Tag Archives: 2015

Song Analysis #56: C Duncan – I’ll Be Gone by Winter

Title: ‘I’ll Be Gone by Winter’
Where to find it: ‘Architect’ (2015, FatCat Records)
Performed by: C Duncan
Words by: Christopher Duncan

Since last winter, I have been on a new journey towards better understanding my place and purpose in this world. As someone who has spent a lot – frankly, probably far too much – of her time thinking about life, death, and the meaning of both, I think the start of this path would have happened eventually, but certain circumstances personally and professionally certainly gave me a big, fat shove in the right direction. The more isolated you get, you begin to realize it’s your strength in morals and what you stand for that prove difficult for many of the people in your life to go along with and accept. They don’t like looking at themselves in the mirror and confronting who they really are. So they leave you behind, for other people they can continue to be superficial with. But don’t worry. The right people will filter in, like sunlight through the panes of a Victorian glasshouse during a rainstorm. They will listen, support, and stay, and you will know who they are.

When I was a child, I had few close friends. I had a really hard time with this, assuming that I was the one with the problem. Here’s just one example: my best friend in 7th grade dumped me for a prettier, more popular girl. As best friends, I’d assumed that we would be working together on a team project in social studies. Instead, I was informed on a curt phone call that I was being replaced in her social circle. This came out of nowhere. From that humiliating moment, I turned around and started writing poetry because it was something I could do on my own. I turned inward and got better at relying on myself instead of others. I guess I should be grateful to her.

I can now look back at those difficult times and better empathize with that younger version of myself. Being an old soul is difficult in a world when you’re always fighting the tide. But there are many blessings to being an empath, too. Because of the struggles I’ve gone through, the times I’ve somehow cheated death and been granted another chance, the sensitivity I have to feel other people’s emotions, absorbing them like a psychic sponge and feeling them like they were my own: I’ve reflected on the fact that I tend to ‘see’ more meanings to the lyrics of a song than most.

One thing that I was thinking about in the planning stages of this analysis: there’s a disproportionate number of Christmastime holiday songs focused on the topic of togetherness. Often times, there’s a yearning of the protagonist to return home, or he/she waiting for a significant other to come back. Amazingly, this song is about neither, and yet can elicit the same level of emotions in me that I’ve seen the trite, garden variety Christmas song can in other people. It actually makes me feel like I’m in one of those tabletop snow globes.

First, the words:

Verse 1
I’ll be gone by winter,
I’ll have said goodbye,
to wind and rain, it’s all the same,
in my mind.

Verse 2
I’ll be gone by winter,
far across the sea,
away from snow, and all I know,
left behind.

‘Bridge’ 1
How slow the days go,
when you don’t come around anymore.
I’ll wait for sunlight in the grey.

Verse 3
By the end of winter,
day and night subside.
The spring will come and bring the sun,
for a while.

Verse 4
Summer passed unnoticed,
autumn’s come and gone,
and rain will start and break my heart,
like before.

‘Bridge’ 2
How slow the nights go,
When you don’t come around anymore.
I’ll wait for daybreak in the grey.

Verse 5
I’ll be gone by winter,
time to say farewell.
I’ll be far from here this time next year,
goodbye, goodbye.

Now, the analysis:

C Duncan is a Scottish songwriter who has a great talent in creating choral-sounding compositions by layering versions of his own voice. The results are pretty astounding: when you’re listening to a song of his, it’s like being sat in the church of C Duncan, multiple C Duncans in the choir singing angelically, and having the vocals wash over you. The experience is much like I’d imagine it would have sounded like upon being present the first time Handel brought out the Messiah. Many music reviewers have commented on the throwback sound of C Duncan’s music, for its folk and psychedelic leanings, of his harmonies being reminiscent of barbershop quartets of days gone by. Based on all of that, I’d say odds are good that he’s an old soul.

Duncan says his main goal is to write a good pop song, but if you look at the lyrics laid above, you’ll notice key pieces of any usual pop song are missing. There’s repetition in the melody presented in the verses, so that’s why I’ve marked them as verses, but it’s kind of a misnomer, as there’s no chorus to be found at all to separate them. What I’m calling the bridges are actually another kind of verse, but I’m calling them bridges because their minor key-led melody are different from the verses, and they act as reasonably nice segues between the verses. There is also a complete absence of the usual, often times awkward instrumental interlude to further separate the parts of the song, which is also unusual. Not a second is wasted. The song just keeps going along, gently, like a river, with nothing but his vocals and the spare notes and chords of an acoustic guitar. Got all that?

