I did some tuning exploration for this song and wound up dropping the low E to D and the G string to an E, which I feel adds depth, warmth, and fullness to the sound, and I believe really aided in drawing out the lyrics that it did. It seems that the most common question asked of songwriters is whether they write lyrics or music first; I always find that curious because I can’t imagine writing either separately. For me, musical ‘mood’ and melodic line are integral to finding the right words. Sometimes a musical lick will kick-start a song, other times a lyrical hook for a chorus will be the starting point, but once the inspiration is there, I find both elements have to work together in developing each other. In this case, it was both a lyric and musical line which came into my head simultaneously on my way upstairs after a particularly pleasing smooch: the “oh my lover makes me sigh” that begins the song. With that in mind, and knowing instinctively that the other verses would be variations on that theme, I began fiddling with tunings and pickings and came up with the musical riff, and then I spend some time developing more words for the verses, skirting the chorus for a while until it was unavoidable. I had to think quite some time about how to sum up in the chorus what I was saying in the verses, and in the end I expressed something less ‘sum-upish’ than usual, less unambiguous than my norm, and the decision to hang on the diminished chord, though a choice I made a little uncomfortably, was made easily enough when I realized it rather suited musically what was going on lyrically, in the sense of having a lack of finality, the whole song having a rather meandering type quality.
Recording was an important process in defining the song’s structure - I find having things played back to me makes editing decisions more obvious. I used my Vancouver-made Tinker acoustic guitar, as I did with ‘Come Clean’, which has a richer, darker and more resonant sound than my Taylor, and to fill it out and warm it up, I copied this guitar part on my Hofner, arch-top electric in some places. I then added a small smattering of backing vocals, which I do love doing - it might even be my favorite part of recording - and there you are. A little mixing and it’s all done, at least for the purposes of this project.
lyrics
Oh my lover makes me sigh when he kisses me so warm so sly
Like a full red winter-wine - radiating slowly slowing time
Oh my lover makes me high, words that go straight to my heart, my mind
Like April rain in mid-July - you leave your shoes and fling yourself outside, no care for keeping dry
Oh there is not a question that I’m fully affected by this love
Oh his heart is my direction and I’m fully detected by this love
Oh my lover makes me try but not the way the world takes all the time
The way the colors and the lines of some great summit call you up the climb and you feel satisfied
Oh there is not a question that I’m fully affected by this love
Oh his heart is my direction and I’m fully detected by this love
Oh there is not a question that I’m fully affected by this love
Oh and here is great affection, that I should be perfected by this love
And this ‘all-we-are in somebody else’s is arms’ - forgetting yourself then finding you are naked, but you’re not alone
Oh my lover makes me cry, he don’t always do or say what’s right
And I am my lover’s wife, I’ll stand in his darkness and his light the way he stands in mine
"Quite apart from that this album is extraordinary on its
own merits there are few artists willing to expose their talents to such a sparse instrumental background, and you need to listen to it and discover its beauty for yourself."
- Tim Martin, FATEA Magazine...more
supported by 4 fans who also own “Full-Affected (May)”
Was indroduced to Hope and Social by Ben Dennison about six months ago!
addicted cant get enough! cant wait to see them on the 9th november in leeds! brent pugh
This album speaks to the continuum of African diasporic culture that is central to the vibrant canon of Americana folk music. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 29, 2020
Sweet harmonies & strummed melodies; the duo delve into decades-old folk, jazz, and country to find a timeless kind of love and connection. Bandcamp New & Notable May 23, 2018