I love the in-between songs on albums; the musical interludes or really mellow songs where it seems half the band aren’t playing. Neko Case has a number of these amazing songs.
That was the genesis of this song, “Hazel Eyes.” It started out as a verse and chorus at practice one night:
I wrote the words for the chorus, Mandi wrote the verses with input from Ben. The song’s focus is on that moment you realize that someone you’re in love with doesn’t love you anymore. It’s not the break-up moment, but just that sudden realization that you try to suppress, until the inevitable happens and the relationship finally falls apart.
The most disturbing thing about the song, though, is the use of the word hazel, as Hazel is my daughter’s name. I really tried to avoid this, but nothing else worked – “brown eyes,” “blue eyes,” “cold eyes,” “you’re an unfeeling jerk eyes…” and the list goes on.
I imagine The Avett Brothers had a similar problem with their song “January Wedding,” because how many people really choose January to get married. February is the only other phrase that works in the chorus; all other months would sound ridiculous. The band felt we were in a similar situation, so they convinced me to keep “hazel,” as that was the best two-syllable descriptor. We also eventually got the whole band involved musically, even adding our newest member, Tamika, as our second vocal.
While not the best quality, I hope these two videos give a little insight into the songwriting process and how songs often evolve from a simple refrain into a finished piece, and how the original idea mutates throughout the process to include other elements unforeseen at the moment of inspiration.
And by the way, we look all goofy in the video below because this was a Halloween show, and we dressed as the Addams Family. (Trust me, it looked a lot better if you were at the show, with a couple of drinks in you.)
