Paul Smith-Jenny Walcott-Bret Alexander

HAPPY HOME (listen to MP3 sample)

THE SONG
This one was written entirely in the studio. No ideas going in at all. The idea behind "Happy Home" is basically, "Where do angry young men go when they grow up?" That stage between angry young man and grumpy old man. I wrote another song on the subject called "Cody" that The Badlees put on a compilation. Not much happened with that tune, though. A few people thought it was about Kathy Lee Gifford's kid. Which goes to show you most people don't even try to get it………I guess this song sounds sort of Republican. As I get older, I get less sympathetic. Too many Ayn Rand books maybe. But I don't think so. If you want to invest in something, invest in victimization. It's the fastest growing industry in the U.S.

THE RECORDING
This one is a little more involved than some of the others. I love Paul McCartney's Vaudvillian style tunes like "Honey Pie" and "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", so we did "Happy Home" in that vein but with more rock. It's pretty blatantly Beatle-esque. The keyboard sound in the verses is one of those kiddie Casio things with the built-in speakers. Kind of a cartoony sounding. The solo is just me going off with no regard to the tune. Paul and I were screwing around with some extreme guitar sounds and just hit record. It made us laugh, so we kept it.


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