
They played in San Francisco just a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t go. Money is tight and I’ve seen them probably 4 times already. I don’t think Aimee joined them. Maybe at the L.A. show.
Hey, thanks for the callout. I know very little about music other than that I love it, and thus I have written about it a couple times.
I won’t judge!! Thanks for saying eloquently how I feel about my free Substack - I’m glad folks have the opportunity to make a few bux, but I don’t need them and would add more to my accountant’s bill than it would be worth!
Ha ha, you're very welcome. I've just watched people get so distorted chasing growth and I knew I didn't want that. Here's my favorite of three different posts I've written about songs: https://tompendergast.substack.com/p/tonight
Agreed! Interesting post! One reason I write about music in my life is so I don’t write about my, well, life - but I admire the bravery of those who do!
Whidby? Nice - I live on the other side of the mountains!
Ooh, I don’t think I know that tune. I’ll check it out. So you live on the dry side? We occasionally toy with the idea of moving over there, but then our kids are so nearby …
Yes - Spokane area - kids/gkids all here, I get what you mean.
My favorite EJ tune is “Where To Now, St Peter?” - a bit obscure probably, but interesting.
Really great resource, Michael, there’s some great recommendations, very useful. I know it’s obvious (because he worked with Brian Wilson / The Beachboys) but I love Jeffrey Foskett’s vocal / backing vocal harmonies. Also I know what you mean about singing songs in D Major / B minor. I’m currently trying to figure how to convincingly sing the chorus of ‘Old Man’ by Neil Young, I just can’t hit those notes, nowhere close, I have to sing it an octave down, which doesn’t really cut it. Transposing it doesn’t work for me, doesn’t sound so good in other keys. What to do?! 🤷♂️
Interesting question - I looked up Old Man on Chordify - their algorithm hears it a CMaj/Am, but the credits and sheet music company seem to think DMaj/Bm. I kind of get the discrepancy because no matter which key there are lots of non-diatonic chords and the chorus seems designed to highlight the dramatic rise in pitch (probably for the harmony possibilities it creates).
What do? My FWIW only take is transpose to CMaj/Am for a take, see if you can pull off the chorus with its dramatic pitch shift in that key, or - and this might be kinda odd, but kind cool in a Claptonesque way - change key on the just the chorus to CMaj/Am and go back to DMaj/Bm on the verses. FWIW
I may get back to you about this in a week or two, when I've had a proper deep dive into the chords again. Here's the thing - I quite like when people 'own' their version of a cover song, a great example for me is Al Green covering 'Light My Fire'. It's totally different to The Doors' version, yet instantly recognisable as that great song. Al Green just owns it. I try to do this, for example I do a blues style version of Bob Marley's 'Wait In Vain' in E Major. Yet some songs I just want to do the way the original artist did them, I can't and don't want to try to change or improve it, the original artist just nailed it, and Neil Young's 'Old Man' is such a song for me. You're spot on about the confusion online over keys of this song. I try to do things by ear or by watching video and looking at what's being played. At first I thought maybe NY used some altered or open tuning, but it's standard (I think). And at first I thought the key (by my ear) was G Major or E minor. The verses and the chorus seem to indirectly resolve V to I (D to G), hence my assumption it was G Major. However, by my ear there's a few F# root note chords in the second half of the verses (I think F#Major7) so that kind of rules out a straight forward diatonic G Major or E minor key. However, during the next week or two I think I will really home in on trying to nail what the key centre/s are (or are not) and then maybe figure out if I can do a reasonable transposition to another key... if not I guess I'll just have to work out my own version... would be so much simpler if I could just hit those high notes without sounding like a f*#@ing strangled cat! (No offence to Micha.)
I get all that!! Except for the ear part - only because I don’t have the ability to hear different keys by ear and name them. I hear intervals, but identifying the root - not in my skill set. Sorta jelly about your abilities, but my own fault for being careless about my hearing younger. Meh. Have fun and let me know what you figure out - in fact if you write something about the process and what you did to resolve things on your Substack, I’ll definitely link and quote w/attribution - I know it’s a topic a generous portion of my readers would be thrilled with!
I like the idea, Michael. I want to figure this song out anyway, so when I've done it, and written something, I'll let you know. I had a tinker with it just now, and my first conclusion on looking more closely (so not at the sheet music / stuff online, but actually singing the melody and figuring out exactly what the notes are) is that the verses are in D melodic minor (which explains the F natural eg FMajor7 chord, and also the occasional B natural in the harmony). Whilst the chorus is in D major, but with a twist — being that the V chord (under the D major melody) is A minor 7 (so v7), the harmony of which (the flat 3 and the flat 7 in the Am7 chord) gives the melody at the point that lamentful lilt.