This song is about negative self-talk. If you’re your own harshest critic then you’re probably often wrong. That’s a message I could really do better about sinking into my head because I’m very hard on myself in pretty much every aspect of my life — work, family, creativity, the list goes on — and I guess I wrote it as a reminder about maintaining perspective.
This one used a recording setup than usual — I have a Zoom recorder with a stereo XY pair, and I used that for the ukulele and the Hohner. I also recorded the vocals using the same recorder. The piano part is actually played on a tiny Akai MIDI keyboard I have, as is the lead instrumental line. There’s only 2 octaves on that sucker, so I had to transpose from the song’s key of Bb down a tritone to E so that I could play the little mixolydian chorus bit with two hands. I also used that keyboard to input the 808 kick and snare heard in the song. I think this song would benefit from an upright bass, but I don’t have one of those (and couldn’t play it, even if I had one lying around).
Lyrics
There’s no need for arguing
There’s no reason for having a fight
I’m the wrongest man who ever lived
Always left and never right
See the wrong manI disappoint like it gives me life
And in a way, I suppose it does
‘Cause it’s all going downhill from here
Never have to beat the man I was
See the wrong manThey don’t make fuck-ups like me
When I came out they broke the mold
Unfit, unwell, unseen, unloved
Invisible, miserable, and cold
See the wrong man