The Road Back. A new song that I very much hope will put a smile on your face.
Andy Korn about to beat the living shit out of his drums.
I've written ad nauseam about how I think my brain injury in 2006 helped me become a better songwriter, but it also, I think, "inspired" me to write songs that were unrelentingly sad. Honestly, virtually every song I wrote had a melancholy lyric. Also, I tended to come back to a few core themes over and over again, which got a little tiresome for me.
So one day I decided to write a positive song, even a happy song (the hardest to write for me). I wanted it to be a simple rock song in the vein of All Right Now, something that would snort from the radio, get your toe tapping, make you feel good about life and possibly sing along to.
A tall order, to be sure.
I don't remember when the bonehead-simple line "the road back" came to me. I don't remember the arrival of the riff either. All I remember is that most of the song came to me quickly and that it felt good to write about life getting better rather than life getting worse.
I do remember some of the recording sessions, especially the one in which Andy Korn crushed the drum track. I also remember hearing Tim Young's solo for the first time and just laughing at the joy of it. God, that made me feel good. The finishing touch was Eryn Young's vocal, a butterfly over the gravel pit.
As with all my other songs, you can download this one for free, load it onto your phone or iPod (does anyone still have one of those) and crank it up in your car, which is what I recommend.
The Road Back
There is no map for what lies ahead
But still I keep going
I'm taking lefts
I'm taking rights
I'm speeding up
And I'm slowing
I roll the window down to feel the wind
Let the memories flow
I hit the brakes
I hit the gas
I turn the dial on the radio
And find a song I love to sing
And makes me feel like I'm the king
Of this road I'm on
'Cause I've been driving for far too long
And even though I know I've been way off track
I think I'm finally on the road back
I've driven through the hardest rain
So thick I could not see
I've run some lights
I've missed some turns
I've missed some signs|
I could not read
But now everywhere I can see
The sun shining down on me
And this road I'm on
Makes me feel like singing a song
And even though I know I've been way off track
I think I'm finally on the road back
And the dead ends and one way streets
And the barricades of concrete
And the stop signs and detours
And all the things we have to endure
Let them fall behind with the trouble they bring
It's time to feel like we're the king
Of this road we're on
So let's sing a radio song
And even though I know we've been way off track
I still believe we can find the road back
Vocals: Eryn Yong
Backing vocals: Eryn Young, Timothy Young, Jeff Shattuck
Guitars and bass: Timothy Young
Drums: Andy Korn
Cowbell: Tom Donald
Written and produced by Jeff Shattuck
Engineered and mixed by Jaimeson Durr
Recorded at Hyde Street Studio C, SF, CA, and
Timothy Young's house in LA, CA
Copyright 2014