The first time I heard this song in its entirety, I was getting Smiths’ ‘Asleep’ vibes. It made me cry. If you ‘read’ the song in this way, the singer is telling us he’ll be gone by the time the weather becomes cold and it starts snowing again, but it’s ambiguous on how he intends to meet his end. I’ve considered that this interpretation fits well with how we traditionally view winter in the Northern Hemisphere. As we get closer to the winter solstice, the leaves of the trees have long gone, leaving what New Englanders call “stick season”, where what once were regal displays of lush green. Plants have either gone dormant or have died, without any hope of revival. We won’t see the bright color of a flower for many months. The landscape becomes desolate, as if the vibrancy we once saw with our own eyes has now being choked by the neutral tones. For animals, winter’s relationship with death can be literal, too: the ones that aren’t the strongest in their respective groups won’t survive the cold and brutal weather, what I’m imagining is “the wind and rain, it’s all the same / in my mind.” of C Duncan’s Glasgow.

If you go into verse 2, there may be some respite from this first interpretation. The words “I’ll be gone by winter / far across the sea / away from snow, and all I know / left behind.” suggests that he’s simply leaving what has become too familiar. It still leaves me unsettled, because of why he’s making this move, which comes in through the first bridge:

How slow the days go,
when you don’t come around anymore.
I’ll wait for sunlight in the grey.

Someone beloved is no longer making an appearance in his life anymore, and the absence represents a major void. Presuming that person was a positive influence and provided much needed brightness in his life, the absence of this light is, then, profound. Having read the press release for his 2016 album ‘The Midnight Sun’, I grasped that at the Arctic Circle, which experiences this phenomenon in summer when dusk never truly falls, it’s disconcerting to your body’s normal rhythm with the day when you don’t actually ever see the sun. Glasgow’s location by latitude isn’t as extreme, but I can see how having ‘light’ in winter is genuinely important because of the seemingly ever declining amount of daylight that time of year.

Three years ago before seeing a show at Edinburgh University’s Potterrow, I stumbled upon this cosy little bar completely by accident, hidden away in the old town. On each of the tables were those big chianti bottles with candles you see in Italian restaurants, the previously melted wax hanging over the sides of the bottles. For some reason, I was spellbound by the flame that was presently on my table and considered how important it is for the world to have visionaries, and how some visionaries are actually just normal people like you and me, doing what looks like ordinary things every day but their words and actions actually represent something extraordinary in someone else’s life.

In a similar context with this song ‘I’ll Be Gone by Winter’, I have been thinking about how people can provide figurative light, guiding others with their wisdom and love. Then my mind shifted over to the idea that this person who doesn’t “come around any more” could be someone who is no longer alive. Of course, when someone dies, there’s no more physical presence of that person. Their spirit goes on, but their flame has been extinguished. The loss of that person in your life is still deeply palpable. Notice, too, that in bridge one, Duncan sings of “how slow the days go”, then changes one word in bridge two to “how slow the nights go”. By the simple swapping out of one word, you’re presented with a contrast that serves to extend by time that feeling of loss. I find it’s also a useful contrast, in the sense that most everything looks and feels different in the optimistic (or harsh) light of day compared to the loneliness of the dark of night.

By the end of winter,
day and night subside.
The spring will come and bring the sun,
for a while.

Summer passed unnoticed,
autumn’s come and gone,
and rain will start and break my heart,
like before.

Like verses 1 and 2, verses 3 and 4 are paired like brothers. While verses 1 and 2 concentrate on the intention of leaving by next winter, verses 3 and 4 are concerned with the passage of the seasons. Duncan highlights how “day and night subside”, the extremes of the two become less obvious the further out you get from winter. Spring is mentioned almost as if a necessary evil, that the sun that spring brings is only “for a while.” Summer and autumn are mentioned in practically the same breath, and as if afterthoughts. Winter is clearly the star of this song, its ominous reach extending to “break my heart” as the seasonal rain returns “like before.

How slow the nights go,
When you don’t come around anymore.
I’ll wait for daybreak in the grey.

As mentioned earlier, bridge 2 features the line “how slow the nights go”. The last line of bridge 2, “I’ll wait for daybreak in the grey.”, is also more bleak than its sister line in bridge 1, “I’ll wait for sunlight in the grey.” This feels pessimistic, that a new day will dawn, sure, but with it, no light will come. He will survive to see another day, but just barely. Winter has taken hold and with its grip is a sense of foreboding.

I’ll be gone by winter,
time to say farewell.
I’ll be far from here this time next year,
goodbye, goodbye.

