Blog: Paul Bell - Small Town Boy: Song by Song
Singer/songwriter Paul Bell has just released his latest album 'Small Town Boy'. In this special guest blog for LTTM, Paul gives us a song by song run down, explaining the story behind each track.
Bend
I guess this is a song about grace. I was watching some friends going through some tough times, and there were some changes and pressures in our own lives as well, and I knew that these are the seasons that can break us, or we can allow them to make us.
I love the groove we got into on this one. Matt Weeks’ upright bass sounds great and we used a fairly cheap acoustic guitar with really old strings (possibly only five of them) for a countermelody in the chorus, which I think makes the track.
California
We recently moved house, back to the town I grew up in. We’d been living in a city, and the place we moved back to just felt… small. We love where we are, but I didn’t ever want my thinking to be constrained by the place we call home. I’m believing that what happens here can have an impact much wider. I’m believing it for myself and for others - “who’s to say your words won’t fly”.
In our hands
“If you wanna know if he loves you so, it’s in his kiss - that’s where it is”. The words of the philosopher, Cher, there. I’ve written before about what love really means, and once again, Cher and I have come to different conclusions (although we do both believe in life after love).
There is an African proverb “Love is in the hand”. I was thinking about this. If we pay lip service to loving others, what good does it do them? “Love is flesh and bone, and a life poured out”.
I spend a good amount of my time being silly with my two wonderful daughters. We do a lot of giggling, and they are a source of huge joy. They still have a lot of wonder in their lives, and I sometimes feel like I don’t have enough. You don’t meet many cynical four year olds either. “I wish that I was four”.
This track ended up being one of the trickiest to get right. We tried a number of different grooves, and three or four different versions of the guitar solo, before settling on something that sounds like it could have been from Sesame Street.
On the run
Relationships are so vital, but they’re not always easy. Sometimes the choice to love is the most natural thing in the world, and at others it feels much more deliberate, but at those times, it means at least as much. Maybe it means even more.
I’m playing piano on this album again, which I haven’t done for a bit. If you listen carefully, you can hear the creaking of a pedal.
River
I had the verse for this song living with me for a while. I liked the emotion of it, and the ambiguity of it. I’m still not entirely sure what it means. I guess that makes it possible for it to become a part of anyone’s story.
It has a new energy to it as well - it might be rockiest/moodiest thing I’ve done, and I love the production by Dan and Matt Weeks on this track (they did a great job on the whole album). In places this song reminds me a bit of “Livin on a prayer” by Bon Jovi, which can only be a good thing. Right?
No love lost
This feels like one of the most immediate tracks on the album, and is so far the one that’s been played the most on the radio. It’s a song of hope. About love being the way, even when it seems like no-one has noticed. It’s a catchy little number too.
Matt came up with a great little hook for the bridge, and it takes the song to another level. A real foot-tapper.
Love is happening
If we only exposed ourselves to what the media calls “news” we’d end up with a very skewed view of the world, and we’d end up more than a little depressed I think. Love is rarely headline news, but it’s there in even the toughest situations.
Still got a way to go
This song got written just after the last album was finished. I guess it’s a song of comfort for the uncomfortable, and discomfort for the comfortable. Whether we’re at our lowest point, or we think we’ve made it, the truth is there is still further to journey on. “We’ve still got a way to go”.
Find out more at paulbellmusic.com
