FAWM: "Draw the Line"

Draw the Line

Liner Notes

I'm not really convinced by this one. It starts as a song about how the information age exposes us to far more suffering than we can usefully do anything about, and how that tends to paralyse us (me) and stop us (me) from doing the small good we (I) can, but I'm not sure it goes anywhere interesting with it. Plus there's a fizzy 80s synth that has no business being there.

On the plus side, that's another song done. Maybe you'll like it more than I do. Onward!

#pop

Lyrics

this is world of pain
more than a human heart can healthily contain
so where do you draw the line?

fill up your neighbour's bowl
better than weeping for a war you can't control
can we just hold the line?

you say you did all you could
your little bleeding heart does no one any good
but what if we all combined?

is it just poor design?
who built a wall between what's yours and what is mine?
can we redraw the line?

Comments

@oddbod 7h

Not your usual kind of arrangement. There’s some lovely bits to this though I’m not sure they all necessarily belong in the same song. Still, if you can’t experiment during Fawm when can you? …….He says as he chucks about 3 failed ideas in the trash

@beacon 3d

I connect with this message a lot, and have been trying to write about it. And I like the 80's synth! Love the chord on "what's yours" in the final verse.

@lcad 3d

Loved 80s synthpop Mike! Great vibes on this one, it does feel a little unfinished but I loved the music and progression and those opening lines

@sycophant 3d

I liked this. There’s something wonderfully whimsical about it despite the gravity of the lyrics…. The line “your bleeding little heart does no one any good” is nice! Good job.

@richardmasters 4d

The message is incredibly resonant, Mike, and in terms of you not being sure where to take it, thats completely in keeping with the theme - we do what we can to improve our corners of life, always knowing it never can be enough, which is a long winded way of saying you kind of nailed it.

@coolparadisoMod 4d

probably I do! those synths are so pretty then they go a bit odd and hectic which is a really interesting choice! the organ is very commanding!

@bradbrubaker 4d

you say you're not convinced, but the changing "line" lines work for me.

Favorite line:
fill up your neighbour's bowl
better than weeping for a war you can't control

@hanley 5d

Yes! I always love it when Mike’s full production team arrives at your door. It’s got a pop sensibility, but there’s other layers to it that have your signature sound.
This might not be a hit with world leaders, but I’m certainly a fan.
I was just chatting to a friend the other day about my guilt for switching off from the news of late, but my feeling is that we’re better off giving our time and energy to our local communities rather than giving attention to the fear mongers. So this sums that up for me nicely.

I absolutely love what I’m now going to refer to as the ‘Debenham callback’, where you revisit a word or line (in this case both, get it!) in proceeding verses, with a twist on it. Brilliant stuff!