By the time we reach the fifth and final verse, Duncan returns to his original statement of intent, after taking us on a cyclical journey through the seasons. We’ve now been returned to where we started, in winter. We’re reminded that he hasn’t actually left us. Yet. At the end of a calendar year, it’s only natural to take stock of what we’ve accomplished, what we haven’t, how we’ve been wronged, and how we’ve triumphed over adversity. Although this song is slow in tempo and it’s definitely melancholic, C Duncan has tucked some lilting, ascending notes in here for us, marked above in bold, purple text. I don’t think those were put in there by mistake. As we all say goodbye to another year, one that has proven trying on so many levels, I think the take home message of ‘I’ll Be Gone by Winter’ is that there is still time, for change and miracles, and hope.

Lastly, a stream of the song, as it’s not been released as a single and doesn’t have its own proper promo video yet.

Song Analysis #44: Kodaline – Honest

Title: ‘Honest’
Where to find it: ‘Honest’ single, ‘Coming Up for Air’ album (2015, RCA)
Performed by: Kodaline
Words by: Steve Garrigan

I have incredibly fond memories of the first time I saw Kodaline perform live. They were playing to a small crowd in the Gibson Room of Maggie Mae’s as part of an Irish showcase at SXSW 2013. Most of the people in the room were either Irish and/or were involved with the Irish contigent’s programming that year in Austin, so I was an outsider. I was so impressed by their live experience, I ended up seeing Kodaline 3 different times in Austin and their manager saw me at the Hype Hotel when they were supporting The Specials, pointed at me because he’d recognised seeing me so many times, and said, “you’ve come to see the boys so many times this week!” Ha. Early on, they recognised and appreciated us promoting them on TGTF. I’m proud of all of their successes, and I’m proud to call them my friends.

At that time, we didn’t have Kodaline’s debut album ‘In a Perfect World’ yet, which would not be released until June 2014. What we did have was a couple tracks from the ‘High Hopes’ EP and that was enough for me to determine that these guys were going to be a huge deal. ‘High Hopes’ was my favourite song of theirs until this one came along.

‘Honest’ by Irish pop band Kodaline marks the first time I’ve reviewed a song that hasn’t actually come out yet! The single got its first play on Fearne Cotton’s BBC Radio 1 programme last week and I only got around to listening to it on Friday. The most obvious thing to notice, even to a casual fan, is the added muscle and pomp of Kodaline’s new sound. (I discuss this in my single review that posted yesterday on TGTF.) I’ve yet to hear the new album, but if this single is any indication of what’s to come, it’s the sound of a more confident musical group ready to take their rightful place in the limelight of superstardom.

If you’ve been keeping up here on Music in Notes, you’ve noticed that I have a penchant for pop songs with deeper meaning. I was sad when Keane broke up. But you know how massive Keane was? Kodaline are ready to fill that void.

Many thanks to Lorna Kemble of the Kodaline Fan Base for her kind assistance in transcribing the song. I’ve made a couple of corrections in my version of the transcription below.

Update: a lyric video has appeared 17 December 2014, so I’ve added it below, and the lyric that was incorrect in my transcription is in bold below.

First, the words:

Verse 1
We don’t communicate, can you not say what’s on your mind?
And I see that every day you hide the truth behind your eyes.
Honestly, there’s no need for you to hide.
Talk to me, can’t you see, I’m on your side.
Honest, honest.

Chorus
Say what it is you’re trying to say.
But if you lie to me again,
I’ll be the one that walks away.
Is it in you to be honest, honest?
Is it in you to be honest?

Verse 2
I still remember the day we met, I was hanging on your every word.
I didn’t think I would ever let somebody see into my world.
Honestly, can’t you see, I’m on your side.

Chorus
Say what it is you’re trying to say.
But if you lie to me again,
I’ll be the one that’s walking away.
Is it in you to be honest, honest?
Is it in you to be honest?

Bridge
Is it all in my head, or was it something I said?
Because I’m trying to forgive, and now I’m trying to forget.
You’re telling me all of this, no more hearing of this,
it was all just a lie, was it all just a lie?
Now I’m walking away ‘cos everything that you said,
all that you ever tell to me is lies, lies.
Honest, honest. Is it in you to be honest?

Chorus
Say what it is you’re trying to say,
But if you lie to me again,
I’ll be the one that walks away.
Is it in you to be honest, honest?
Is it in you to be honest?

Spoken quietly outro
Is it in you to be honest?

