Although technically a new song, the music was originally a Disliked tune called "Cheap Sex and Canadian Booze", the lyrics for which were written by our (The Disliked's) then-singer, Brianne Donnegan. Basically, we liked the song so much that we decided we had to re-hash it, only with new lyrics.
We also added a third part (the "5-2-10"/"Five-to-ten" riff), after the second chorus (which is where we always seem to shove the third riff to any song). If you can figure out what "5-2-10" means, you're a bigger dork than we are for thinking it was funny enough to include in the final version of the song. Hint: It's not a date.
It would've made more sense for this to have been one of our earlier DCD songs, with Andy replacing me on guitar and me moving over to vocals; but history isn't perfect, and so it took another 3 years for this to actually come together as a song. All things considered, I think it's a damn good one.
The Music
Although I can't remember if it was me or Mario who came up with the music for the verses, I'm almost positive the chorus was all me. The bridge was Ryan's doing, as were most of the lyrics.
The Lyrics
The lyrics can be credited as follows:
Entire first verse, and first half of the chorus - Ryan.
"She's god's gift to all the emo boys" - Can't remember if this was me or Ryan, but it's a good one.
"That ain't me... Oi! Oi! Oi!" - That's all me (obviously).
"She likes indie bands and bad poetry" - Ryan.
"She'll like anything that gives her credibility" - Me.
I think the rest of this verse was just both of us throwing ideas at each other until something finally stuck.
The third verse didn't actually come together until a month or two later, and when we finally came up with something we could agree on, it was like a light bulb went off over both our heads. I think most of it was Ryan saying stuff while I sat there going, "No... no... YEAH!" over and over again until we finally had something that, in retrospect, reads like an assload of product placement:
"She's at the Beehive, smoking Pall Mall cigarettes. Ramen Noodles is the new, hip meal. Went to a record store for Captain Beefheart, but then she settled for Captain and Tenille."
I know that last line was something he'd been kicking around from the beginning, but it didn't really seem to fit or make sense until after the advent of the first two. If that makes any sense.
(By the way, the "Captain Beefheart/Captain and Tenille" joke was based on a line from The Offspring's "Pretty Fly [For a White Guy]". I'll let you guess as to which one.)
References
The terms used in the lyrics are mainly in reference to your stereotypical inner-city dwelling, art school types in their early- to mid-twenties, also known as hipsters; more specifically, hipsters from Pittsburgh (or those from New Castle who've moved to Pittsburgh). Though we have no real ill-will toward hipsters, other than their arrogance and overall fickle taste in anything currently "cutting edge", they are a hell of a lot of fun to poke fun at. Which, in all honesty, is probably something they enjoy anyway.
The funny thing is, half the shit mentioned in this song is stuff at least one or two of us in DCD ourselves enjoy: Chris and I both smoke Pall Malls, Ryan listens to a good amount of indie rock, I'm an agnostic, I'm pretty sure we all like Ramen, and believe it or not, I'm actually writing at this very moment (though I really don't consider myself much of a "writer"). How's that for irony? I was half-tempted several times to throw in a line about PBR, too, but I'm still having trouble admitting that we share that one in common.
Also, we really don't have much of a problem with feminists (reasonable ones, not "man-haters").
Anyway, to avoid further boredom on your part, I'll just sum it up by saying we ended up writing a fairly witty, catchy, and overall awesome little ditty about falling for a girl who's too much of a pseudo-intellectual, arty-farty bitch to be bothered with the likes of actual punk/skinhead types. You'd have to ask Ryan for clues as to who this one's about (assuming it's anything more than good fiction). Cheers.
Postscript:
ReplyDelete"The Beehive" is a coffee house located on Carson Street in Pittsburgh's South Side. It's a notorious hangout for your contemporary wannabe beatnik (i.e. hipster).
Once while playing a gig at nearby watering hole the Smiling Moose, Mario and I wandered across the street to check out Slacker, a locally owned clothing shop.
I can't remember why, but afterwards we decided to go into The Beehive. It was probably the most unfriendly atmosphere I've ever experienced without simultaneously feeling like I might be in danger. There were snooty weirdos everywhere, and they all had laptops. Some of them sneered. Others chuckled and whispered while looking at us. We just stood there for a moment, taking it all in. I remember Mario's expression being something I can only describe as "bemused". Then we looked at each other and said something like, "Fuck THIS place!" and went back to the Moose for a beer.
Also:
ReplyDeleteIn the recorded version of this song, there's a spoken word part, or mini-skit, after the bridge. It's a one-sided conversation between a hipster chick and the guy who's trying to hit on her. They're played by me and my sister, Lyndsay, who is also Chris Vermin's girlfriend.
You can barely hear my part, which is fine, since I'm basically agreeing with whatever she's saying, and not being able to get a word in edgewise. Her part is hilarious.
While we were in the studio, I came up with the idea to have some annoying pseudo-intellectual banter in there, since there was nothing going on vocal-wise at that point in the song. Since Lyndsay showed up to the session with Chris, and I knew she did this great impression of an airhead/Valley girl type, I asked her if we could come up with something for her to say on mic. When all was said and done, she came up with the whole thing.
I originally had the idea about going to a coffee shop and "we can take my bike", but we had a very limited time frame to get all the dialog in before the next verse started, so the bike part got cut. I think it turned out perfect.