This was recorded in 2018, in Avondale, FL out of my home studio using ProTools 9 and an Mbox Pro. The song was mastered by Paul Lapinsky.
After having lived with someone who had a severe phone addiction, I couldn't avoid writing this song. It first started out as a classic 60's sounding R&B tune, similar to Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding but it wasn't working. The song was so literal that I noticed it took better to country as I finished the lyrics.
Production: The song consists of a Les Paul guitar, a borrowed Taylor steel string (Thanks, John), and my classical guitar. The rest of the instruments are digital: drums, bass, and lead guitar. I mixed the Les Paul in with the virtual lead to try to make it sound more natural. The song also has a lap steel guitar in it. This was my first time recording a lap steel, and it's my first recording in the country genre.
Arvid Smith played the lap steel.
I sent him the song and asked him if he could lay some slide guitar on it. He heard the original version with the F word in it, and replied "Angry man." and I replied "People get angry sometimes."
I did a few takes with Arvid. We did the frist take with little input from me, the second with sparse notes, and the last take where I told Arvid to ignore stepping on vocal lines and just act like it was a lap steel solo the whole way through. During the mix down I chose the phrases that sounded best with the tune.
This song is part of a "one by one" release album I'm working on called Binary Love (Songs About Technology and Pretentiousness) of which the already released song Bitcoin (I I Love You) and Vegan are part of.
Album Art: I had a hard time with the album cover on this one. I wrote artist Dan Witz asking if I could use one of his this paintings for the cover since I like the idea of cross promoting mediums, and it saves me from doing something that's not my primary discipline. But, his studio manager basically said "No." As in, Dan wouldn't be caught dead being mixed up with the likes of you, buddy! Necessity is the mother of invention after all. I made my own album cover, and in the end I'm glad I did.
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I remember you used to talk to me
We went for walks and kept all the rooms clean
But I learned of phubbing yesterday
I wish you'd put that thing away
And now I'm feeling all alone
Cause everything you have to do is on the phone (and)
You need to understand
I wanna slap the phone out of your hand
I said, you need to understand
I wanna slap the f***in' phone out of your hand
You're a ghost in our house don't you see
A floating face that's lit up by the screen
And now I'm feelin' all alone
Your mind's in another time zone
You stare at it like a gemstone
And now you take forever sitting on the throne
You need to understand
I wanna slap the phone out of your hand
I said, you need to understand
I wanna slap the f***in' phone out of your hand
I don't think you understand
I wish you'd leave that thing alone
Your mind's in another time zone
You stare at it like a gemstone
And now you take forever sitting on the throne (and)
You need to understand
I wanna slap the phone out of your hand
I said, you need to understand
I wanna slap the f***in' phone out of your hand
You need to understand
I wanna slap the phone out of your hand
I said, you don't even understand
I wanna slap the f***in' phone out of your hand
I don't think you understand
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