Fear
Sometime, on this website, we need to articulate exactly what "the waffle machine" is, but now is not the time. Anyway, I tend to write songs that I find embarrassing, which is why I don't write a lot of songs for the band (prob'ly no more than four in eighteen years); and, when I do, I count on "the waffle machine" to save my sorry ass. And, while "Fear" started out as one of the few songs I liked as soon as I concieved it, the machine took it over & made it something different & cool.
The genesis of this song was during the abortive "working vacation for my liver" period, when we were all supposed to mix our alcohol & come up with 3 or 4 new songs for the band. To date, only two songs came from this, "Fear" & Tony's "Booker the Turtle" . . . apparently, we didn't mix our alcohol enough. "Fear" was a response to Elijah Pritchett's contention, after the Joy Division tribute set, that we could be a decent rock band if we only played more songs. So, "Fear" is an unapologetic '80's vintage post-punk rock song.
Originally, the song was concieved to be built around the chorus, which was supposed to have an MX-80 style stutter (like "Someday You'll Be King"). That didn't happen: the waffle machine had different plans. The main chorus of the song, after Tony's lyrics, becomes nothing more than a guitar rave-up, with specific rules: Tony can play anything he wants, but no higher than the fifth fret on his guitar (high harmonics are fine, just as long as he stays within the given range). I am restricted to playing primarily single note lines on the third string, and I am supposed to move primarily in half-tone intervals. The horns on this are pushed into a color role, though they expand on the third verse. Heather devised a distinctly Mo Tucker drum overdrive for the song, and Matt pushes it over the top with what has to be the closest thing to a trademark TBW! bass drive.
The image in my head was of Dick Cheney & claustrophobia; I don't think it came through, but I damn sure like what did. "Fear" was a working title that never got replaced: at a certain point I embraced it, even tagging a line from John Cale's "Fear" at the end ("say, fear, is a man's best friend"). In the end, it became a nice VU-style workout that seems to please the fans.
[Bill]
