The first song I ever sang in front of an audience was Mother by Pink Floyd. I was a fifth year in college and in a small acoustic bar band call Raif LaShanks.
The name Raif LaShanks came from some NBA player named Raef LaFrentz. We changed it to Shanks because we thought obscure slang for STDs were funny.
What was really odd about my choice was that Mother is not exactly a feel-good bar song. It’s about a man slowly going crazy from his co-dependent mother and unfaithful wife. It’s one of those songs that makes you want to cry if you possess any semblance of a soul. But, because it’s reasonably simple, I was able hit the notes. It was the only song that I could do decent. Funny enough, it went over pretty well. But alcohol is a depressant, too.
Once, during the Raif La Shanks days, we had a gig in college at a place where you could paint on clay and ceramics and then fire it in a kilm. I think it was called “You’re Fired!” or something equally hilarious. The owner liked us and booked us to play some shows. I decided this would be a perfect time to debut the other song I could sing, The Future, by Leonard Cohen.
If you’re not familiar with this tune, you should have a listen, because you’ll find that this is the most depressing song ever written. Make it through the first verse and see if you don’t start reaching for a Wüsthof knife.
This one did not go over well. Most twenty-one year olds don’t spend a ton of time in Leonard Cohen’s back catalog, and certainly don’t want to get bummed out on a Saturday night during a pottery date.And now that I’m thinking about it, I probably should have learned the score from Ghost, you know, during that whole potter’s wheel scene. I never saw that movie, though. Because I’m not lame.
My singing voice just isn’t good. I am pretty much a baritone, which does not lend well to belting out rock and roll. But our band writes all our own music, so we don’t play covers anyway. And I’m just the guitar player and occasional background singer.
We have a show coming up this Friday and thought we’d try something a little different. Part marketing ploy, part plain fun, we decided to weave some Pink Floyd songs into the middle of our original songs.
We will start one of ours, break into a Pink Floyd cover, and then return to our song. Probably the most brilliant version of this technique is by Bruce Hornsby. This is also one of the greatest songs ever written – Bruce’s best.
So, last night as I was proudly showing off to the band that I had memorized the solo to Money, our lead singer suggested I take lead vocals. The problem is that it hits the absolute top part of my range, and my voice cracks a little. But the band told me it sounded good. I suspect they were being generous.
So now, I have to try to exercise my voice for it not to crack on the high notes.
Instead of just doing my normal background “Oooh” and “Ahhh” that comprise my harmonies, I’m now taking leading guitar and vocals. And while I don’t have fear about speaking in front of large groups of people, the idea of singing and hitting a bad note is scary.
The show will be recorded supposedly video and audio. I will repost it in all its embarrassing glory.
Be kind.