FAWM: "Dan the Man"

Dan the Man

1 week ago by @bigmood

Liner Notes

Been sitting on the idea of writing a song ever since my upstairs neighbor passed last October. Made this beat after his memorial. He was a really good guy and super generous, but his liver wasn't working and he was on the list, but fairly low on the list. Really rough way to go, sometimes we'd have to drive him to the hospital. I used to go up and play scrabble at his place and at some point he stopped being able to do that, and he passed shortly after. So this is kind of an internal/external memorial to him.

I'm not sure the lyrics feel cohesive? It starts out more poetic but by the end of the song the lyrics feel a little more casual and that was something that occured to me might kinda take away from the whole thing. I was also struggling with the form of the beat before I added lyrics, and although I think the lyrics helped a lot in providing an exterior form, I'm a little insecure about how the form of the instrumental is all over the place. And I'm worried I may have too many harmonies. But I'll revisit all that later OH and I gotta nudge the mix in the chorus reee

Lyrics

dan the man

dan the man
dan the man
someday
we’ll understand

lucky are a couple
but he wasn’t on the list
gave his house away
and they couldn’t take the risk
no kind of fire can stay lit
with no oxygen

slow burn old friend slumber
no light at the end of the tunnel
family, torn asunder
even now i couldn’t help but wonder

what is in the human heart if not tundra
how much can trust do to overcome that
we played scrabble, chitchat
i was eager to go home n now i miss that

someday
we’ll understand

dan the man
dan the man
someday
we’ll understand

Comments

@fonte 1w

Wow. This is just great. A true testament. Never too many harmonies. That bass is just incredible. How low does that go! I can really imagine/hear this being played by a bunch of session musicians. Drums are great, would love to know how they came about. Your neighbour would be super proud.

@roseofstolaf 1w

This is a very sweet tribute, sorry you lost a friendly presence in your life. The lyrics don't seem disjointed to me, I really like the ride of speaking about him and then turning it more inward. How did you achieve that vocal effect on the "what is in the human heart if not a tundra" line?

@adforperu 1w

Sorry to hear about your neighbour! This is so laidback and contemplative. That walking bassline is really cool, so jazzy. Trying to work out what I'm hearing there, backwards horn samples? Very cool whatever it is. Harmonies sound great to me!

@hanley 1w

Sweet song for your neighbour/friend, sounds like he was a lovely guy under sad circumstances.
Love all the horn swells, giving me some Dirty Projectors feels. The groove is so laid back, but the drums help tie it all together nicely. I like how some the piano and backup vox just pop in and out, keeps it unpredictable.
The wonky auto tuned vox is a cool effect. Never too many harmonies!

@mbmusic 1w

Sweet track! Sorry to hear about your neighbor and the circumstances of his passing. This is a kind hearted tribute. I wish I could hear the vocals better though. The bass and strings are overpowering the mix in my headphones, but from what I can hear the harmonies are great, just a little soft.