About a Song: Empire (1)
April 9, 2008
Welcome, new visitor! My name is Ari, the man behind Aries9. Here I share my thoughts on music and life, so you can get to know me and my music. Thanks for visiting!
Empire is definitely the ugliest song in this collection. Hence its inclusion.
You see, it’s a very important song to me, precisely because it’s ugly. And it has stayed with me for a long time, under various names. I eventually settled on Empire, because to me it sounds like the voice inside the head of a politician or a big corporate executive. Yet I can’t deny that this is also me — aggressive, repulsive, unrestrained, and unabashedly selfish.
On the compositional level, I am proud of this song because of its unusual chord progressions. A long time ago, I showed it to a songwriter I respected, and he marveled at how weird these chords are. The intro is in G minor, the verse is in A, and the chorus Em. That’s a lot of tonal centers to fly to and fro in the course of a 4-minute song, and the transitions seem all so seamless.
Another time, I was trying out a drummer and played this song. He told me “I have no idea how to play that.” It totally stumped him.
This is a good example of my rhythm guitar being the dominating percussive force — the drums really have to match all the pounding and the thrashing that goes on with the guitar. Imagine playing a regular rock beat against that verse riff. It simply will not work.
I am also very fond of my vocal performance in this song. It took me quite a few takes to strike the right tone and approach. If I try to be too aggressive, then it sounds trashy and cartoony. If I am too subdued, the ugliness doesn’t come through.
Tracking this song helped me realize which range of my voice is actually the strongest — the lower mids. The sound of my voice in the verses is probably my favorite of all the songs in this album. Or should I say, this sounds like the person I secretly want to be, instead of who I am.
I did have to go all out for the final bridge screaming part. But don’t expect me to recreate that live — that raspy yell blew my voice and I couldn’t speak for a day and half afterward. My voice is simply not made to do that. I wish.
The outro cacophony was a lot of fun, and quite easy — that’s me banging on my guitar with my slide bar, several takes’ worth. I studied some modern compositional technique in college, where I learned that melodies and chords — the “tonal” material — are not the only way to create music. Sometimes noises say more than any melodies can.
When I listen to that ending, it really gives me an engaging, cathartic experience. It expresses the chaos and angry cacophony of bottled up, hidden desires.
I listen to it and go “yes, that’s how it feels.”
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