Hi!
While I was recording the first full-length Up n Adam album,
Hugs, during the Summer of 2015, a friend of mine asked me to do a post giving
a track-by-track explanation of the meanings or inspiration behind each of the
songs. Of course I agreed to it, since I love talking about myself (and the
things I make), but I also love when bands I admire do such explanations as
well. I couldn’t say no at the chance to do one myself!
Now, if you’re a person who wants songs to speak for
themselves and have no interest in the artistic intention behind them (even
though these are just silly pop songs after all), then feel free to stop
reading now. But for those of you who want to know where the idea for a song
about a non-lethal bomb came from, who I’m singing about during which song, or why
a grown man wrote anything with the word “noms” in the title, settle in,
because here is my track-by-track explanation of my debut album, Hugs.
1. Hug
The intro to the album had actually been written long before
I even learned how to play ukulele. When Up n Adam began, I originally
envisioned it as an electronics-only project, a la old Hellogoodbye without the
real drums or guitars, and no songs over three minutes in length. Just twee as
all get out, and all electronic sounds. I absolutely love electronic music and
the way it can feel so organic despite being…well, not…and my lyricism has
always leaned toward pop music plastic with punky little hooks unashamedly
inspired by Relient K. So anyway, this introduction came about when I was
playing with the melody for “Hi,” which was the introduction on my first
release, the Cartoon Heart EP. I knew I wanted my first album to be called Hugs
for years. Like, actual years. The sound clip (from the movie Adam, no less)
was there as soon as I recorded this song, and instantly relevant to what I
wanted for the full-length. I love how this intro turned out. So much so that I
hadn’t changed it since I recorded it three years prior.
2. Love Bomb
This was one of the last songs written for the record. I had
gotten really into Weezer’s Pinkerton album (as all musicians do at some
point?) at the time, and wanted to write a song that sounded like a Weezer
song: a basic chord progression and lyrics about loneliness that weren’t entirely
sad. I was also incredibly single at the time and couldn’t help but feel like
all of my affection was bottled up, ready to explode all over the next person
who so much as tried to hold my hand. Hence, a love bomb. I’m not completely
happy with the recording, mostly due to my lack of electronic music resources
(that electronic bridge was gonna be soooooo rad) so it honestly feels more
like a demo than a finished song, but what’s done is done. I still dig it, and
I think it kicks off the album nicely.
3. Dragon Noms
This here is the first Up n Adam song I ever wrote (besides
the aforementioned “Hi”) and I still love it so much. I love the beat, I love
the sounds, and I love the lyrics (even though the word “noms” is absolutely
cringe-worthy most of the time). I’ve always been enamored with the “princess
in a tower, saved by a knight” cliché, and even though the concept of a woman
needing to be saved by a man is not only outdated but flat-out sexist, I can’t
shake how much I love those old stories of the knight fighting a dragon for the
heart of a lady. So I wrote a song about it. But the catch here is that the
narrator (well, okay, me) isn’t some attractive, strong knight, but rather just
a dorky dude who doesn’t want to fight. He’s gonna try to be nice to the dragon
and see if he can go introduce himself to the princess, who might not even be
trapped! She could just be hanging out up there because she wants to be, or
maybe she’s studying to be a doctor or something. But maybe she IS being held
there against her will! Here’s something crazy though: I recently realized the
song can be read with a feminist interpretation where the dragon is actually
the face the girl puts on to protect her real self (the princess in the tower)
from the people who want to hurt her, oppress her, or use her. The way to
connect with a guarded person is to be unguarded yourself, and be genuine in
your intentions without ulterior motives. In this case, the way to connect with
someone who has a guard up for protection is to lay down your sword (yay,
pacifism!) and simply be real with that person. Because although the lyrics say
the narrator adores the girl, it doesn’t technically say his intention is to
become romantically involved her. So really it’s up to you if he’s a pansy
knight trying to win the heart of a trapped princess (my original intention),
or just a normal dude wanting to talk to a lady who (for good reason) is
protecting herself from the scummy men of the earth. But anyway, that’s just me
reading too much into my own stuff. How self-absorbed can I get? Keep reading
to find out!
