I'm Gone
Writing
I wrote the chords and melody for what would become "I'm Gone" in Dublin in late 2007. I had no lyrics yet and found myself singing the lyrics of Paul Simon's "Baby Driver" over the melody even though the chords and melody did not sound like the Paul Simon song at all.
This type of thing has happen before in my songwriting. The problem is, if I don't write my own lyrics quickly enough, the other person's lyrics start to cement themselves into the song and I give up trying to write my own words.
With this song though, I knew I would find my own words and maybe there were some clues in the Paul Simon lyrics that would point me in the right direction. After relocating to Berlin, I began work on the lyrics on September 2nd calling the song "Escape" and writing:
My daddy was the son of a poor man
Baptized by the plough and the flood
A few other lines came out but I was still stuck. Then, I remembered a story my dad had told me the Christmas before. He was ranting about politics and lamenting the decline of the Left in America and although I had heard this topic many times before he was especially animated this time. He went on to talk about growing up during the Depression and remembered what it was like before Social Security when so many older people lived in extreme poverty or worked themselves literally to death. He told of Christmas in 1933 when he was ten years old.
His parents told him there would be no toys for Christmas as there was no money that year. They said they could only afford a pair of boots to replace the only pair he had which had holes in the bottom. He was sure they would get him at least one small toy but Christmas day came and true to their word, there were no toys, only the boots. My dad was aware even at that age that it was as painful or more for his parents to have no toys to give as it was for him receiving none. So, he held back his disappointment until he was in his room and then he cried.
This story really struck me as part of the American story most people never hear about.
When I came back to the song, I knew what I wanted to say.
Here is part of a quick demo I made for Fabien to hear for our pre-production meetings:
Recording
This was the second song Fab and I recorded on our own after the band went back to Dublin. We started by trying different ideas about how to create a rhythmic sound using my acoustic guitar. We came up with the sound you can hear at the beginning which was done by me forming the main chord with my left hand and then slapping the strings by the sound hole with my right hand. This was then looped for the whole song and formed the organic tempo that you can hear. We then recorded my acoustic guitar and vocal together live in order to capture the spirit of the song that comes out when I play and sing this live.
I played a small keyboard that makes its sound by you plowing into a tube. For someone with a lot of hot air, this was pretty easy to do.
Lastly, I played a floor tom with a mallet on the "chorus" parts and Fab played the tambourine. We wanted to keep loads of space in the overall sound by sparsely adding just a few interesting instruments.
Track Information
Eric:
Acoustic Guitar (recorded live with vocal), Electric Guitar (Johnny Cash semi-hollow body both amped and recorded with microphones), Floor Tom hit with mallet, Percussion (using hand slapping the acoustic guitar strings), Mouth organ, Lead Vocal (recorded live with the acoustic guitar)
Fab:
Tambourine
Lyrics
I’m Gone
My daddy was the son of a poor man
Baptized by the flood and the lies
Even Christmas ‘morn
No new boots to be worn
But he never let them see him cry
No, he never let them see him cry
So he crossed that raging mountain
Swam down upon a river of thieves
He hit that road and said, “I’m gone”
“I’m gonna make a good life for me”
“I’m gonna make a good life for me”
My mama came from New York City
Let loose from the family ties
When the hurt and weight
Tried to steal her away
Well she somehow found a way to survive
She always found a way to survive
Well she crossed that raging mountain
Sailed down upon a river of thieves
She hit that road and said, “I’m gone”
“I’m gonna make a new life for me”
“I’m gonna make a new life for me”
I was born the healing child
Touched down between the sorrow and pain
And when I was five I learned we all die
And a smile could keep the sadness at bay
Yeah, I smile to keep the sadness at bay
So I crossed that raging mountain
nearly drowned upon a river of thieves
I hit that road and said, “I’m gone”
“I’m gonna make a good life for me”
“I’m gonna make a new life for me”
“I’m gone, I’m gone, I’m gone”