Tragic Chemistry

Background Info*

Written because of my fascination with "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot. About the prospect of being paralyzed by fear and as such never doing anything, rather just being condemned to think and worry; possibly a description of my own personal Hell. Some of the imagery comes from that poem. I want to go for a spaghetti western kind of vibe: lots of spring reverb and twangy guitars, maybe harmonica and weird percussion. I’d also like to try to layer a bunch of voices in the choruses, to try to create a sort of schizophrenic mood.

Technical Notes

The “cowboy falsetto” part that enters in the last chorus is Jorgenson’s vocal processed by an old, enormous spring reverb that was collecting dust above the ceiling of Studio A at Omega.

Lyrics

oh, if i go out today
i will find another way
to deconstruct what you say
this won't be the last time

the fear of running
the fear of standing still
the fear that indecision someday will kill
the fear of falling
the fear of looking down
the fear that if i scream i'll make no sound
the fear of losing
the fear of getting beat
the fear that if i fight i'll lose my feet
the fear of dying
the fear of getting old
the fear that all this fear will take its toll

the evening news crawls down my spine
as i contemplate myself into a bind
this predilection will paralyze
i lie here etherized