Too Dark To See
b"Episode#126: Too Dark To See\\xa0 \\xa0(Song starts at 3:33)\\nHi, for this episode I recorded a conversation with Paul Dredge, the co-composer of 'Too Dark Too See'. Although the audio quality isn\\u2019t quite up to scratch, I think this was a well worth while exercise. The resulting candid conversation offers an insight into our songwriting style/relationship (and friendship) in an engaging and entertaining manner. \\n'Too Dark To See' is track number 3 off our new folk-rock album, The Untrodden Track. It\\u2019s one of my favourites on the album.\\nWhere did this song spring from? \\nI remember I worked backwards from the title -\\xa0 which may or may not have come from this (not sure if I\\u2019m making it up - perhaps the similarity struck me later): I\\u2019m a big fan of Bob Dylan. His (brilliant) song Not Dark Yet from the album Time Out Of Mind may just have inspired me\\u2026 what if it was \\u2018too dark\\u2019 ? How would that work as a song idea? \\u2026\\nUs songwriters are magpies for sure. We are what we listen to, that\\u2019s for sure. Music inspires more music, art inspires more art, life inspires art..and ..art inspires life. I think it's a cyclical evolving scenario.\\nYou\\u2019ll get to hear (including some actual audio) about how Paul provided the chords and feel as I improvised the melody over the top. This is the way we do it when we write in the same room together. We stumbled across this process and discovered it works really well for us when we were on the road together. \\nI write the lyrics before hand and we take it from there together, in the moment. We work quickly together. It\\u2019s great fun to write songs like this with Paul. \\nYou have to be very supportive of each other. It comes down to mutual respect. A healthy dose of humour appears to be a key when mistakes are made. It\\u2019s a great way to diffuse any potential tension and keep the ball rolling.. I also think any hints of frustration or manipulation during the process shuts the muse down.\\nI\\u2019m particularly happy with the arrangement of this song. You\\u2019ll get to hear it on this episode, of course. The interplay between the guitar and piano underpinning the vocal harmony, etc (If you like it, please do check out the album).\\nHere\\u2019s the link to all 12 songs - 30 sec samples - and links to streaming for the full album on your favourite platform. \\nI ran out of time to talk about the lyrics of Too Dark To See (You can read the finished lyrics on my blog post), as usual www.petepascoe.wordpress.com \\n I found the original draft today and discovered a few of the edits that were made. This is part of the usual practice of writing a song... \\nOne step at a time.\\xa0 Never lose sight of the goal I keep reminding\\xa0 myself as I follow the winding path,\\xa0\\nbecame\\nOne step at a time.\\xa0 Never lose sight of the goal I keep reminding\\xa0 myself as I fall\\nI think this is much stronger. The word fall is so unexpected. The black humour here allows for a more digestible semi- tragic image of ...hopelessness in the moment. Straight away this opening statement establishes the tone and sets the scene in terms of the narrator not making any headway at all on the path for the moment. I think we can all relate to that. \\nIt's a bit like the stand up comedian making a personal confession - it's a way of drawing the audience in, gaining their trust by divulging something quite personal about themselves.\\nYou don't get much time in a 3 minute song. Every word has to count & perhaps match the syllable count of the line in the previous verse so:\\nI see \\nToo dark to see, \\xa0 And There's nothing to hear Just a high ringing in my ear\\nbecame\\nToo dark to see, \\xa0 And There's nothing to fear Just a ring in my ear\\nAgain, I think this is much stronger: acknowledging it'll probably all work out on the end one way or another , while the ring in the ear alludes to the strange thing that can happen at times of a total awareness of an acute emotional response. At the time, everything else seems to diminish except the extreme moment at hand. There's no escape. eg,"