Reward Music

HOT N’ COLD (WS)

This is my first installment of what I’m calling the “Workshop” series; a collection of recordings that chronicle the songwriting and production process for the songs that The Lord has given me-at least the ones that I have recorded. From start to finish you will hear the process and Lord willing you will have some ideas for your own work to do before The Lord.

The first song I’d like to dive deepishly into is my tune, “Hot N’ Cold” off of my first album “Blonde”.

Now I don’t remember exactly when I wrote this song, but I do remember listening to The Stray Cats-I remember being totally obsessed with Rock n’ Roll (I still am to a meaningful degree to be honest) and I had also been messin’ around with a finger picking pattern I’d learned from watching a Bryan Setzer guitar tutorial (1. Hold your pick when picking. 2. Tuck your pick under fore fingerer when finger picking 3. It’s really cool-do it) That’s where the intro must have come from…

…maybe. I don’t remember a lot about this tune to be frank, but I do know this one was a fulfillment of another song I had written called, “Mr. Make You Feel Goode”. That tune had a good moral, “don’t cheat on the one your with”, but it was still kinda naughty and I wasn’t about that anymore. Definitely don’t cheat on your wife. That’s sin.

What that song did possess though was a really cool guitar part that I didn’t wanna lose. That comes in after the folky finger pickin’ stuff. The song is basically an E Major Blues progression with 50’s Rock n’ Roll sensibilities-musically.

Lyrically, the song is Talkin’ about how life is a mess-a hot (n’ cold) mess and that it is not always a high, sometimes (obviously), it’s a drop down a roller coaster only to reach up to the heights again (just wait for that drop).

The key to living is not only to be aware of that reality, but to dig it and enjoy where you are whenever your at: now. In my case I chose to sing it using catchy 50’s jive slang (that’s just what you do if you play this kinda music).It’s fitting. Here is the poem that the lyrics are based off of (I just found this while writing this thread and now I remember where this concept came from…and a meaningful amount of inspiration for this tune smh):

Hot n’ Cold

Have you seen the sky at dusk

If not you must

When the sun and the moon pass by

The colors crash

And to your surprise

For a moment there is

short lived shine

Leaving the future

And past behind

While you look

Keep in mind

You can live real fast

You can fly

But like dusk or dawn

You'll be gone

,But beautiful

It's a touch of sad

And a dash of gold

Some like it hot

Some like it

Hot n cold

-and in the spirit of “Some Like it Hot” (the film where I got the ending stanza from), not only dig the “Hot Mess” that our lives are, but live life with joy remembering this life has been given to us as a gift from The One True Living God who is loving, thrice holy and the teller of our stories.

These recordings are taken from Oct 12, 2014 to Feb 2, 2015. You can listen to the completed track “Hot N’ Cold here on Reward Music. Thanks for listening.

-Ronnie