It's Hard To Start A Fire In The Rain

by @tcelliott · @stephenwordsmith

Liner Notes

#collab #rock
TC: Great lyric. Everyone in the slack room was talking about how good it was and how many different versions could be made so I did one, too. I hope S doesn't mind. Now I get to listen to the other versions.

Lyrics

There's nothing but the nothingness before the silver spark
That summons the illusions to illuminate the dark
The blood is cold, the spirit low, the mind a weathered plain
And it's hard to start a fire in the rain, in the rain
It's hard to start a fire in the rain

No matter how we wend the way, the first step's always trying
So armed with willing sticks of wood and will of well-wrought iron
And versed so well in what it takes to rub without refrain
But it's hard to start a fire in the rain, in the rain
It's hard to start a fire in the rain

The trickle through your fingertips of thoughts that hold too long
The shush of records broken on the promise of a song
The flicker of a line that leaps and falters just as fast
The sputter of a first light that could never hope to last

So once again we set our soul into the sparks that fly
To burden them with bursts of life, to burn alive and die
To help us find the fortitude to fall and rise again
For it's hard to start a fire in the rain, in the rain
It's hard to start a fire in the rain

Comments

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I get a kind of Celtic folk song covered by a rock band vibe - kinda Thin Lizzy doing "Whiskey in the Jar" type thing. Great take on the lyrics and awesome guitar solo
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I'm loving how all the different versions of this are so unique yet work so well with the lyric. This totally rocks! Nice build-in to the beat. The walk-down on 'in the rain' gives heavy Sabbath vibes, while the wailing guitar solo brings Mirrorball to mind (one of my fav albums) 🔥
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Pirate rock opera vibes. The doubling of the vocal lines drive it home for me, and the treatment of the second in the rain on the refrain. I get the imagery of a boat at sea in distress, the captain while taking action also gives a words to the crew in inspiration, a way out of the dark place they have themselves. Listened to a few versions and this one is unique. The guitar solo is tasty. Nice job.
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Amazing guitar sound, love how the first verse is guitar/vocal and then the full band comes in. The slow tempo is cool. Has an early metal vibe, maybe late '70s rock - love it! Killer guitar solo (I was listening Alice Cooper's Billion Dollar Babies album earlier and the solo had that sort of vibe - awesome.)
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Ah the rock anthem version!! What great fun and so well done! Now that I posted my version, there’s so many really interesting versions of this lyric I’ve been listening to— and it’s funny how many of them like this one have a wonderful descending chord or melodic line. Love the way you gave this the guitar solo touch and had the drums come in on verse two, perfect.!
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Holy hair metal, batman. I absolutely love the direction you took this! Epic instrumentation and those vocals are killer!
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Dude! This is GIANT, I love it. Oh my god, the gang vocals are so freaking fun. And an epic guitar solo to boot? So fantastic! I love so much how you committed to this and rocked it.
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Huge guitars, love how locked in they are with the drums. Almost a Dropkick Murphys kind of vibe as the song progresses and you start adding the gang vocals, which feels very apt somehow. Nice soloing! Rock on, TC….
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Anthemic. The hardest version so far - you could rally an army with those guitars, and, if not that, the angry chorus on 'in the rain'. I love the way the general bombasticness ramps up in the second verse, which builds the song to a point where the bridge has transformed the thing into an edgy, modern les-miserables style rock opera, helped along again by the stacked vocals. It's hard not to whip out a torch to this one... if only I could get the thing to light.
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Edgy and anthemic...so powerful and strong...just like Stephen's dynamic creation!
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Nice chord progression in the intro, great guitar sounds lyrics, and vocals. Like it very much! Very good collab
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Wall of guitars! Didn't expect this (but should have). Great job.
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this is my 3 version so far i have heard and it is a brilliant lyric! To my taste this is the one i like the most so far - i still have a more cohenish version in my head. I love the pace, the double vocal and the power! great song!
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I keep seeing talk of this lyric in slack so I had to check this out. It sounds awesome
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Those sort of see saw rock chords building in the first stanza are cool! Also like the way you approached the “in the rain” response. Nicely constructed!
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The super-saturated, compressed production on this is *perfect*. It has moments where it skirts alarmingly close to being a hair metal version of Mr Wordsmith's original lyric, but that just adds to the fun.
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TC, your version goes hard! I liked the multiple vocals in the chorus and the outro solo!
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Ooh, this rocky take is very enjoyable. A stadium anthem that everyone joins in! Great solo too.
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Love the great buzzy rock sound! Epic anthem quality for these lyrics!
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Whoooaaaaaa!!! Right out of the gate with that nice crunchy guitar sound. I had no idea where the song was going in the first verse, and I love how the intensity sneaks up on you. The vocal layering in the hooks is stellar, I really love that!
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Damn! Love the beat and the descending chord progression. Your music works so well with these lyrics - and I love the guitar solo outtro! (When's the concert?)

Also, my husband said he got serious Green Day vibes from this.
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epic TC !
[FAWM]