A working musician's ramshackle tale of life in the tuxedo trenches.
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Story behind the song
Written for FAWM. This song is about an experience I've had as a freelance bassist. I had a well-paying regular jazz trio gig in the bar of a swanky local hotel. We were there mostly for decoration, and the three of us never gelled together as a group (over the course of 6 hours/weekend for 9 months)! For the first 6 months the pianist would get lost every other tune. The drummer was a kid who had good technique but just didn't listen. To keep himself interested he would sabotage the music by, say, breaking into a reggae or surf-rock beat right during the melody of a jazz ballad. I'm not saying I'm the best bassist ever but I know what my job is (keep time/form, be true to the style, play the chord changes) and it was impossible to get the music happening with this group.
I got the title for the song few months ago. I started the lyrics on Feb. 3 and recorded it on 4-track on the 4th/5th. I did guitar/vocals/whistling in one take and overdubbed the upright bass. I got a little reverb by miking my piano with the sustain pedal down while playing the mix through speakers.
Lyrics
Grand piano, cheap tuxedos
drunken patrons' big libidos
traps and doghouse make the trio
We've got everything but the music
Play for money, not for pleasure
Wait, I think you skipped a measure
No one's listening, does it matter?
We've got everything but the music
The drummer's a robot who's easily bored
He shares a tin ear with the tourists and whores
He's an unruly android without any soul,
Or respect for tradition, or a volume control...
This shit hurts just like amateur dentistry
We ain't got no musical chemistry
