After the War
© Williams 2007

After the war we can live together
After the war, after the war
After the war we’ll move to the country together
After the war, after the war

After the war, when we’re free of the darkness that binds us
The hatred that blinds us, when the fighting is over
After the war, when the bodies are cleared from ground zero
When another war hero is knighted or buried

After the war we can retire together
After the war, after the war
After the war we’ll disappear together
After the war, after the war

After the war, when the baddies are dead and destroyed
Or the good guys are broken like badly made toys

After the war we’ll read the papers together
Obituaries with breakfast and lunch with the weather
And we won’t miss our friends or ask what it was for
After the war, after the war

Download: After the War (mp3)

Background

I wrote these lyrics and the basic melody in 2005 in Madrid. I’ve played around with the song a few times since then, trying to get the right chord progression, tempo, harmonies, etc. It never sounded quite right, though – I used to think it was because my voice was too high. Well, that problem has certainly been solved!

I was thinking about this last week, when I was doing an inventory of all my fannish songs. This was inspired by Harry Potter, and the way I hoped it would go: that is, horrible, never-ending war, with no happy resolutions and loads of angst, that stretched way beyond the scope of ‘The Hogwarts Years’. I wrote it with my favourite couple (Harry and Draco) in mind, but Wing Commander Johnson always read it as Sirius and Remus. At any rate, like most of my fandom-inspired songs, this works fine without any knowledge of the text. . . Anyway! I decided to have another fiddle around with it and record it with the possibility of uploading it here.

I have the feeling that I got the repetition of the lines “after the war” from a book someone was reading on a train or a hostel – I peeked over their shoulder and read a paragraph (which was probably much better than my lyrics) that was all about the things people were going to do “after the war”. It had such a sense of sadness and desperation to it. If anyone knows what book/story it is, could you please write it in the comments?

Recording

I used the GarageBand metronome to keep time, because I knew if I didn’t I would be all over the place. It’s actually quite difficult to keep to it! It really calls attention to the way I tend to speed up when I’m playing louder, and slow down when I’m playing softer – something my piano teacher always used to call me up on when I was younger! Speaking of pianoforte, I was inspired to try out the software piano in GarageBand after rambling on about it last week. It is so hilarious trying to do musical typing, because the letters on the (computer) keyboard DO NOT CORRELATE to the notes on the piano (keyboard). It’s like keymashing! Midshipman Louise (aka Dani-Beth) must think I’m a lunatic with my headphones on, staring at the computer screen and hitting the keyboard rhythmically. Weirdo.

Anyway, while I was fiddling around with the piano sounds, I thought I might as well explore some of the other weird effects. I made a bit of a pact with myself that I would try out anything I felt like trying so as to get a better feeling for what one can achieve with the software. Mucking around is the best way to learn these things.

So, I’ve used:

• “Grand Piano”, which I’ve made brighter than the default, to lift the mix a bit (my voice and the guitar tends towards being a bit muddy)
• “Samoa Sweep”, which kicks in at the first chorus (or Part B, if you will). It’s that kind of vrrrooooorrreeeeeeizzzzzoooorrr sound.
• “Church Bell” at the end. I know it’s kinda tacky, but I made a pact! So this is me experimenting and not dismissing things out of hand.
• “Nature Sounds”! AHAHAHAHA! BRILLIANT! I made there be a thunderstorm at the start and a forest with birds at the end! My film-sound geekiness comes out! I am ALL about soundscapes, really. Maybe one day I’ll upload one of my enormous experimental film sound projects and treat you to their awesomeness!

I also have two guitar tracks (or one track duplicated), with my own EQ (one taken from “I Gave My Love to Someone Who Was Loveless” and the other heightening the treble because it was getting a bit dark), the lead vocals with a slightly altered version of the “Male Basic” filter, and two somewhat different mixes of “Ambient Vocals” for the backing vox.

I have spent so much time fiddling with the mix over the last few days (this is another very fresh recording!) that I can’t even think of what else to say. I’m a bit brainfried!

Likey

I like the lyrics, mostly, and I’m really pleased that my voice now seems to suit the song a lot more. I’m happy that I’ve played around with the software a bit, because it’s important to know what your instruments can do. I think this is one that I’ll look back on and enjoy, rather than one of the “WTF?!” recordings I sometimes do!

Not-likey

Maybe it’s just having listened to it so many times, but it now seems too slow. Fuck! That is really annoying! I wonder if you guys feel that, too?

The piano? Is so not as good as a real piano would be. I don’t have the control over it like I would if I was actually playing, rather than doing this hilarious musical typing thing. As a result I think it sounds very sledgehammerish, like I’m a beginner bashing the keys. Hopefully this is not too obvious because it’s not the primary instrument, but that’s what it sounds like to me.

Also, I’ve spent so much time fiddling that I can’t really distance myself from it. All I can hear are the faults and the hitches, the places that the guitar didn’t quite do what I wanted, or my voice has a weird tremble, or the panning went too far and I can’t quite rectify it.

Conclusion

You need to listen to this one fairly loud to get the full impact of things (at least you need to on my speakers), but note that there’s a fade in, so until I start singing it’s not at full volume. I would really love to hear what you think of it!

As usual, I’m more than happy for you to tell your friends, your family, the whole world about this song, but I ask you to link them to this post instead of directly to the download. Thank you!