Now, the analysis:

So if you read my single review linked above in the introduction to this piece, I kind of already outlined what I think this song is about. The basic premise is just like Robert Plant sang on the first Led Zeppelin album: “communication breakdown, it’s always the same!” How true this is! And it’s also true not just of romantic relationships, but friendships as well. Incommunicado? Well, unless you’re willing to meet the other person halfway or you’re both masochists, you can be sure your relationship is soon vamanos.

The message Kodaline is giving us in ‘Honest’ is this: you need real communication in any relationship for it to work. It doesn’t matter if it’s a boyfriend and girlfriend having a misunderstanding, or a disagreement in a marriage, or friends that are having a tiff. This is amazing to me, because Kodaline has and has had a large fan base made up primarily of young-ish girls and women, and this song’s message can be applicable to all ages and both sexes. Whether they knew this while they were writing it or not, it’s clear to me this single has much broader appeal than any of their previous releases. For the ease of my writing this review, I’m going to make it a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, but feel free to apply it to whatever situation you need it to be.

In the first verse, singer Steve Garrigan is setting the scene by explaining what he sees from his side, him getting the silent treatment: “We don’t communicate, can you not say what’s on your mind? / And I see that every day you hide the truth behind your eyes.” Further, he is gently coaxing out the other person, lovingly trying to assure that whatever she has to say, he will listen: “Honestly, there’s no need for you to hide. / Talk to me, can’t you see, I’m on your side.

The song has been pretty quiet, prior Kodaline-sounding up to this point. Well, until the chorus starts up. BOOM. The power of the chorus is massive, with synth chords that start in minor key. Think of it like when you’re watching a film and when you start hearing ominous music. It’s usually in a minor key to add to the suspense, to fill you with negative feelings. Yet when the chorus reaches its height in the last line at “Is it in you to be honest?”, the chord progression has turned major. It’s positive now. (I’m a big fan of purposefully emotional chord changes; Tim Rice-Oxley of Keane is a master at this [read my analysis of ‘Can’t Stop Now’ from last year for more].) In the case of this song, I feel like it’s as if the voice of the song is trying to be positive, as if he knows she *can* be honest. He has faith in this. And faith is a good thing.

However, you cannot ignore the fact that the rest of the chorus is some pretty heavy stuff. He’s been given the silent treatment. He’s been lied to when the other person finally opened his/her mouth. But he has come to a good place for himself: he is ready to walk away from the toxic relationship. Also noteworthy is that in the first chorus, Garrigan sings “walks away”, whereas in the second chorus, he sings “walking away.” This is important. Earlier in the song, he is only threatening to leave in the face of more lies. The action being described in the second chorus is him actually leaving. Him making a stand that they cannot go on like this anymore.

But like all things when you love someone, either romantically or platonically, things can get complicated. Like all human beings, in the bridge we see him second-guessing his decision to leave. Up to this point in ‘Honest’, the lyrics have been pretty placid and easy to keep up with. I feel like Garrigan’s frenetic delivery in the bridge is reflecting his own confusion and disappointment in finding out that the woman he loved and trusted, a person he gave so much of himself to, is really a liar: “You’re telling me all of this and then I’m hearing that it, / it was all just a lie, was it all just a lie? / Now I’m walking away ‘cos everything that you said, / all that you ever tell to me is lies, lies.” Probably one of the worst emotions we as humans can ever feel. He started out thinking it was him, not her: “Is it all in my head, or was it something I said? / Because I’m trying to forgive, and now I’m trying to forget.“ But wait! There is more as the song nears its finish.

For me, the greatest line in this song is “Is it in you to be honest?”, which is used as a refrain throughout. In all its uses except in the outro, the chord changes used to propel the line are, as I mentioned above, sounding pretty positive and inspiring. But it’s when Garrigan speaks the words – sadly, softly – at the end that you realise he’s fully acknowledged and accepted this woman in his life is full of lies. Though the ending is sad, it will lead him to better things, because he can move on from all this pain the lies she told him inflicted. “Is it in you to be honest?”, every time it comes up in here, is a challenge to the woman. It isn’t until the end where he admits he realises that she cannot be honest with him.

What does that really boil down to?

She has no integrity. How can she be honest with him, if she cannot be honest with herself?

I will end this analysis with this: I hope the crappy people in the world, those who think it’s okay to lie to and cheat their friends and loved ones, will listen to this song and finally GET THE MESSAGE. It may take us some time, but we WILL suss what you are doing. And you’ll be sorry when we’re gone.

Lastly, the song, in stream form as provided by the band. Update 17 December 2014: also included now is the lyric video released today, and the story that unfolds in the promo agrees with my overall interpretation above that the song meaning may not necessarily refer to a romantic relationship. (Thank you, thank you…)