By Jenny Biddle.
I love a bit of blues! And when feeling blue, what better genre to sing than the blues! It’s 10 years since my album “Hero in Me” was created. To celebrate, I’m sharing musings about my bluesiest song on the album “Somebody to Love”.
Being single sucks! Back in 2010, after eating a life time of chocolate in one year, I moved from Sydney to Melbourne looking for life and looking for love. I was painfully single, lost and lonely. It seemed like everyone around me had somebody to love. My best friend had fallen in love with someone else, my flatmate was cosy on the couch with her boyfriend, and to add insult to injury, my neighbours were procreating in the apartment upstairs. One night (after consuming copious amounts of chocolate), in a pathetic attempt to alter my surroundings, I tried thumping the ceiling with the mic stand to discourage the neighbours from their evening antics, but to no avail (Hi if that was you!). Instead, I wrote “Somebody to Love” that evening. Often I’ve written complicated, emotive songs that are deeper and darker. Although I felt woefully sorry for single myself, I wanted this particular song to be simple, upbeat, light hearted, a bit “tongue ‘n’ cheek”, and went for a rocking 12 bar blues vibe.
Recording:
I did an acoustic recording of this song on my “Little Treasures” album in 2011. As creative as it is to try and carry this song on my own, acoustically, I never felt like the song got to live up to its full potential. So I was really excited to record a full band version of this with Sean Carey for my Hero album.
To reflect the messiness I felt, producer Sean Carey and I went for a gritty blues production with a “loose” attitude. Sean wanted a three-piece-rock-band-jamming-at-a-bar vibe. It didn’t matter if there were wrong notes, or if I couldn’t sing like Mariah. I sang “idiot takes” where you just sing whatever, played sloppy blues chords and an ill-prepared solo on a distorted tele, and ran the harmonica through a “bullet mic”, giving it a dirty tone, feedback squawks and all. Sean played pumping bass, Michael Quigley crashed lazily about on the drums, and some friends (and mum) kicked up a raucous chant, singing drunken-like backing vocals, which created a deceiving party vibe in contrast to the song’s lonely origins. All in all, I see this track a loose mess to get a few things off my chest, and perhaps an ode to all the single people out there.
Guitar Tuning:
This is one of the very few songs I’ve written in standard guitar tuning, and there is no capo. While I delight in changing guitar tuning, for this song I went with a simple 12 bar blues vibe in E. If you’d like to play along, I’ve included the chords/lyrics on my Patreon page: www.partreon.com/jennybiddle
Spotify:
You can listen to the different versions of recordings on all streaming platforms, but here are the Spotify links:
Somebody to Love (Full Band, Studio Version - 2013) open.spotify.com/track/
Somebody to Love (Live in the Studio, Solo Version - 2011) open.spotify.com/track/
Lyrics:
Everyone around me has got somebody to love
Everyone around me has got somebody to love
But I’m still fighting, I’m fighting on my own
Will I find myself a lover or spend my days alone?
The neighbours up above, oh they have themselves a time
The neighbours up above, well they have themselves a time
I’ve been listening to their loving each and every night
While they’re showing off their loving, there’s no one by my side
Everyone around me has got somebody to love
Everyone around me has got somebody to love
But I’m still fighting, I’m fighting on my own
Will I find myself a lover or spend my days alone?
Oh I’ve been a wondering what the hell with me is wrong
Oh I’ve been a wondering what the hell with me is wrong
I’ve been flying solo for too long
Is there a sweet little love out there to which I belong?
Everyone around me has got somebody to love
Everyone around me has got somebody to love
But I’m still fighting, I’m fighting on my own
Will I find myself a lover or spend my days alone?
Credits:
Song by Jenny Biddle
Recorded & Mixed & Produced by Sean Carey at Trackdown Studios, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
Mastering by Don Bartley, Blaxland, NSW, Australia
Album Art by Katrina Leighton
Photos by Kat Hawke
Jenny Biddle: vocals, electric guitars, harmonica
Sean Carey: bass
Michael Quigley: drums
Ann Biddle: backing vocals (hi mum!)
Travis Gardiner: backing vocals Stuart Maurice: backing vocals
Read more from Jenny...
Track 1 - Hero In Me
Track 2 - Across The Nullarbor
Track 3 - Pockets
Track 4 - Running Out Of Lies
Track 5 - Chasing Stars
Jenny Biddle is an Australian, Folk, Blues & Roots musician, she is a well seasoned guitarist, witty storyteller, poignant songwriter and winner of the Blues & Roots Radio International Song Contest 2020. Jenny fashions an infectious mix of down to earth modern folk for the wandering soul. Her 8th album 'Hoping For A Hero' is out now..
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