Big Lie
Writing
This song started out being called "Magazines". It was a word that keep coming out every time I sang the melody of the chords. I really enjoyed playing the chord pattern that makes up the opening riff and the verses. It's a low D tuning with a capo on the 5th fret. I had written the chords in Dublin in late 2007 and even tried recording a version of it before I had even sorted the lyrics out. That proved pointless.
So, November 14th 2008 in Berlin I tried tackling the lyrics again. Here is where I was then:
All my crimes and all pride and all the magazines
Lying here with the car top down and my hand between her knees
Everyday it's the same mistakes
It's all I've ever known
I'd change my way with a brand new face but I'm weaker than you know
I hear her crying
The lyric was still evolving and I was still trying to figure out what the story was saying.
Not until March 13th, 2009, my last day of being 40 did the I start to understand the story I was trying to uncover in the song.
Those summer nights under front porch lights
the songs and magazines
and
The sweet moonlight through the breeze block heights falls gently on her face
I promised her that her world would turn and her heart would never break
She knows I'm lying
I could start to see the story as a mini-movie now and by Paddy's day I had nearly all the lyrics completed including the chorus for the first time:
We pretend that life is perfect and that lovers never lose
Everywhere in this same old town
But this big, big lie is out
Here is part of a quick demo I did of the song for Fabien to hear:
Recording
Dave and Fab worked out a great tribal sounding drum pattern for this song. Dave used a big snare that he tuned down lower than you would ever tune a snare so now it sounded like a tom. Again, he used the plastic balstics instead of wooden sticks.
What you hear on the record is the three of us playing and singing live in the studio. The only non-live parts is the choruses that we added later trying to give it a more dreamy feel there. Normally the chorus is where the song lifts with extra instruments coming in. But for this song, we wanted to do an anti-chorus where instruments dropped out and there was loads of space to concentrate on the melody.
The lead guitar part that you hear throughout the riff parts came during the overdubs as I kept hearing it in my head and singing it as we were listening to the playback of the song.
In September, we brought in a German jazz trumpet player at Fab's request to play on this track. The session took place in Fab's apartment in Friedrichshain. We ended up recording a number of takes with him and Fab then pieced together a collection of them during mixing.
Mixing
There were a number of different mixes of this song done. The final mix was done just two days before mastering. During mixing, for the first time, we used an outboard Tube Tech compressor on my lead vocal/acoustic guitar track. Because it was recorded live, most of the acoustic guitar you hear is from the vocal mic.
Track Information
Eric:
Acoustic Guitar (live with the band while singing lead vocal), Electric Guitars (Hohner Semi-Hollow body and Washburn), (Lead Vocal (live with the band while playing acoustic guitar), Backing Vocals
Fab:
Analogue synths (Casiotone CT-350, Yamaha Portasound PS200, Roland SH-101), piano
Dave Hingerty:
Drums (using worn blastics instead of sticks and a snare tuned down to sound like a tom)
Peter Cheevers:
Bass
Trumpet:
Jan Gropper
Lyrics
Big Lie
Those summer nights under sweet monlight the songs and magazines
Lying here with the car top down and my hand between her knees
The morning light through the breeze block heights falls gently on her face
I promise her that her world will turn and her heart will never break
She knows I’m lying
Chorus:
We pretend that life is perfect and that lovers never lose
Everywhere in this same old town
Everywhere’s the same old town
We pretend that life is perfect and that lovers never lose
Everywhere in this same old town
But this big, big lie is out
So we drive for hours through the backstreet towers where no one ever goes
I trade my will for a dashboard thrill but the loneliness it grows
So I plan escape from this drowning place, from this town that never breathes
We say our vows, we’ll grow old and proud, but she knows I’m gonna leave
I hear her crying
Chorus:
We pretend that life is perfect and that lovers never lose
Everywhere in this same old town
Everywhere’s the same old town
We pretend that life is perfect and that lovers never lose
Everywhere in this same old town
But this big, big lie is out
It’s easier to just pretend than look what’s underneath
Everywhere in this same old town
Everywhere’s the same old town
It’s easier to just pretend that lovers never lose
Everywhere in this same old town
But this big, big lie is out