FAWM: "Kudzu"

Kudzu

Liner Notes

I'm sure when I wake up in the morning I'll suddenly realize which R.E.M. song(s) I ripped off but I believe that's where I was going with this one from the get go, though my memory of early Feb is already foggy. It was one of the first songs I worked on in this FAWM.

My friend and fellow FAWMER @toddnorem (who I met in a Laurie Lindeen writer's workshop around 15 years ago and who introduced me to FAWM, thanks Todd!) has an excellent #vinylcommunity YouTube channel called @lostmixtapes which I love watching. He'd recently done a whole episode on the R.E.M. debut album "Murmur" and it really stuck a chord with me as that was one of those life changing albums that somewhat stands alone against anything else I'm aware of, even from their own catalogue. It got me in the mood to revisit it, think about it, try and be musically influenced by it in the here and now.

I spent a lot of time building a chord progression that was more unique than usual but also at the same time, I was trying to write a pretty ridiculous and complex Sci-Fi epic political parody called "Nocturnal e-Mission to Mars" and had dropped this unfinished song and later, even scrubbed the e-Mission too (but may revive for song #14).

When I listened to this the other night and I thought I should try it again. I'd never come up with any lyrics at all for it, I was a little stumped with absolutely no direction. I thought about it for the last few days and tonight I really pushed myself and wrote lyrics for it. It definitely took more than 20 minutes but less than 2 hours and I felt like it was close enough to try and lay vocals down.

#indierock #indiepop #REM #Murmur #rapideyemovent

Lyrics

The untamed growth
Has covered up the history
And left us all
Shrouded in its mystery

It grows about a foot a day
Climbs the trestles
Like electric hay
Ripping shirts
Analog delay
Red clay soil
Never fades away

Kudzu
As the locals say
Kudzu
To me and you

Climbs the trestles
Like electric hay
Ripping shirts
Analog delay

The untamed growth
Has covered up the history
And left us all
Shrouded in its mystery

Green lace weaves
By forgotten roads
A porch swing creaks
Like a secret code
A screen door
Snaps the night away
More symbolic in the light of day

Kudzu
As the locals say
Kudzu
To me and you

Climbs the trestles
Like electric hay
Ripping shirts
Analog delay

The untamed growth
Has covered up the history
And left us all
Shrouded in its mystery

A heat so thick
You pray for a spell of rain
They pluck the strings
Until they hit that sweet refrain
The rhythm rumbles
Like a southbound train
The choir mumbles
Till they open up a brand new vein

Kudzu
As the locals say
Kudzu
To me and you

Climbs the trestles
Like electric hay
Ripping shirts
Analog delay

The untamed growth
Has covered up the history
And left us all
Shrouded in its mystery

The untamed growth
Has covered up the history
And left us all
Shrouded in its mystery

Comments

@toddnorem 21h

Wow, thanks for mentioning me and my channel, Joe. I'm glad to have played a part in inspiring this one. What a cool tribute. Man you get all the details right of the kudzu and the growth and the trestle bridge...all of it. This is really cool! Super catchy with an R.E.M. sound, but very hard to pinpoint what you could be borrowing from. Even what era. Sounds totally unique. Love that you got at the way the album cover looked, the way it sounded, the mysterious aspect of it, the heat, the forgotten roads, the audience wanting more. You should get this to Michael Shannon and Company to feature in their R.E.M. show. They just played here and Peter Buck and our buddy, the guy who likes to Monkee around, Scott McCaughey, joined them onstage for a few songs. This is super impressive and fun. FUN. Kudzu...man that's going to be stuck in my head for a while.

@tspoon 1d

Wow this really takes me back to college days. Murmur came out in my junior year at the university of MN. This song put me right back there with my first Walkman listening as I walked the West Bank bridge. The untamed growth has covered up our history. Thanks for uncovering this. Great song Joe.

@heather 1d

Major REM vibes, but in a good way, not “ripped off”! Love the verse that starts with “green lace weaves” — such evocative images, mundane yet mysterious (screen door, porch swing like a secret code…). Great song!