FAWM: "Mid-Life Crisis of a Marine Biologist"

Mid-Life Crisis of a Marine Biologist

Liner Notes

This one came together very quickly. Normally that gets me suspicious, but I kind of like how it turned out. It's grubby, but the heart of it's there, I reckon.

#fuzz #rock #pop

Lyrics

is there life beneath the water?
i have grown to doubt there's any life on land
looking out across the ocean
making peace with all the little things i'll never understand

like: is my life my life? it's certainly familiar
but at times my life is very strange to me
is my life a life or a sprint to the horizon?
should i spend this life finding life beneath the sea?

is there life beneath the water?
i keep turning back to where we all begin
a billion years of evolution
and i find that i'm still yearning for the salt against my skin

so can we save this life or is your coral bleaching?
are you sailing true or turned by every squall?
when you surfed that wave were you passenger or pilot?
was this life your life? you say 'i don't recall'

there is life beneath the water
there are squids and whales and eels and manta rays
fish and crabs and little plankton
life keeps spilling out and thrilling in a billion different ways

and all we have is life, make it something to remember
spill your heart out wide and let the pieces fall
i only have this life, do i sprint for the horizon
or do i find new life, down here swimming underneath it all?

Comments

@afterschoolclub 12h

Really enjoyed this one. The musical shift for the chorus is very cool. Digging the subtle mellotron flutes too - there's always room for those. Ooh, mellotron violins now too! That picked bass line provides a solid foundation for the track. Loved the lyrics here too. Lovely stuff!

@fortelmfield 13h

I love how smooth and rolling this is, great driving bass, interesting chords in the chorus and the (flutes?) really lift it to something unique. And that's before I even get to the lyrics and the singing! Damn, Mike, I love this one!

@beacon 1d

Wow, I wasn't expecting those guitars! Sounds great, and the lyrics are so inventive in all the nautical references.

@balancelost 1d

Ad's tag alerted me to this tune, and he's right. It does sound like STONE COLD GENIUS. Love the mellotron flutes and gentle vocal melodies drifting over the taught guitar and drums. Nice combination, I should try it sometime!

@sycophant 1d

I love the contrast between the dirty guitars and the clean quality of tour voice… This is a very cool song. No reason to be suspicious!

@coolparadisoMod 2d

Nothing grubby here, it’s a charming song that covers a lot of ground, from the specific to the general. The guitar drive is really good and all those synth/key touches give it that extra lift!

@owl 2d

This is great, that warm, fuzzy, and driving guitar/bass is instantly appealing and the softness where it lifts in the chorus and synths appear is wonderfullly sweet. Love the echo and mellotron bridge bit. The idea behind the lyric is great as well, just a super charming tune all around!

@adforperu 2d

I don't often compare FAWMers to FAWMers, but this is reminding me a lot of @balancelost. Must be something the Asia-Pacific water. Anyone really like how, although there's a lot of driving elements in there (bass especially), there's still a really nice gentleness to this, owing mostly to the vocal. The perfect blend of fuzz and clean!

@richardmasters 2d

Such a lovely rumination on life everywhere!
'when you surfed that wave were you passenger or pilot?' Definitely a question we should all ask ourselves from time to time. Loving those semi tone shifts in that mellotron-a-like accompaniment. Sounds so effortless.

@lcad 2d

This is really gorgeous. Love the melody and that lead guitar riff leading into the verses. I love the ones that come together quick, they're gems like this one. Love those two opening lines and 'its certainly familiar'. 'passanger or pilot' is another great reflection. Well worked through this theme and wonderfully performed and produced. This was one of my favourite of yours.

@leepat 2d

ooh, love it when you do fuzzy things. it must be your heart, your heart.
heart art art art!!!
excellent sonics (super and sub) and story (goes w/о saying) and contagious vampire weekend energy :)