Say the word (aka C-Minor Song)
1999
2008
Le groupe a apparemment passé pas mal de temps sur cette chanson, Ed en parle à plusieurs reprises dans son journal entre juin et septembre 1999.
Au départ, elle était citée (on n’en connaissait que le titre) sous le nom de C Minor. Ed l’a un peu décrite. Jonny aurait essayé de faire passer la partie vocale à travers quelques micros, ce qui lui donnait un air de vieille conversation téléphonique, ponctuée de sons bizarres et pas toujours agréables. Jonny au final la trouvait trop ’propre’.
Malgré tout le travail qu’ils ont fait dessus, Ed n’a jamais été très positif vis à vis d’elle, il n’arrive pas àen faire ce qu’il aurait voulu en faire…. On n’a jamais su si finalement il a réussi, ou si elle a été abandonnée…
warts and all, warts and all……… the last two days were brewing up to this…..working on ‘up the ladder’. 30 seconds into it & it sounds utter shite. thom stops it. lack of energy. phil gets pissed off. we talk a bit. start up again with a dose of the ‘fuck you’s. sounds better almost immediately. funny that. oh and the new song from 22nd is called ‘move along’ for the moment. also played the cminor. lovely sunny day.
— Ed O'Brien / journal en ligne, 29 juillet 1999
spend the first 3hrs on ‘up the ladder’. things are happening; jonny brings in the ‘missy eliot’ chord??!! thom starts singing lyrics from another song, cozzie comes with a catchy riff for the chorus and phil is ..funking. with that going on its very easy for me. working through something is such a cliche but if youre in the right frame of mind its so true. finish by playing “lost at sea/in limbo” , “optimistic”, “c-minor song”. it would be great to have another look at “you and whose army?” next week, and rescue it for the ‘lets leave it for a while’ pile. plank’s not here today as he’s in Lobo, Norway with Mike Scott- they have no nights in summer.
— Ed O'Brien / journal en ligne, 30 juillet 1999
— Ed O'Brien / journal en ligne
much better today… the sun shines in and out of our rehearsal room and we get a lot done… start with ‘optimistic’ (still sounding great – jonny tries some cool ondes martenot on it – the high stuff is good, not however when he follows the main riff). move on to ‘up the ladder’ – sounds better with more space. segway into ‘follow me around’ and a reworking of the ‘cminor song’ (in a stax stylee). jonny meanwhile is attempting to put the vocal mic through his analogue filters – which looks like a remake of an old telephone exchange. “hello vicar, yes ill put you through to mr kipling”… so the last two songs are punctuated by sudden bursts of unearthly noises, both extremely good and extremely bad.
— Ed O'Brien / journal en ligne, 5 août 1999
‘cuttooth’, the song with little structure and the only certainty is a bass riff. it makes you wonder how ‘neu’ did their thing – it always sounds spontaneous on those 12 minute epics, but did they have to rehearse intensely? did it require a degree of editing? then move on to the ‘c minor song’ – jonny thinks that maybe it’s getting a little too tasteful and nice and he’s right. it sounds too slick. finish with ‘optimistic’.
— Ed O'Brien / journal en ligne, 31 août 1999
‘knives out’ sounding quite ‘smiths-esque’. especially phil who has got that mike joyce thing down to a tee. on to ‘optimistic’ -must record that soon before we lose it (remember ‘lift’?). ‘up on the ladder’ sounds pretty grim. ‘say the word’ (or c-minor song); great drum, bass and vocals – personally getting a bit anxious over it, as i can’t find anything that works with it, or rather i have an idea but can’t get the sound right. makes me a bit neurotic. finish on what i used to call the ‘jonny scott walker song’ – very short and sweet.
last diary piece for a couple of weeks. how was it for you? i’m finding it a little difficult to set the right tone, but as i’m not a journo i guess that’s fair enough. hopefully this is going to be an ongoing thing throughout recording and maybe even touring, so it will get better.
last diary piece for a couple of weeks. how was it for you? i’m finding it a little difficult to set the right tone, but as i’m not a journo i guess that’s fair enough. hopefully this is going to be an ongoing thing throughout recording and maybe even touring, so it will get better.
— Ed O'Brien / journal en ligne, 9 septembre 1999
Start working on ‘Knives Out’ and ironically after Fridays night’s talk of new ways & approaches, we set up as a 5 piece and play it live. Not really happening & it feels as though we’re heading down ‘Say The Word’ territory like last week. Thom wants more energy in this version, in contrast to Copenhagen’s version which ‘floats’ along. It’s decided that Thom and Phil should play it together. The energy levels are noticeably higher. They bang out about seven takes & Nigel does his thing editing together the best bits from different versions. Bangin!
— Ed O'Brien / journal en ligne, 4 octobre 1999
2008
En tout cas en 2008, Ed ne s’en souvient plus trop…
Michael: “Yeah. Okay, ‘Say the Word’ is one of those songs in your diary.”
Ed: “Yeah.”
Michael: “‘Say the Word’… It’s not ‘Worry Wort’, is it?”
Ed: “‘Say the Word’ was ‘B-minor song’.”
Michael: “‘C-Minor song’, I think…”
Ed: “‘C-Minor song’?”
Michael: “Yeah, and uh, that wasn’t released? Another one that is…”
Ed: “Yeah, another one.”
— Ed O'Brien / Interview avec le webmaster de citizen insane, juillet 2008
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