Liner Notes
I didn't really like this challenge or the clip that was chosen for it but I've come out with something I'm (relatively) happy with in the circumstances. I decided early on I didn't want to directly narrate the clip, and so my interpretation of the challenge would mainly rest on the music. To this end I decided to adopt certain motifs and synth sounds for different components of the clip, sort of how Prokofiev uses instruments to represent different animals in Peter and the Wolf. When the moving staircases are on screen, there is a descending synth arp that plays. Whenever the sinister man is on screen, there's that big slow-attack synth. There's soft keys for the woman. There's a string section for the hazy, indistinct floaty scenes. In my first draft I stuck very rigidly to this, so instruments were coming in at odd times to match when the scene shifted, and in the end I decided to soften my approach and try bring these in more naturally, even if it meant not matching up exactly to the cuts. To hold it all together I kept this propulsive, unchanging bassline through the entire thing.
Lyrically, I am currently in the middle of a "service review" at work where my employer is looking to slash everyone's wages by thousands of pounds while simultaneously increasing our workload. It's an absolute shitshow and this song is about that and about capitalism and work in general. There's a really insidious thing management is doing of trying to tie these changes to COVID, despite the fact these changes are the result of several years of planning around their "business needs", and actually the cuts were all meant to come in last year before COVID disrupted it. They keep saying stuff like "everyone's suffering because of COVID" or worst of all variations of "we're all in this together", when the reality is that far from being some great leveller COVID has actually proven very effectively on a massive scale that we are NOT all in this together. That's what the "the devil's sins won't wash away just because he's felt the rain" line is about. Yes, I'm sure you've suffered on some level in the pandemic, everyone has, but you don't get to pretend we're the same as you slash my wages and give yourself another bonus.
So this song is about that, there's also a few references to the source clip (The Fall Of The House Of Usher) in the references to being buried alive and tombs, and I made some attempts to line up lyrics with scenes, like the hammer falling, or the shifting staircases. It's not my best song of the tournament but given how difficult I found this challenge I'm pretty happy with it.
Lyrically, I am currently in the middle of a "service review" at work where my employer is looking to slash everyone's wages by thousands of pounds while simultaneously increasing our workload. It's an absolute shitshow and this song is about that and about capitalism and work in general. There's a really insidious thing management is doing of trying to tie these changes to COVID, despite the fact these changes are the result of several years of planning around their "business needs", and actually the cuts were all meant to come in last year before COVID disrupted it. They keep saying stuff like "everyone's suffering because of COVID" or worst of all variations of "we're all in this together", when the reality is that far from being some great leveller COVID has actually proven very effectively on a massive scale that we are NOT all in this together. That's what the "the devil's sins won't wash away just because he's felt the rain" line is about. Yes, I'm sure you've suffered on some level in the pandemic, everyone has, but you don't get to pretend we're the same as you slash my wages and give yourself another bonus.
So this song is about that, there's also a few references to the source clip (The Fall Of The House Of Usher) in the references to being buried alive and tombs, and I made some attempts to line up lyrics with scenes, like the hammer falling, or the shifting staircases. It's not my best song of the tournament but given how difficult I found this challenge I'm pretty happy with it.
Devil In The Rain - The Lowest Bitter
they say we're all the same
that we all feel the same pain
that we all weather the same storms
this place, will it become my tomb?
bury me in business speak,
service reviews
we got our sickles in hand,
but the man takes a hammer to your and my livelihoods
they'll stick us in the ground for the greater good
they say, "one day, maybe you'll make it to the top"
but it's a down escalator that you've got to climb up
they say, "one day, maybe you'll make it to the top"
but it's a down escalator that you've got to climb up
and I don't wanna climb up
the company identifies a business need
for you to bleed and bleed and bleed and bleed and bleed and bleed and bleed
they say we're all the same
that we all feel the same pain
that we all weather the same storms
but the devil's sins won't wash away
just because he's felt the rain
I have been managed for most of my life,
from the cradle to the grave, I'm on company time
and you have been managed for most of your life
but your coffin ain't covered by the company dime
and we are all managed for most of our lives
they will take you, they will break you, they will bury you alive
they say we're all the same
that we all feel the same pain
that we all weather the same storms
but the devil's sins won't wash away
just because he's felt the rain