4. My Type
The idea for this song came from years of people telling me
I have a type. You know, a “type” of girl I am attracted to more than other “types”
of girls. That type is usually as follows: dark hair, big eyes, kinda short and
small with an “cutesy” vibe in fashion and a personality as sweet as sugar. I
also got super “into” bangs for a while. Like, think Zooey Deschanel circa 2009
but not nearly as “put together.” She is also “artsy” and likes music and
movies, and maybe even makes her own. So this song was going to be about that,
but as I wrote it, I realized something that I knew all along: types are a
seriously unhealthy way of categorizing people. It ignores the “why” when it
comes to these attributes. It takes away the “I do my hair like this because I
like it this way” or “I can’t help that my eyes are this big” or “I like the
music I like because my personal life can relate to it” and replaces it with
selfish objectification. People aren’t meant to be put in boxes, especially
people you know personally and intimately. So I revamped the song to make it
robotic, like a girl was being made on an assembly line in my head, just for
me. To be the girl I wanted, exactly how I wanted, instead of the person she
may actually be. Which is just the worst. It’s probably the “darkest” song on
the album, but I thought it had important things to say. Plus I love that
“BAAAANNNGGGSSSS” harmony part.
5. The Ice Cream Song
(Mushy Mush)
In the Winter/Spring of 2013 (I think?), my brother showed
me how to play three chords on the ukulele, and I ran with it. I got a uke for
my birthday that year, but I borrowed his ukulele for far too long, and played
it constantly. I taught myself more chords, and the next thing I knew, I was
writing my first original song on the ukulele. This was that song. It’s a grand
total of three chords, has a frantic strumming pattern, and is about as easy
and poppy as you can get. It’s evolved a bit since I first learned it (there’s
a YouTube video floating around of me playing it around that time…) but it
remains a staple in the Up n Adam catalog. It’s cute, it’s easy, and it’s
catchy. One of my favorite songs I’ve ever written.
6. Summer Smiles
Speaking of favorite songs I’ve ever written, “Summer
Smiles” is arguably the best ukulele-driven song on the album. My brother
compared it to The Beatles (which is, obviously, impossible…but thank you,
Nick) and I knew I had something special. The version on the album is, in my
opinion, the best recording of it by far, and I still find myself humming along
to it every once in a while.
7. Everything Sucks
(Except You)
Okay. I know this is probably the one you want to know the
background for the most, and you won’t be disappointed. Or maybe you will. I
dunno. Anyway, back in high school, my brother Nick and I were in a band
together—an acoustic-punk duo. We released two EP’s, played a few shows, and
basically just had an awesome time. It was around this time the idea for a solo
project (which eventually became Up n Adam) was born, but I was going to only
use my voice because I couldn’t play any instruments besides a little bit of
bass guitar, and no one wants to hear a bad singer over a lonely bass guitar.
Woof. So one day after school, I went downstairs and threw this song together,
thinking it was hilarious. That terrible high school version is long since
gone, but I never forgot how it went, and I knew that it would eventually make
a comeback. And now, it has a home on my debut album. So what’s a bit of a joke
song is actually a little treat to myself for not giving up on the dream of
putting out a solo pop record. Disappointed? I hope not!
8. Long Distance
Relationships Are Only Romantic on the Outside
Long distance relationships are the worst. We all know this.
You like a person, but they live far away, and now you’re stuck in the “wait, I
like them but can’t see them?!” limbo for hopefully not an indefinite amount of
time. I wrote the lyrics for this song when I was in my second ever Serious Relationship,
with a girl who went to the same college as I did, but had to go home for the
Summer. It was a bummer, but it wasn’t indefinite. However, when I started
writing the lyrics, all of the references and inspiration ended up coming from
my first real relationship, which was entirely long distance. Despite both of
these relationships ending, the feeling of how long distance relationships are
incredibly difficult was still relevant in my long stint of singleness, so much
so that I knew I still wanted to write this song and put it on the album. The
bridge contains lyrics by Death Cab For Cutie, in case you didn’t know, from
their album called Transatlanticism, which, if you haven’t heard it, is one of
the greatest albums of music ever created, and you need to go listen to it
right this instant if you haven’t yet. Seriously. Spotify or YouTube or buy or
whatever it. Now. It also contains a few references to the difficulty of
relationship separation, so it seemed all too relevant to add to the song. I’m
definitely not the person to ask for encouragement if you’re in a long distance
relationship due to my rocky history with them, but I will say this: as long as
you’re happy, distance can suck a big, fat one.
