No prizes for guessing which song I was wishing I’d written instead when I wrote this one – there’s a handy hint on the outro. It started as an instrumental that I wrote to see if I could actually write a real live melody instead of just following chord changes. When I charted it for the guys, I discovered that it had a 38 bar structure. Given the noir-ish feel, of course I called it ‘Dolores’ Deadly .38s’, because yes, I have the maturity of a 12-year-old.
We took it off to Open Path Studio and Tim Volpicella recorded us one afternoon. Personnel were Tim, Jeff Sanders, and me on rhythm and lead guitars, Wing Keong Loo on bass, and Johnny Garcia on drums. It was just a blowing session, but a fun one, and what came out was great. Jeff played the first solo (left side), and Tim played the second solo (right side). I played the head and the third solo (center channel).
But then… But then I thought of some lyrics for it. And it turned into the love theme for a ‘40s film noir, you know the one, about that guy who came back from the war and couldn’t really settle down and he meets and gets hung up on this woman – excuse me, this dame – who has fallen in with a sketchy crowd and you know how it all ends up, right? It really needed Ella Fitzgerald to sing it, but she didn’t return my calls.
Fortunately, Lynea Diaz Hagen did. I basically just deleted the head and the end of my solo, and we were able to drop Lynea’s voice in as though it had been planned that way from the start.
What became apparent is that the lyrics are unsingable for any mere mortal, both from a melody and a phrasing point of view. So Lynea sang it anyway, and sang it like a champ. Just yummy…
lyrics
With a melancholy tear
Death will whisper in your ear
Secrets only you may hear
Death is coming for you
She’s longing for you
In her crimson silk and lace
With her pale and lovely face
With a melancholy tear
Death is yearning for you
She’s burning for you
You were so certain that you could keep flirting and carelessly walk away
She’s quite demanding, your games notwithstanding, she knows you’ll be hers someday
Her passion’s on fire, she’s filled with desire, her heart’s set on you my friend
One thing on which you can depend – she will always get her man in the end
With her kiss upon your lips
And the touch of her fingertips
With a melancholy tear
Death is coming for you
She’s longing for you
She’s yearning for you
She’s burning for you
credits
from Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time,
released November 6, 2015
Lynea Diaz Hagen: vocals
Jeff Sanders (left, first solo) and Tim Volpicella (right, second solo): rhythm and lead guitars
Wing Keong Loo: bass
Johnny Garcia: drums
David Kelly (center, third solo): rhythm and lead guitars
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