'I Want You' has always been one of my favorite Elvis Costello songs, and I even managed to include it in the early setlists of The Absence. Its moody, bombastic, pathetic protagonist sort of fits my singing style :)
Despite its repetitive chord-sequence and length (at more than 6 and a half minutes this is one of my longest recordings ever!), I believe that it holds some wonderful musical tension, that carries the listener all the way through. At least, *I* don't tire of it. Let's see what you think. (For those who don't know the song: don't worry, the acoustic, cheesy-folky introduction is TOTALLY different from the main body of the song)
What have we got? Acoustic guitar (in the intro only), electric guitar (through 2 effect pedals at the same time), real bass, two quiet organs, a crazy 6-second solo-guitar (expressing utter desperation) and drums. I meant to do this with live-drumming, but the sounds kept triggering badly, so I had to revert to finger-drumming on the keyboard. Nevertheless, the initial kit-drumming had given me a few idea, which I then imitated on the keyboard, and which I would not normally have doned had a started straight from the keyboard (for one thing: the bass-tom fill-ins).
Here it is:
Wow, the kid is back!
ReplyDeleteGreat track. Don't know the original, so had nothing to compare it to. Your explanation of the recording process helped me enjoy it more.
Love how the riff builds, blast a guitar solo, builds, comes back down and then up again.
An Elvis song with a Beatles title...should have known!!!
Thanks for sharing