#57: Woodshedding for the Next Record

I first heard Karine Polwart’s “The Sun’s Coming Over the Hill” on Northeast, by Sara Milonovich & Daisycutter. I owe you, Sara. As I’ve said before, it’s a song that means a lot to me. So on a recent trip to London I got it into my head that I’d sing it in front of an audience. The next show was at St. Pancras Old Church. What a lovely place to try something new—or crash and burn. I was nowhere near ready. But I just really wanted to sing it. The crowd was lovely, the ghost of the Beatles was hovering about the entrance, and those Anglo-Catholic acoustics are just fabulous. What could go wrong?

A lot. I was saved by a splendidly musical crowd intervening at the chorus. They were familiar with the song. You all know who you are. Bless you and thank you. But the experience was instructive. How could a song which sounds so effortless be so difficult to deliver? I know those chords. The melody makes perfect, lovely sense. The lyrical voice is clear. Each stanza is a shelter. It’s in English. I speak English. Again, what could go wrong? I’m not going to attempt to answer the question, except to say that I’ve spent the past week working on it. The problem in London had to do with tempo, phrasing and finding the right feel for the 3/4 time.

My first approach to learning a song involves obsessive listening. I’ll have the thing on repeat until everyone in the household is plotting an intervention. Then just when they’re about to call in the deprogramming team, I stop listening. Complete moratorium. But it’s not for them. It’s about putting some daylight between the original version and what I hope will reemerge as something I can interpret. It’s only by leaving behind the original that I find out how the song works and how I can sing it.

I started on a Les Paul type electric—an odd choice for sure. But there it was within reach, leaned up in the corner looking all pretty. We spent a couple of days in the key of D. Turns out C is better. So I switched to a 4-string tenor guitar tuned in 5ths, plugged into some pedals and a Fender Champ. Sonic glory, although I might be the only one who thinks so. Anyway, that’s where I’ve arrived today.

But I’m still in search mode. Both have merits. Both have their problems. I don’t think I’ve solved the St. Pancras issues. I know you’ll have opinions and preferences, as I do. But these are just sketches on their way to being something else.

Both were recorded to a voice memo app on my gadget. The audio quality is terrible. But I like it that way for search mode. I like the smudges. I don’t want pristine, high resolution info getting in the way of a general vibe. Besides, once I turn on the fancy microphones and preamps my perfectionism kicks in. I get nervous. At this stage the idea is to muck about with impunity. So here they are, two versions of Karine Polwart’s beautiful song, The Sun’s Coming Over the Hill. It will be on my next record. And maybe I’ll update this post with further explorations.

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The Sun’s Coming Over the Hill (by Karine Polwart)

(key of C, tenor guitar)

(key of D, Les Paul)