“For the simplicity on this side of complexity, I wouldn’t give you a fig.
But for the simplicity on the other side of complexity—for that I would give you anything I have.”
I’ve got that Oliver Wendell Holmes quote pinned up to the wall in my bedroom because I have this habit of over-complexifying everything — and, well, I guess I’ve begun to accept that as a necessary part of the creative process. Overthink it; make it complicated…then boil it back down to basics.
There’s no better example of this in my music than “Slowly Straight To You.”
It’s an intimate story song—a love song, in fact, but a complex, nuanced one—very clearly in the mold of acoustic singer-songwriters: I was listening to a lot of Phoebe Bridgers and (always) Joni Mitchell when I wrote it—but at the time, I just couldn’t bring myself to play it simply on the guitar.
It felt too simple, boring, just a bunch of basic cowboy chords. And, look, you’ve got to trust your instincts: if playing the song on the guitar doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.
So, I produced the bejeezus out of it with Justin Glasco and made this incredible, weird, world-bending journey of a version for the album, combining all these elements of music I love1, and in the process creating what feels like the emotional mission statement of the record.
But it’s also just an acoustic story song, and now that I’ve gotten to the other side, playing it simply on the guitar feels right.
So, when I set out to make a stripped down EP of songs from the record, this was an easy call.
I softly strummed an old nylon string guitar and sung gently in front of an Ampex tape machine, Zachary Ross ornamenting the tune with some beautiful guitar playing of his own.
At the end of the day, it’s the lyrics that need to speak. They’re vulnerable, intimate, nuanced, and intense. Maybe the complex production was a way of shielding myself from that fact.
But, well, here they are front and center.
If you like a good story song, this one’s for you.
Give it a listen and let me know what you think,
-David
The references when making this version included Phoebe Bridgers, Donna Summer, FKJ, and D’Angelo (RIP).