SONG: “Bed Chem” (a penitential Sabrina Carpenter cover). (OGG version here.)
ARTIST: grant.
SOURCE: This wasn’t based on any scientific research. It’s a cover of the current pop hit “Bed Chem” by Sabrina Carpenter, influenced/decoded via the sweet acoustic cover by Shaun Riley.
ABSTRACT: I can see where someone listening to this who is unfamiliar with me could think, “Oh, this man needs help” and “Someone should make a few calls.” I can actually see how someone who knows me could think that.
I’ve been thinking a lot about stalker songs lately, like … look up Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Possess Your Heart” on Reddit sometime and you’ll find a lot of people who are disturbed once they listen back to that sweet crush song from their teenage years with the ears of a 30-something-year-old. Go back two decades and you’ll find the same thing with “Every Breath You Take” by The Police. People play that one at weddings. (Nobody makes the same mistake with “Intruder” by Peter Gabriel….)
I was not trying to do that with this, though, I swear. It’s just that I do desperation better than sincerity. Then I realized that switching the polarity on the lyrics — flipping genders, I mean — made it lean way further in that direction. “Who’s the cute boy with the white jacket and the thick accent?”
I put a shocking amount of work into this, which is sort of a shame since I didn’t even use a “real” mic to record the main tracks with – the vox and acoustic guitar is all done with the old laptop’s onboard microphone. There might even have been a window-unit AC on in the background. But the lo-fi furtiveness of the thing was part of the point. If I’d had a real drum set, I’d have probably spend hours thumping away on the toms to get the pounding “dun-dun-DUN-dun, dun-DUN-DUN!-dun” pulse of the thing super insistent, but the sampled drums did OK. The organ at the end is just where I want it. Accent guitar with dream-pop reverb. “I’m ob-sessed. Are you free next week?”
I sort of feel like I should apologize as I post this in public, but somehow I don’t think that makes it more reassuring. It’s fine. I’m OK. We’re all OK. Fine. “And I bet it’s even better than in my head….”
I hope this brings someone some peace.