Careers in Science

[In the coming weeks, before The Longwalls release "Careers in Science" on Tuesday, March 1, I will be posting short notes on the concepts behind each song on the record. For the most part, we each had very clear ideas in mind before beginning to write. Each song has a little story to tell, and we'll do our best to explain them each leading up to the release.]

First up is one of my tracks. The opening / title track, “Careers in Science”:

Concept:
I recommend watching the whole series of videos from Vice TV on North Korea, but this was the section that really got to me:

This girl is basically a prisoner in this tea house. She waits there for tourists that never come, knowing that every moment she is being watched by Kim Jong Il’s agents. Perhaps compared to the horror that any number of her countrymen face in prison work camps for political dissidants her life may not be as hard. But imagine being trapped in this incredibley lonely place, with no hope of escape, no hope to just quit your job if you don’t like it, and when you do get to interact with another human, you are on a short, deadly leash. That’s the genesis of the song, but it expands in my mind to the sort of limits that I, and most people I know, put on themselves and their aspirations. Maybe the authoritarian DPRK in my brain that keeps me in my place.

Music:
Ennio Morricone was in my mind when writing the opening pentatonic line. I wanted a driving, bombastic melody that walked into the room with brass balls and started shooting up the place. To seal the deal on the spaghetti western sound, we also borrowed our old friend from music school, Damian David, to play the trumpet line. It worked out well I think. I also wrote it as a overture, both for an album and a live set, as it is quick to get attention and rolls out the feel for the rest of this particular suite of songs.

Before we get to the goods, here is an early demo I recorded to get the idea on tape. As with most of my work with The Longwalls, it’s the writing that happens as a group and in the studio pushes the music to a great new place that I never would have arrived at by myself.

And now, without further adieu, I submit for your approval the opening track of our new album: “Careers in Science.” Enjoy!

Lyrics:

At the turn of a wagon wheel
and the brush of steel
on the stair
a pretty payer in uniform
and a song that formed
in the air
golden bridge
russian tubes
ill informed
cautious two
mind my master
you’ve been warned
of all the states I’ve hated
called friends
negotiated
careers in science that never would come to pass
Karoke and Jasime tea
they’ll be watching me
while we play
a knife is hidden
but at my side
we’re prepared to die
any day
folded notes
broken english
passed in fear
mother’s men
wait outside
should I leave here
of all the states I’ve hated
called friends
negotiated
careers in science that never would come to pass