Maurice has a thing about tweaking tracks to make them slightly darker than I, the eternal optimist, write them. And believe me, that’s a good thing. I woke this-morning to him having made some changes to Jumping Ship – and its so much better (as per f**king usual with Maurice).
The chorus was something about “brighter lights on the shore”, but Maurice thought it would be a good idea to add a hint of mystery and introduce some mythical sirens into the song, so we never know if the protagonists made it or not. I really love the lyrics to this song, more than most of the stuff we’ve worked on together. They are a bit Steely Dan-esque – with a sense of humour and a quirky story.
I played it to the kids – they jumped and danced around like lunatics, with the predictable “again, again…” at the end of the demo. I also played it to Big Lee up at the design studio and it gets his seal of approval. I’ve asked one of my songwriting heroes to come on board and sing on the chorus… fingers crossed.
I’m not recording tonight. Well, I might try some new BV shapes on the track just to see what works.
I discovered that the final of American X-Factor sounds exactly like young children being tortured when you’re listening from behind the bathroom door. Actually, door or not, that’s what it sounds like.