5090 by FAWM: "It's Hard to Start a Fire in the Rain"

It's Hard to Start a Fire in the Rain

10 weeks ago by @charliecheney · @stephenwordsmith

It's Hard to Start a Fire in the Rain

charliecheney +1

00:00

Liner Notes

Heard this melody as soon as I read the lyric a week ago. Took me awhile to learn the piano part. Lyric of course, by the remarkable @stephenwordsmith

150 bpm

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

@helenseviltwinMod 6d

Listening to all the versions. This has a lovely vibe to it, like you're telling a folk tale around a campfire. Nicely done

@tjeff 7w

Super nice interweaving of melody and your cool piano part. Love that piano sound, not sure if it's Rhodes or Wurly but it is really nice. I like the sparseness of the arrangement a lot, and the reverb on the vocal is a cool addition.

@coolparadisoMod 9w

Oh yeah the keys with that deep doorsy vocal are really cool on this! really nice version

@mikeskliar 9w

Love love love that jazzy descending keyboard line against that fantastic vocal. It’s been such a gas hearing all the different versions now that I posted mine- and this may be my favorite so far! Love it!

@catmisgivings 9w

charlie, your magic piano is conjuring a perfectly mixed cocktail in my hand right now!

@robynmackenzieMod 9w

Love that progression. There’s a introspective hush about this that really suits the lyrics.

@beacon 9w

This has such as different, and great, emotion to the other versions of this. I'm hearing more ennui in this than I gave it, or others did. Nice job.

@tcelliott 9w

Loving the organ. Nicely played, sir. The melody reminds me a bit of something Nancy Rost would write and I really like your vocal delivery here. The bridge is nicely done, I like that melody and delivery very much. This is a great version.

@davidtaro 9w

Charlie, I just posted my version and I’m digging the fact that we went down similar roads melodically! I love your delivery, and the way the intricate keyboard line interacts with the vocal. There’s also a lovely early 70s sheen/quality to the recording. Brilliant interpretation! Love it :)

@jtsteam 9w

I really like this piano part. And that's a wonderful vocal, really getting across the emotion in the lyrics. Beautifully done!

@gwynjones 9w

You enunciate every word clearly and with presence which underscores just how good and open to interpretation they are, whilst the subtle electric piano supports but never intrudes...a fine rendition...

@dr_griff 9w

I really like the understated keyboard part here. It doesn't interfere with the message of the lyrics, just quietly supports it. Well done.

@stephenwordsmith 10w

I adore the slow, stripped-back, gentle resonance of both music and vocals. The melody line is just gorgeous, and you deliver the phrases with palpable emotion.

Listening to this made me think back to using my parents' old record player, in its hinged wooden box in the garage, back in the 90s. Something about the tiny sonic note of needle hitting vinyl.

@newukenewyork 10w

Stylish and classy, jazzy piano bar treatment! Cool descending chords/melody. I’m digging it.

@greengrassgirl 10w

So great that the music came to you as you read the lyrics. That speaks well of both of you! I particularly like "the promise of a song," and "to burn alive and die."

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It's Hard to Start a Fire in the Rain

Liner Notes

Lyrics

Comments

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