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singer/songwriter, sax player and sound engineer, I have created multiple CD's in my home studio using pro-tools and plug ins.
Song Info
Genre
Charts
Peak #68
Peak in subgenre #14
Author
paul sandberg
Rights
tatsu tunes 2017
Uploaded
November 18, 2017
Track Files
MP3
MP3 4.9 MB • 160 kbps • 4:19
Story behind the song
I was driving down highway 88 towards the Bay Area and couldn't help but notice the "fall color". So as I drove I decided to write something about the change of seasons - as this has been done about a billion times before, I wanted to take it all someplace a bit different; specifically in my use of words.
I started with the obvious color reference and then linked it to the artist's palette, while realizing that the beauty we see in the fall color is a harbinger of winter and ironically, the beauty comes from death (as far as the leaves go).
The 2nd stanza illuminates that harbinger of winter; bracing against the chill of the coming winter - but by saying "insulate my heart", I bring in the possibility of metaphor - the singer has a sense of foreboding - 'winter" or an end of things, is coming, so he had better protect his heart.
The B section (with harmony vocals) is akin to a greek chorus - telling the singer (or perhaps the singer telling himself) that he'd better man up if he wants to either save his relationship, or perhaps survive its demise. I used a bit of military parlance here, all very proper and British (hmm, as I have been watching Indian Summer about the end of British Rule in India on Masterpiece Theater, I wonder how that came about?). Wanting to use words and phrases a bit out of the ordinary to further convey the need to stay strong against what's coming. "Ride on towards another spring" embraces the hope of new beginnings, but then the singer realizes that he just can't be an optimist - suggesting that the situation has already taken its toll and, for the heartbroken, nothing means anything.
Bringing the autumnal theme back into focus is the hook line "I'm turning". Just as the leaves turn as the seasons change, the singer is not only changing, but decaying, just like the leaves. He is also turning away from the pain of his relationship, not wanting, or able to deal with it anymore.
The bridge is a confession. Having abandoned the hurtful relationship (or it abandoned him), he confesses to not being able to truly let go of it - as it haunts him and he feels less than whole without it, (and again, there is a reference to yet another season "summers past"… meaning I hit on all four).
The last verse is a repeat of the first, with a few slight changes - instead of "beauty from decay" it is now "beauty IN decay". The verse then repeats "yellow and red, in a world without color". Perhaps saying that one can see the colors, but, with a broken heart, it has no impact in a world that is dark and without hope or love; a world IN decay.
So, with completed lyrics and a good idea of a melody and hook, I began plinking around, searching for something dark. Using an A Major at the end of the progression sounded just interesting enough, but it also then put me into a major key for the B section, which turns on a B minor chord (so, if you are paying attention, you have verses in minor with a major resolve, while the B section is in major with a minor resolve).
I wanted the bridge to be a powerful thing, something in contrast to the ethereal nature of the verses, so again I returned to major and filled the sound with organ and power chords, which made the drop off into the solo that much more dramatic.
The rest was just sweetening - adding a 2nd guitar, then a electric piano riff and then finally a sax lead intro, solo and repeating line as the tune reaches the end.
Lyrics
Yellow and red
Autumn's palette
Beauty from decay
braced against the chill
insulate my heart
for winter comes my way
Keep your chin up boy, sit high in the saddle
ride on towards another spring
can't muster the strength
I need to carry on
when nothing means anything
I'm turning
Can't feel the heat of summers past
can't remember when I felt whole
But I recall every word
of your goodbye
like a tattoo upon my soul
I'm turning
yellow and red
autumn's palette
so much beauty in decay
yellow and red
in a world without color
I'm turning away
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