5090 by FAWM: "Look Away Now"

Look Away Now

Liner Notes

FAWM is brilliant. This song started life as a comment from Gwyn on my earlier song ‘The Money’ (https://fiftyninety.fawm.org/songs/298946):

"P.S. Can you do iPhones next? The bane of any parent of kids over 10 or even younger...😉"

So I challenged him to write some lyrics, and he (very) promptly delivered the goods. And now we have a cool new song that wouldn’t have existed without that interaction!

I had real fun trying to stuff in as many little sonic details as possible, so keep your ears open. The sample in the bridge is a talk by Simon Sinek on phone addiction - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-RGAReviec.

I’ve also just bought Vocalign, which is meant to sync the timing of your harmonies and doubled vocals. Do they sound tighter and more professional than my usual efforts? I’m telling myself yes, simply to justify the cost of the thing. But who knows.

#pop #collab #phoneaddiction #parenting

Gwyn adds:-
l knew that David would come up with something special for this idea because he has the musical Midas touch, but I hadn’t bargained for just how astonishingly good it would be!
I’ve listened over and over again and each time, I hear a new magical addition that I had missed on previous hearings…
David, you really are the bee’s knees, the cat’s whiskers and the dog’s bolrocks for creating this lollapalooza of a track!
👏👏👏

Lyrics

My parents used to warn me when I was a kid
I’d get square eyes, but I never did
Staring at the television every day
They told me, “Switch it off, go out and play!”

Said look away now (That’s quite enough)
Look away now (Don’t get in a huff)
There’s so much else to do and so much else to see
You’re missing out stuck in front of that damned TV
So look away now, look away now

Well, time moves on and technology too
It’s hard to keep up with everything that’s new
Now, my kids are glued to the phones in their hands
And only have the shortest of attention spans

Look away now (That’s quite enough)
Look away now (Don’t get in a huff)
There’s so much to be done and so much to be seen
You’re missing out stuck in front of that damned screen
So look away now, look away now

[Spoken bridge]

Look away now (That’s quite enough)
Look away now (Don’t get in a huff huff huff)

All those story books that I used to read yer
Now your imagination’s full of social media
My worry is you’ll follow some C-list celeb
Who’ll drag you through a portal to the deep dark web

Look away now (That’s quite enough)
Look away now (Don’t get in a huff)
No wonder that the world is in chaos and crisis
We’ve all become addicted to these damned devices

So look away now (That’s quite enough)
Look away now (Don’t get in a huff)
Okay, ten more minutes, just don’t scream and shout
‘Cos Tik Tok, Tik Tok, damn your time ran out…

Comments

@cts 6d

First off - I have to applaud and marvel at the way this collaboration came to be...nice. Now, you've mentioned in past comments how I channel Prince (and I take that as a huge compliment from anyone). In this case, I hear the JL coming through if he were still with us and found inspiration in the current sound of music. The arrangement is great; like how it has this "wonderment" feel (I'm thinking that's them synths in the chorus). Your vocals are tops here...does feel like JL. Now, the lyrics are crucial. They are timely and very telling. The last line of the song is spot-on. I'm trying to ween off being around the device...trying to get back to the necessity of just "being" instead of engaged in information from every direction. This is a great collaboration. And it very much stands front and center with a message that we all can relate to and need to heed. *CTS tips hat*
Excellent work!

@trebled 1w

Hugely original, inventive and relevant - and delivered so wonderfully well. No surprise there! Great work here guys! :-)

@nancycunning 1w

I love this one. Feels like my phone should start playing it every time I open certain apps. That voiceover slips in the idea that it’s not just the kids who have a problem. My kids have gotten a lot better at putting their devices down than I am. I like that shift from being the kid to being the parent.

@mctown 3w

Very cool song... u guys do good stuff...

@musicsongwriter 3w

Very relatable situation! Only I was watching ballet non stop. My mum warned me, and she was right! Wasn't she always? Great lyrics, melody, instrumental parts in their layers and fun instrumentation, gorgeous singing, full of fun and atmosphere of dance, fun, recollections of childhood. So catchy and so adorable. Fantastic collaboration, guys. The vocals, harmonization, connection between the vocals and playing, the lyrics brought to life, and being inspired initially. It all works a treat. Love it. You are such a fantastic team! So wonderful to hear the fruits of your collaboration!

@bijou 4w

This is clever and should be a public service announcement that comes on on our technologies every day 😊

@ritschialpenstern 4w

That sounds really great! Fantastic production.

@sheslin 4w

I love the genesis of this song - it is so FAWM! . I like the light fun feel to the song - it makes the underlying message more relatable and easier to digest. Great lyrics - like the forced rhyme with "read yer" and "social media". Also the call and response is great and adds more to the lightness. Great sonic touches like on "deep dark web". The vocals sound fab!!! Great collab.

@nahlej381 4w

lol ya my dad wanted some alone time too. I feel like one of the last latch key kids sometimes. The theremin like synths are sooooooo goood
This might be my fave of the summer boys. Hell ya.

