Barone's Blog

"SIDEWALK" THE LYRIC VIDEO™

3/10/2020

MAKING THE VIDEO:

Cheaply produced from the comfort of my couch, I created this video on my iPhone. Using a video editing app, I compiled the visuals and video content I've used over the last few months to promote the album in addition with the lyrics. Some visuals accompany what is happening in the song, some of them are related to themes from the album. Some are just in there 'cause I liked the way they looked.

I incorporated shots taken by Micah Schmidt way back in 2015 because A: I don't have any updated press photos of myself and B: since most of this album was recorded years ago, I felt it apt to show myself back in 2015...and not today. ya dig? Additional photography by Scott Clinton & Tom Bush IV.

I hope you enjoy the song and get a lil sense of what I was trying to say lyrically.

SONG NOTES:

'Sidewalk" may be the oldest track off The Darkest Of Summers. I started this session in October/November of 2012, right around when Super Storm Sandy hit NYC and Long Island. In fact, I may have been recording scratch guitars on this very track when we first lost power.

This tune was written in the same batch as 2 songs from my album Acquiescence. ”Swimming Through Sand” and “Headhunter”. Both of which were intended to be within this collection of dark songs I had brewing...but when it came time to finish up Acquiescence, I wanted to add the 2 aforementioned tracks because by then I’d spend ALOT of time on them. "Sidewalk", not so much.

Either way, it’s a song that’s been sitting on the shelf for quite awhile and if memory serves this may have been one of the first songs that inspired me to begin to collect the “dark” songs.

It wasn’t too long after I came up with this guitar line when I got the news that my Grandmother had passed away...so a lot of my grief and sadness began to seep into aspects of this song.

The chorus’ of the song are a slight departure to the rest of the text. In a nutshell “I’m dying for no company...I just wanna be alone”...was my reaction to the ever needing attention my kids needed from me..and me just wanted to be alone to work on my music, or just chill. The never-ending task of finding the balance between work/family.

MUSIC NOTES:

Whenever I write a new song I always think to myself "Man! this is the greatest thing I've created! such original! such riff!"

NO. As any songwriter can attest, you're a byproduct of what you listen to or what you've listened to. So in hindsight, these are the famous tunes that I hear when listening my song:

"Coast" Devin Townsend
"Sympathy" Marillion (Rare Bird cover)
"Close Every Door" from Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
"Neon" John Mayer

FUN FACTS:

There's a repeating motif throughout the song that was directly lifted from the end of the title theme from Wizards And Warriors on Nintendo. Hence the use of the 8bit videogameysound..although if I’m not mistaken this has been used in several classical music pieces...I know I’ve heard it somewhere before!
During the final chorus I added strings which begin to play a counter melody to what I’m singing. Does this counter melody sound familiar? Probably not. But if it does it’s because it’s “The Shepard’sFlute” theme from the 80’s film “The Land Of Faraway”...oh you don’t remember that movie?? Well, fun fact: it actually co-starred a young Christian Bale in his first acting role. No foolin!
I also recycled the chorus melody on the song "I Speak Dirt" from my album "Somewhere In The Near Future". Take a listen again - it's there!!