Better Way
Writing
The chords and melody for this song were written in Dublin in late 2007. It was centred around the kind of blusey guitar riff that started the song out at that stage. I had some of the words as well but the cohesiveness of the lyrics was missing.
Here is part of an early home demo of the song known then as "Simple Ways":
In the rehearsal space in Berlin, I started to explore deeper where the few words and phrases I had were leading me. The image of the person in the song being in a symbiotic relationship with the town he was living intrigued me. Even though he tries and tries to lift himself up and live to the full potential he wants for himself, in the end he keeps finding himself stuck in the same old place.
Likewise, the town he is living in never can break free from the down on it's luck, used up and forgotten status it has. In the end, the voice of the song repeats his mantra of "I've got to find a better way" giving hope to himself that the cycle of failure can still be broken.
Recording
Straight away Fab had clear ideas for this song to view the opening riff, the verse and the chorus as three distinct parts. We jammed the opening riff in the studio on our one rehearsal day with the band. Peter finding that cool bass line and Dave and Fab collaborating on that hypnotic dance drum part. We didn't concern ourselves too much with the verses or chorus as Fab had other plans for them.
We had recorded 6 of the 7 songs planned in the first two days of recording. So, for the third day of recording, we took our time with "Better Way" as we knew it was the most complex song we would be recording.
Fab had gotten to the studio early and had made a loop of the bass and drum opening riff from the rehearsal day as we had recorded all the rehearsals. It sounded great. From there he had recorded a drone organ and a drum part from the organ's rhythm box for the verses. The challenge was the opening riff loop from the rehearsal was over 10 BPM (beats per minute) faster than the organ drone/drums he had recorded for the verse. That's quite a shift to the ears. So, for the chorus which links the verse to the rift, he built a slowly increasing click for us to play to during the chorus part in order to bridge the two tempos. This was the only song we used a click with and even it was not a mechanical click, it was built from the loop of the live rehearsal and the organ's rhythm box.
We then recorded the song all the way through live including an improvised jam on the ending.
One week later, Fab and I started work on the verses. We got rid of all the live recording of the verses except the bass. I played classical acoustic guitar and then sang my vocal nearly lying on the floor to get a dreamy trance like feel. Fab had looped all the verses together so I could sing them one right after the other and in the same mood.
Next we worked on the chorus adding my piano and a new electric guitar. For the vocal, I sang holding an SM58 microphone running through a guitar amp to get a loud speaker effect. I sang the long ending part in one take to keep a live improvised feel. Fab had recorded the eerie backing vocals for the outro earlier.
In October, Fab's brother, Benoît Leseure came for a holiday visit to Berlin and very kindly agreed to play violin on this track. We recorded him in Fab's apartment sitting room. He instinctively was able to tap into the mood of the song and even though I had scored what he plays on the third verse, he brought a huge depth of emotion and style to it and added a lovely harmony part of his own.
Lastly, we turned Benoît into a one man orchestra for the last chorus and outro where he played at least twenty different violin parts.
I really enjoyed taking a different recording approach to this song than the rest of the album. It was a lot of work but we wanted to push the boat out for what was possible with this song.
Mixing
We had mixed two very different versions of this song. The last version was technically better and very slick, polished and professional sounding. I really liked it. But, two days before mastering, Fab suggested going back to an earlier mix that was really trashy and punchy with much more of an attitude about it.
That was one of the hardest parts of mixing - the urge to make the songs sound "perfect" (there is no such thing). Instead we had to keep reminding ourselves of the original intention of the song. For "Better Way" it is all about the brash bombastic attitude in the rocking bits sitting against the soft melancholy of the verses and the jaunting alarm of the choruses.
So, we choose the trashy bold version over the slick one and I am so glad we did. Thanks for the save Fab!
Track Information
Eric:
Electric Guitars (Hohner Semi-Hollow body & Washburn (live with the band)), Classical Acoustic guitar, piano, Lead Vocal (sung nearly lying down on the verses, through an SM58 mic held in my hand on the choruses and outro ), Backing Vocals
Fab:
Backing Vocals (including the outro ones), organ and the organ's rhythm box used on the verses
Dave Hingerty:
Drums, extra Floor Tom on outro
Peter Cheevers:
Bass, Clavs
Benoît Leseure:
Violins
Trumpet:
Jan Gropper
Lyrics
Better Way
All I get is raining on a Sunday afternoon
Lying here in this hard hit town where there’s nothing left to do
And all those words keep shining in, someday I’ll overcome
Lying here with the same old fears
Where the love is on the run
Chorus:
Now everyday
There’s panic on the street
And panic on my face
I’m falling on my knees
I’ve got to find a better way
Tomorrow seems too heavy so I’m drinking cheap red wine
I told myself that I’d change my ways but I’m running out of time
And all I wants to fly away, to feel the burning sun
But I’m lying here on the brink of tears
Monday blues are chasing and I start to lose my way
They’re tearing down this old brick town and putting nothing in its place
Still all those words keep shining in, someday I’ll overcome
lying here in the grip of fear
With the lovers on the run
Chorus:
Now everyday
There’s panic on the street
And panic on my face
I’m falling on my knees
I’ve got to find a better way
I’ve got to find a better way, I’ve got to find a better way