"With Mike and Alan, we have no shortage of tunes to mess around with and they are great about getting musical input from the other gents in the band. However, 'Once' was the first tune that, as we rehearsed it, we realized we could do something in the studio that we wouldn't necessarily be able to do live. We started layering sounds and adding colors that we otherwise might not have had at our disposal. Coincidentally, the story it paints fits the subject matter – writer's block – almost perfectly. I don't recall any discussion about playing to the lyrics but when I listen back I hear music that reflects the vacillating emotions that come with trying to write something: hope, frustration, anxiety, disappointment, acceptance. The result is something I am very proud of." Jim
lyrics
You told me to write a song, I'll write a song
If it comes out wrong, it comes out wrong, it comes out wrong
I'll try it once, once, once
I'll try it once, once, once
You said, see, you make the words a windowsill
And the melody's a wild bird who eats its fill
You said that once, once, once
Or I said that once, once, once
And we argued every infernal rhyme
Synecdoche and trope
I never liked internal rhyme,
You said, as you went looking for some rope
Am I beautiful, am I beautiful, am I beautiful, you asked
And I said nope
You told me to work the craft and I worked the craft
From somewhere deep inside your keep I heard you laughed
You fooled me once, once, once
(instrumental break)
Now it seems, except in dreams, we've blown apart
We couldn't wed a selfish head with a simple heart
But we tried it once, once, once
We tried it once, once, once
We tried it once, once, once
I knew you once
credits
from The Lincoln Squares! - EP,
released January 2, 2013
piano, rhodes, lead vocals Alan Schmuckler
electric guitar, melodica, vocals Michael Mahler
bass Derek Hasenstab
drums, percussion, bells Jim Barclay
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