9. Romero + Juliet
The living dead have had a weird spike in popularity since
2004’s release of Zack Snyder’s remake of Dawn of the Dead. It was around that
time that I dove into horror movies pretty hard, and they still hold a special
place in my heart, but during that time, no monster or murderer could hold a
candle to the recently revived cannibalistic dead. There’s a pretty great
zombie love song called “George Romero Will Be At Our Wedding” by a band called
Showbread, as well as a slew of horror songs by another band called Harley Poe,
all of which influenced the creation of this song. And it goes without saying
that the Grandfather of Ghouls himself, George A. Romero, is the ultimate
source of inspiration for this song. (Roam In Peace, George. Thank you.)
However, the AMC show The Walking Dead did not influence this song at all,
because it’s terrible. Anyway, I like this song and it was fun to do all the
moaning parts. I needed to have a little splatter of horror on the album, and
this one does just—ah! Look out behind you!!
10. Summer Sendoff
If the majority of the album feels like Summer, this song is
the part where that motif wraps up. I wrote this song when I lived in Kalamazoo
a few months before I moved to Grand Rapids, and it was inspired by a few
friends I had there that I realized I wouldn’t be seeing for a while, so I
wanted to see them as much as I could before I left. It’s still a happy song,
but there’s a chilly Autumn air of sadness that blows through it and welcomes
the coming coziness of Fall’s changes. The talking sounds and such that you
hear were secretly recorded at my friends Zach and Colby’s wedding when we were
all sitting around the fire talking and having fun. I’m not even sure if they
know I put all of this on here…but it’s too late to ask for permission now.
Anyway, I really like how this one turned out and sort of calms the album down
for the final two tracks.
11. Cartoon Heart
If any song on this album represents what I originally
intended for the deeper parts of Up n Adam as a project, it’s this one. Cartoon
Heart is entirely electronic, “sprawling” into four-minute territory, with cozy
lyrics about unconditional love and acceptance while still being cutesy. I love
this song so much. It is, without a doubt, one of the best songs on the record
and a staple in my music making catalog so far. This is the one that I hear the
most people say “oh, this part makes me cry” or “this part makes me feel so
warm,” and those are the best things to hear for this song. This is also where
the electronics stop for the album, making it the synth-y climax of the
“tronica” part of ukulelectronica. One day, I hope to put out a record entirely
made up of songs like this one. Until then, I’ll give this another listen.
12. Hugs
Album closers can be difficult; you have to sum up the
entire record in one song, leaving the listener satisfied and yet wanting to
come back for another go ‘round. My original intent was a massive, stupid
12-minute beast of a closer about everyone hugging each other in some huge
world peace thing. Obviously that’s dumb (as a song, not an idea…because yay
for world peace!), so I scrapped it, stripped it down to only ukulele, and made
it about a simple hug and four words that can make the biggest difference:
everything will be okay.
-
Wow. That was long. Congratulations if you read the whole
thing! If you did, let me know and I’ll give you a hug or a high five or
something.
And obviously if you haven’t heard or don’t own Hugs, it can
be purchased digitally on Bandcamp, or you can get a hand-made CD version of
the album if you come to a show! There’s a Deluxe version and a regular ol’
version too! And I have stickers and magnets and posters! Yay!
Here are all of the links for Up n Adam’s online stuff:
Bandcamp: upnadam.bandcamp.com
Facebook: Up n Adam
Twitter: @upnadammusic
Instagram: upnadammusic
Thank you for giving any of this the time of day, the
attention of ear, or the openness of heart. It means more than this silly boy
with a uke and a keyboard can say.
lovelovelove,
Adam
