Other The East Village Vampire
Spelling Cool With A 'K'

It’s been a while…

After 4-5 months of not playing a single note I slowly felt the desire to start writing and recording again. I can’t explain exactly why but I made the conscious decision to completely block out music. It was probably a combination of burn out and wanting to concentrate on some more important stuff for a while.

It wasn’t easy. It was like trying to kick smoking. In fact, just like nicotine I have to admit that once music was out of my system I felt better. I felt lighter. In some strange way it was like a weight had been lifted. So it is all the more perplexing now that I have found my way back to music.

I guess for better or worst it is what I do. You can’t run away from yourself. And who knows, maybe part of me enjoys the weight of it all. Or maybe I shouldn’t think too deeply about and just get on with things.

Anyway, the experience seems to have inspired some new tunes such as my latest song, ‘Spelling Cool With A ‘K’. Lyrically, the song picks up on a long running preoccupation of mine in that nothing lasts forever. Things like fashion, speaking in a certain way or being part of a “scene” etc is all just nonsense in the scheme of it all.

Musically, I like this song. It has an almost jazz vibe to it especially in the first section. There are echoes of The Kinks, The Clash, Tom Waits, David Bowie and few other of my favorites in there. By my standards the song was rather complex to put together – don’t know if you will agree. I also like the heavy guitar sections with the Open D tuned guitar. I think it adds a bit of weight and some variation to the song.

I also think it is strange that my vocals have a kind of cockney sound to them. I was actually singing in my native Australian accent, but double tracked it with a kind of T.Rex like vocal. Combined it somehow seemed to change the accent of my voice. Impossible but true! I kind of like it.

Not sure if this song has opened the flood gates in terms of my song writing, but it is a start and there are plenty of other tracks gathering dust that I’ll post soon.

As always, I hope you all enjoy!

The Vamp

LYRICS...

If you can’t find a way
Because those cats around town ain’t nothing but strays
They scram…
Names in the sand
When the tide rolls in its like nothing began

It’s a cruel jibe, hard line to hear
It's a black eye, real shine to fear

You’re spelling cool with a ‘K’
Is it happening now in a permanent way?
It’s a scam!
Your older man
You’ll fear your kids and make other plans

I remember being out all night when the world felt right
and my friends were tight
I remember having nothing but time it was nothing but mine
It was nothing but mine
I use to think that it would all never end
I could always depend / always depend
I use to think that I was cool with ‘k’
But now / yeah now…

And if you’re running away
You know the dogs around town were breed to obey
Cause they can - find those who ran
And dreamt of something more than fucking dogs can

It’s a cruel jibe, hard line to hear
It's a black eye, real shine to fear

I remember being out all night when the world felt right
and my friends were tight
I remember having nothing but time it was nothing but mine
It was nothing but mine
I use to think that it would all never end
I could always depend / always depend
I use to think that I was cool with ‘k’
But now / yeah now…

Looking back it’s harder to see now
Looking back makes it harder to be now
Looking I can hardly believe now
I’m looking back
I’m looking back, back, back….

I remember being out all night when the world felt right
and my friends were tight
I remember having nothing but time it was nothing but mine
It was nothing but mine
I use to think that it would all never end
I could always depend / always depend
I use to think that I was cool with ‘k’
But now / yeah now…

Cool with a ‘K’