BPM 114 ~ C Major ~ ISRC: CA7W42200006
Luke and I read 'Just Kids' by Patti Smith a while back, and in it Patti describes how artists living at the Chelsea Hotel would sometimes be permitted to pay their rent in paintings. This song is our daydream of doing the same with music, and a way to reckon with the constantly rising cost of living. I met with a songwriter friend, Sarah McInnis, and we found ourselves fleshing out a tongue-in-cheek conversation between tenant and landowner: "Landlord comes around, asks if I got cash, I have Johnny and Rosanne and I recommend Crosby, Stills, and Nash." Musically, this one is straight-up bluegrass, my fiddle and Luke’s mandolin accompanied by Ethan Jodziewicz, out of Nashville (Sierra Hull, Milk Carton Kids).
-Sarah
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LYRICS
Landlord comes around, asks if I got cash
I have Johnny and Rosanne
And I recommend
Crosby, Stills, and Nash
He says, "you think you're funny
You better show me the money"
Well I got plenty of bills
Bill Monroe, Bill Frisell, Billie Holiday
I need shelter from the sun and storm
A place to keep the records I've worn out
Listening on long nights through and through
I'm hell-bent on payin’ the rent
And keepin’ records on the table
And I won't be late
If you'll take gold or platinum
He says, "Rent is due, you must respond
I'll say it like they do across the pond
Give me Euros or a ten-pound note
Heck I'll even take a cow or a billy goat"
Landlord, don’t you understand
I’m giving you the best I’ve got on hand
He gets red in the face, "you're a bloody disgrace!
I demand you hand over the keys"
I need shelter from the sun and storm
A place to keep the records I've worn out
Listening on long nights through and through
I'm hell-bent on payin’ the rent
Keepin’ records on the table
And I won't be late
If you'll take gold or platinum
You say you want keys, how 'bout Alicia?
Songs in A Minor
Way Over Yonder in a Minor Key
Woody Guthrie and Billy Bragg,
Brag, I don't mean to brag
But if you're looking for dough
I've got plenty
Of do-re-mi
In the key of C
I need shelter from the sun and storm
A place to keep the records I've worn out
Listening on long nights through and through
I'm hell-bent on payin’ the rent
And keepin’ records on the table
And I won't be late
If you'll take gold or platinum
**********
CREDITS
Song written by Sarah Frank and Sarah McInnis
vocals, fiddle - Sarah Frank
vocals, mandolin - Luke Fraser
vocals - Sarah McInnis
bass - Ethan Jodziewicz
recording, mixing - Graeme Campbell
mastering - J. LaPointe
**********
Easy-Clear, The Bombadils Music,
music@thebombadils.com,
1-904-495-1150,
ISRC: CA7W42200006
Instrumental version available,
Female lead vocal with male harmonies,
Fiddle + mandolin solo sections,
Up-tempo,
upbeat, joke song, humour, comical, cost of living, social issues, rising rent, Johnny Cash, Nashville, mandolin, fiddle, bluegrass harmonies
Composed and self-published by Sarah Frank (SOCAN) 50% and Sarah Catherine McInnis (SOCAN) 50%
Master owned by The Bombadils Music (Sarah Frank and Luke Fraser)