@kristi 5w

This is so catchy and wonderfully written and executed. I like how the story travels thru the generations. Really rings true. Very clever and has cool rhymes. Love that last line among others. The playful melody and music/vocal and spoken comments are a delight and really make the message easy to hear. Great collab!

@jeff9 5w

Simply brilliant songwriting in every aspect. And the performance is absolutely terrific. Applause, gentlemen.

@greengrassgirl 5w

Oh, I love this! So smooth and inventive. Love Gwyn's message and how David delivers it. I think we all can relate to this--especially the spoken parts, and that delightful "huff, huff, huff." Primo, gentlemen!

@freshspotlessyouth 5w

Ha...this is sweetly catchy. The synth riffs are super. And that chorus kills it. Hmm...I think I have a problem. You, on the other hand, have a hit

@jonmeta 5w

I'm always impressed when songwriters can make the basic 4 chords pulse with life and excitement -- can give me a familiar comfy seat to lie back in and then take me on a fun-house ride with something new around every bend. Excellent work. "Look away now" is a great hook to build around.

David, you should check out Hannah Busse's song from a few years ago, called "Smartphone", I think. Would make a great double-sided single with this one.

@tjeff 5w

Love the background on how this song came to be - cool story! Sounds amazing as always, with superb production and musicianship. I really like those vocal answers. And the slidy synth little melodic answers to the vocal are super-nice. Great advice in the lyric and I love the slightly humorous take. The bridge is a really nice contrast and love the "oohs" that accompany the spoken voice. The last line is so good!

@squirrelhavenstudios 5w

This is very easily one of the top three things I've ever heard on FAWM and it may be the best. The lyrics are great - they convey the nature of the relationship between parent and child in a way that's pretty much universal. They manage to be both amusing and also tinged with sadness as the child inevitably slips away from the parent to become part of the world.

David your vocals are always good but what you do here is the best work I've heard from you. Really amazing stuff. Your phrasing take Gwyn's lyrics and imbues them with the life that was inherently there, which is the hallmark of a great performance, but not necessarily an easy task for any singer.

Musically, I love the synth you use to double the melody in spots or just highlight bits. Overall, the melody is perfect for the subject matter, and I also enjoyed the sample you used, which also fit perfectly.

Great work you two. I suggest more collaborations between the two of you.

@gm7 5w

WOW..nice. We have all spent too much time in front of the telly! And those lyrics by Gywn are so spot on. The music is awesome and one of the best vocals from David . .A dynamic duo.

@wobbiewobbit 5w

clever song. i love the boo-ee-oo-ee-oop synth sound and part. great production and arrangement and lyrics full of wisdom i know i won't heed. top collab David and Gwyn!

@timfatchenMod 5w

Brilliant. Catchy and easy to listen, light and amusing and not preachy but the message gets through.

@tcelliott 5w

Hol;y mol;y this is awesome. The lyric is wonderful, I love some of those rhymes, (read ya, media and celeb, dark web come immediately to mind.) The music treatment is near perfectly executed for this fun (but truth heavy) lyric. I love the vocal. This is seriously great.

@paul_pedersen 5w

When two juggernauts of song join together on a project, you know it's going to be something special. What a team! What a song!

@coolparadisoMod 5w

i always wonder if its in the mind but it does seem cleaner and clearer! i guess you need to do a comparison switch on switch off! great idea what fawm is all about. sounds a bit boy bandish. clever lyric. nicely done guys.

@sbs 5w

We were not allowed to watch TV during the day - we watched TV as a family at night. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have kids today. I remember my grandmother scolding my aunt about her parenting skills compared to her own and my aunt said, “You didn’t raise kids in the 60s!” Oh boy! Even harder now! I think I agree with @billwhite51 - I kinda like the rougher vocals David is known for. More passionate! Still, a fun song! Well done!

@jerrypettit 5w

TERRIFIC lyrics, Gwyn--and a really, really well put-together song David. You guys are amazing in this. (I'm feeling guilty over being the tv watcher when *I* was a kid--and the phone watcher now!) Great, great collaboration! ❤️

@billwhite51 5w

I dont know anything about the new recording equipment you are using, but this is the cleanest track that I have heard from you. My personal tastes run to the rougher recordings, but these cleaner sounds fit in more with what the industry is producing, and it really is a pleasure to listen to. When I saw that my two favorite singers were collaborating, I was slightly disappointed that gwyn didnt sing on it as well, but david vocals are so extraordinary that that disappointment was soon disipated in the pleasure of what was offered. the subject matter is certainly timely, and gwym put a little touch of horrorshow into the lyrics. my daughter is an absolute victim of this trend, but im afraid to stifle her since all her friends are on the same wavelenghth and i dont want to cut her off from these new modes of group participation. as she says, i am part of the human world and she belongs to the robot world. if that is the way it is going to be, i wouldnt want her to be an outcast dinosaur just because her papa is. once again, i cannot overstate how much pleasure the music both of you produce gives me, and how much it means to me to be involved in collabs with the both of you.