This track marks the first appearance in Season 2 of City Council member, Aya Peard. According to Aya, Touch the Ground is about "...keeping your head down and wits about you.... It's a no-worries song: move forward, follow through, commit, and don't get trapped!"
We started working on Touch the Ground during production rehearsals for last summer's tour, which makes it one of the first songs we were able to write with the City Council all in one place at one time. We brought in Tim Gruber and Amir Alam to overdub some tasty extra bits, but the majority of the recording is pretty much the City Council, giving the track a very "live" feel.
The Music
The song is really built around the bass line - I started playing the progression, and everything else just fell in place on top. The bass on the final mix was actually recorded live (first take, too) as a scratch track for the initial sketch of the song. There might be a few minor clams, but overall the part had such a good feel it didn't make sense to re-track it. And although we've mentioned this before in Season 1, it certainly bears repeating: guitar + E-bow + Filter Factory = seriously hot aural action!
lyrics
it's a set up
you've gone
set it off
for the fall
from the brig
kick often hard and crawl
it won't hurt at all
it don't hurt at all
it's always touch and go
you're a stranger
born to fight
you've freed it up so go
after all
you will find
you'll find you're not alone
it don't hurt at all
in a silence touch and go
shaking hands we touch the ground
trading sands we touch the ground
it's a set up
bonfide
but who could blame us now
we are human
after all
it don't hurt at all
credits
from The Singles - Season 2,
released July 13, 2009
cover art: "Pity the Foo" by Tone Deaf
Conrad St. Clair: bass, guitar, percussion, programming
Mike Stehr: percussion
Lou Caldarola: drum kit, percussion
Chris Huntington: guitar
Beaker: guitar
Aya Peard: vocals
Amir Alam: guitar
Tim Gruber: percussion
There's really no explaining Kicksville, but fear not! All the music is FREE, so have at it. Then, go visit www.kicksville.com and see what we're all about. Or, visit www.youtube.com/kicksvillevideo and give your eyeballs a treat. Enjoy!
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