Other The East Village Vampire
Combat Boots

I have a strange song writing technique that I sometimes use.

I basically record a live beat, or find a sample that I like, and loop it endlessly. No fills. No breaks. I then slowly write and shape a song over the top until I have the final product. I can spend hours doing this. For some reason it helps me focus. Once finished I often go back and re-record the percussion, but every now and then I just leave it in.

‘Combat Boots’ is an example of me leaving it in. The song was spontaneously inspired by the drum intro to Bill Withers' 'Kissing My Love'. Like my other song 'Man Machine ‘(For Someone Else’s Dream)’, I literally had a guitar in my hands and started playing the main riff over a cool drum sample. Obviously I don’t own the rights to the sample.

Recorded in 2007, the song is cryptically about a soldier returning home from war. To the soldier everything is the same, yet somehow everything is different. Nothing seems to fit anymore. He is suffering from a sense of isolation and an inability to communicate/articulate his experiences (i.e. gotta get a message to you). The only thing that feels real to him are the combat boots on his feet that carried him through the war and brought him back home. The idea was to make it all sound like an internal monologue (a bit pretentious I know)

Once again I sampled the film Paris, Texas (The first time being in ‘Corroded Heart’). In my mind, the samples seem to add a ghostly quality and in this context seem to allude to the soldier’s life prior to joining the army – like a memory. I like the idea of there being some kind of mystery buried in the past that is only hinted at.

Although it is very groove oriented, the music has a lot going on and probably requires headphones to pick it all up. There are a lot of interesting overdubs and sounds throughout. I really tried to create a chilled out, yet subtly psychedelic feel. Also, I think it is strange how the intro just fades in to song that is already in progress.

I think the track is much more of a soundscape or mood piece than a song. To be honest I never really intended to put it out there, but what the hell. It is pretty interesting.

Hope you enjoy!

LYRICS...

These combat boots go miles and miles
These combat boots go up and down the aisle
Of every town, of every street
These combat boots on my two feet

Got to get a message to you
Got to get a message to you
Got to get a message to you
Got to get a message to you

Don’t make a difference if you can’t seem to understand
Through wide open spaces these boots just carry your man

These combat boots walk foreign fields
These combat boots remind me what’s real
See familiar faces and raging storms
These combat boots keep moving until dawn

Got to get a message to you
Got to get a message to you
Got to get a message to you
Got to get a message to you

Don’t make a difference if you can’t seem to understand
Through wide open spaces these boots just carry your man

These combat boots to the ends of the Earth
These combat boots have proven their worth
When you can’t trust a stranger and you can’t trust a friend
These combat boots will be true to the end

Got to get a message to you
Got to get a message to you
Got to get a message to you
Got to get a message to you

Don’t make a difference if you can’t seem to understand
Through wide open spaces these boots just carry your man

Combat Boots by The East Village Vampire is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.