FAWM: "Wilderness"

Wilderness

2 weeks ago by @toddnorem

Liner Notes

Song #2.

I found a little chord progression on my iPhone that dated back to April and kept building on it over the last three days, teaching myself some new chords along the way. I had the title "Wilderness" written down in a list of titles I created for this year. Once I started playing around with melodies I remember a story I read about this guy who lived in Maine woods undetected for 27 years. It was an unbelievable story and I thought I'd tackle a song from his point of view. Really enjoyed working on this one.

I was going to do more a full band thing, but when I sped it up with drums it seemed to miss something. So then I tried several acoustic versions and landed on this one.

You check out the article I referenced here: https://www.gq.com/story/the-last-true-hermit

#acoustic #acousticguitar

Lyrics

Guess had nothing to prove and nothing much to say
All the noise I could take had already come my way
You and your family too, wasn’t meant for me
Where I choose to be is what I really need

I lost track of seasons it was all just time
I only knew the world that I found in my mind
People think I’m lonely but they don’t understand
I can read a book and look out at the land

And my wilderness is not as wild as you
If I can tame my mind and enjoy my solitude

If you don’t want to be found, better think like a ghost
Always retrace each step, only take what you must
Though the cold was hard I never thought I would die
Didn’t even light a fire for fear you’d stop by

And my wilderness is not as wild as you
If I can tame my mind and enjoy my solitude

Can’t you see I’m just trying to be me
Want to get lost without you
No net or TV, fine by me
Want to get lost without you again

Keep your bright lights and traffic I’ll do what I can
To shield me from what I don’t care to understand
If I can’t meet your eyes just know it’s not you
It’s still the absent me trying to keep out of view

Can’t you see I’m just trying to be me
Want to get lost without you
No net or TV, fine by me
Want to get lost without you again

Comments

@thwingbill 2w

I'm a wilderness guy too. Like the way your guitar sounds. What is it?

@sadloaf 2w

Great mood in this song, very evocative of the real life events. Kind of reminded me of the Into The Wild soundtrack, so I think that not going with a full band arrangement was a good choice.

@fangirlshipper 2w

This song vibes so well. Wilderness is such a great title that really works with this. The key changes all work so well!

@autoclamp 2w

What I love about this is that it pushes against the narrative of sadness in isolation (even against a fairly melancholy chord progression). The fool on the hill is doing just fine, thank you, and he/she is probably the smartest among us. I even feel a stab of solitude envy. Wonderful, restrained delivery and excellent work!

@tspoon 2w

Wow this is a fascinating story. Just read the article. Reminds me of the book/movie into the Wild. I was obsessed with that story. Your song really captures the hermit. Pretty amazing a person could live off the grid that long without injury or illness. I envy that guy never having to hear about our current politics 😊
But I dig the stripped down accoustic and lonely vocals. Great work

@joefahey 2w

It was so fun to see a Zong by you post on the feed just as I was ready to shut down after uploading a Zong of my own. This is a masterpiece of a deep-dive into solitude. I was intrigued the second you mentioned the guy in Maine, I felt like I heard the story somewhere or maybe you'd mentioned it to me but I absolutely love what you did with the concept. It's so strong and compelling, timeless, I was on the edge of my seat through the entire song. Really nice.