Presentation of the music score At The Corner
Music Reports from JM Musique of the pop rock instrumental track composed by Jeff Maheux.
Hello music lover,
This new series of articles on the presentation and production of musical scores and songs brings together the works of Jeff Maheux as a songwriter and W+M publishing.
The reports highlight the history of the texts and the composition of the melodies, the studio experience and the progress of the recording of the tracks, the progress of the mixing and the production of the vocal tracks and the possibilities of stage interpretation and promotion.
Have fun listening and reading.
At the Corner
Words and music by Jeff Maheux. Guitars by Angelo Labbate. Productions ©JM2001-24.
The Notes from the Writing Book
A street text
Several songs and music were composed when I arrived in the city of Montréal in the mid-90s. The text that I called At the Corner, as well as Credits which you will discover later this year, speaks of the underprivileged environment of the gay community, bars and the end of raves and the world of drugs and prostitution and the daily challenges of surviving through this environment.
It was also a time when I was learning English, both in the professional world and the English you hear in the streets at 3 a.m.
Composition and instrumentation
Both verses include expressions with several meanings. This slightly represents the means of appointment and other phrases often heard in the world of illicit orders. These musical portions have a reggae influence.
The choruses contrast with percussion and choirs representing a perception seen from the outside. It was my way of externalizing my emotions about situations that I discovered in a new environment.
The text ends with a 16-line spoken text. This is influenced by the musical composition movement of the ’90s which includes a spoken or rap part in the middle or end of the composition. This opens up the possibility of singing the song as a duet, of incorporating it in half measure or as an ad lib sung during choruses or making effects, as David Bowie often did. Another example is the song All I Really Want by Alanis Morissette, with the muted spoken track wandering from left to right during the chorus. This song, by the way, what a masterpiece opening a magnificent album!
Production
Like the idea of the texts which comes from several writings, the music of At the Corner is also mounted on a mix of two unused scores, including a piece without a very rock chorus which is entitled Mr. HotWater, story of a multi-woman dater.
The music for the introduction and verses was composed with a guitar on a slow rhythm. It has been modified to adjust to production. Angelo Labbate played the final tracks, acoustic and electric.
The music for the verses and the ending was composed on the piano. A solo piano interlude was also recorded, as At the Corner is an opening of a project, album or concert and the interlude serves as the concluding piece of the project. So, in repeat mode, the conclusion becomes the intro to track 1 of the CDs, for example.
RIP Beautiful Wall Mural
The visual used to illustrate this article and the song At the Corner comes from the facade of an abandoned garage when I lived in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montréal, in 2016. The building has since been destroyed, and the mural no longer exists.
It reminds me of the moment of writing the lyrics and the two young men of Indigenous nations of Québec who prostituted in the bar scene in the gay village. They always kept themselves apart from the others from this community because of their different origins. They slept in parks and saunas. They had no support. I don’t know what happened to them. Bless.
At the Corner
Words and music by Jeff Maheux
At the corner,
There are people begging for change, there are people begging for food at the corner
Living with a couple of dimes, no longer hungry, you get used to at the corner.
Some get high and get down, so to go higher they get downward to be high
Kid on the go, kid on the run, a bench is home until rains fall! We knew it all at the corner.
It’s how we live, it’s how we grow.
It’s who you see, it’s what you really are.
and what we do to make it work and how we learned to survive at the corner
There are some guys looking for something. They all did. Always did.
There are some girls looking for something. They all did. What you did.
The day is long, the night is young
the place is calm to fool around a couple minutes on the back seat of the car
The night is wild now the stage is yours
The private sessions on the first floor, a kind of advance, oh! what an honour!
It’s how we live, it’s how we grow.
It’s who you see, it’s what you really are.
and what we do to make it work and how we learned to survive at the corner
There are some guys looking for something. They all did. Always did.
There are some girls looking for something. They all did. What you did.
They all did, we all did, we’re all looking for something.
We all did, we all did, we’re all looking for something.
It’s so easy to get influenced
By the guy with a good face and a nice jacket
instead of listening to the words he says
you fall for an image and you’re falling bad
The metaphor of life can be complicated
You never thought it would be happening to you
Of course, you are stronger than anyone else
And it knocks you on the back and you are on your knees.
I saw you waiting in front of the candy store
Looking around for somebody, you don’t seem important to.
I know those freakin moments there’s not enough change.
The only thing making a difference is not there with you.
Time is stronger than anything you will take
It is just passing by and not waiting for you.
You’ll find out soon or later all the time you missed.
And get out of this corner, it’s not a place for you!
4/12/2001.
Conclusion
Thank you for reading and listening!
Jeff
Image credits, music and copyright: jeffMaheux
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