Song of the Month - November 2022- "Alfa Centauri"
From Branches Breaking from the Weight
I talk a great deal in these pieces about the lightness of my songwriting approach. I don’t take things too seriously. If lyrics don’t come, they don’t come. If I don’t finish this verse or that chorus, it’s probably because there’s a reason for it. No big deal.
Having said that, I don’t think this approach necessarily leads to irrelevant, ephemeral, or silly songs. I think it can lead to songs as rich and substantive as songs can be.
Which brings me to “Alfa Centauri,” the Single of the Month for November from Branches Breaking from the Weight.
I wrote the lyrics to “Alfa” on a day that I also got my hair cut. As I drove home, my neck felt clean, and I started humming these lyrics:
The eyebrow trim comes highly recommended.
Take once but use only as directed.
You’ve heard worse don’t act so affected.
I say no just about every time.
To me, these are ridiculous, wonderful lyrics, and I fired up Bret and Kevin’s hunk as soon as I got home and got to work.
Things got weird from there. I pulled quotes from an educational video I’d been watching. The doorbell rang, and I tip-toed around my house like I wasn’t there. That made it into the song. I somehow—for no reason—worked Little River Band into the third verse. I was just bouncing around the house to Bret and Kevin’s music and coming up with stuff to sing. This is probably as happy as I get writing songs. Can I out-silly myself with the next line?
Once I had a version down, the three of us liked the newer lyrics so much that the original four lines above didn’t even make the final version. That’s the beauty of the silliness approach. You can use it as a way into the song, and you don’t even have to keep it.
“Alfa” on its surface might still sound like nonsense, but to me, it’s about a guy dealing with a pandemic, political strife, and environmental unease and managing to forget about it all long enough to enjoy himself. It might not be my favorite song on the album, but it was the one that led to the best time for me personally.
Bret picked up on the fun by adding the weirdest piano part to the song’s bridge, and the end of the song is the only section on the album that’s off the click. You can feel it speed up ever so slightly in a way that I associate with songs by some of my favorite bands (Police, Minor Threat, Sublime, etc.)
Anyway, that’s what “Alfa Centauri” is to me. Take a listen and tell me what it is to you.
Also, please consider purchasing Branches Breaking from the Weight. It’s only $10, you get it right now, and your support helps keep us creating new music.