By Jenny Biddle.
It’s 10 years since my album "Hero in Me" came out into the world. To celebrate, this month I’m diving into the intricacies of Track 4 “Running Out of Lies”, perhaps my first ever love song ...
Photo Credit. Matt Hawke.
I have always struggled to write happy songs. Music is the place where I put hard feelings, when there’s no other place to put them. In the times when I’m happy, I’m off enjoying life; I don’t feel the ache to write songs about happy times, and if I try it sounds trite. But in 2011 I fell in love and boom, this song fell in effortlessly in place. Up until that point, I’d been living in the closet, and any love I’d felt or written about, was hidden and contorted in ambiguous lyrics. But there I was on the rooftop of a Melbourne apartment, falling in love. Transported by dizzying height and heart, I debated whether or not to reveal my feelings - “I was closing my eyes to stop you reading my mind”. A love song was born…
I wonder what this song evokes for you. I hope it’s as uplifting as I felt when I wrote it.
Someone once told me the danger about writing love songs is that it jinxes the relationship. I’m not terribly superstitious, but… it has seemed that when I write a love song, the love ends. The love ended. When I listen to the full band version, a decade since it’s release, it still evokes the memory of those “in love” feelings, and the song and its sound production give me goosebumps. But I wonder what it means for you, the reader, the listener, now knowing that that love I sang about didn’t last. Does it change the meaning of the song for you? Does it ruin it? Deepen it? Remind you of something? Oh life, and it’s twists and turns.
Musical Inspiration:
Musically, I was inspired by a couple of artists when creating this song. I was moved by Mark Wilkinson’s rapid flow of articulate, poetic words in his earlier music, and uplifted by the production in his song “All I Ever Wanted”. I was also inspired by early Coldplay’s “one note” guitar solos like in “Yellow”. I wrote this song on a Tele guitar, which was my new toy at the time, and the process of writing on an electric guitar was somewhat different. Because the song was written on electric, and doesn’t allow for the percussive vibe of an acoustic guitar, I feel the song struggles to stand alone, and needs a band sound to carry it forward. Out of all the songs on the Hero in Me album, I had the least involvement in producing “Running Out of lies” for it’s final polished sound. In all the other songs, I played a lot of instruments on each recording, and had a clear direction in mind for the song and how it was to be produced. But for this track, I simply sang and played the Tele. I had no idea how to elevate this song to its full potential, but knew I wanted it to go down the route those inspirations I previously mentioned. I let Sean Carey steer the ship with this one, and we layered it up with help from talented session musicians, to create an uplifting love song.
Guitar Tuning: CGCFCE (capo 9)
This song uses the same guitar tuning as “Hero in Me”. The tuning is CGCFCE with the capo on fret 9, which makes the song in the key A. I made the capo quite high and the tuning in a major key so the song would lend itself to an uplifting feel, but it doesn’t leave you a lot of room on the fretboard to play many more notes…
Spotify:
Running Out of Lies (Full Band, Studio Version - 2013):
Lyrics:
You took me away, you swept me away
You brought me to the top on the 18th floor
I was looking out, looking down I was looking below on a world I’ve never see before
I was holding your hand in my mind I was savouring the moment in the flickering light
We were teasing the air, breathing the night I was closing my eyes to stop you reading my mind
Cos you are nothing like anything that I have ever known
I’m running out of lies to pretend to you that I am not in love
My love so shy it runs and it hides
In the fields, in the reeds in case you deny
It feels the cold, it longs to hold you
I was closing my eyes to stop you reading my soul
Cos you are nothing like anything that I have ever known
I’m running out of lies to pretend to you that I am not in love
My love is strong but shy
You know it runs away, it hides
Won’t you free me from my disguise
I’m burning up inside
Cos you are nothing like anything that I have ever known
I’m running out of lies to pretend to you that I am not in love
I’ve run out of lies
I’ve gotta tell you that I…
I’m in love
Photo Credit: Sophie Greensill.
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
Jenny Biddle: vocals, electric guitar
Sean Carey: bass, electric guitars
Michael Quigley: drums
Beau Golden: piano
Read more from Jenny...
Track 1 - Hero In Me
Track 2 - Across The Nullarbor
Track 3 - Pockets https://www.thesoundcafe.com/post/jenny-biddle-hero-in-me-the-story-behind-the-songs-track-3-pockets
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..