F Posterity, issue 50: "Persistence of Regret"

Since I'm on the collabo-tip with the last track, I'm throwing up a song that's been about a year in the writing and is really an Analog Jetpack song. At band practice in early June last year, we put together three entirely new songs, which included We The Freaks, Tenuous Confessions, and this one. Robby had written the music a while before that, and had it waiting around to do something with, so he taught it to us that night.

I like recording things on cassette tape, as it give you that warm analog sound, and we recorded the rehearsal for future reference on the new songs. The tape deck is the same one I recorded my third album with, and you can see a Photoshopped version of it at analogjetpack.com. I don't think I've changed the batteries in about two years.

So one thing that sounds really bad is when you have an old source tape off of a crude demo and you try to record some pristine, hot-mic overdub on it. You just can't reconcile the two fidelities well, unless you're really going for an arty sound that's inaccessible to the mass public. Which, incidentally, is probably something I'd be more into. As I just finished the lyrics this week, I needed to match the sound of the instrumental we taped last June, so I recorded my vocal overdub into the same tape deck yesterday and synced them both up in ProTools. Finally, I laid the guitar solo in.

The base instrumental you hear is the first time we'd ever played the song through, and it's one of my favorite recordings. There's something super authentic about the first time you capture a song on tape that'll never quite be matched by a studio recording. It's something more real and alive then the fine-tuned pin-drop sound of a commercial record. Since I don't know when we'll get around to giving this song that treatment, I wanted to share it here.

Persistence of Regret

It was a gray day, persistent in regret
When I drove away with the image in my head
Her twisted face, mirrored back at mine
With this atavistic rage stuck in space and time

What a failure I fight not to feel
For all the time I gave her, now I shrink and steal away
But distance isn't distance isn't distance to the pain
Put a thousand miles between and it's still right where it came

To be alone with no one but no one and nobody else
To be alone with no one and no one to see for myself

So time will pass but it doesn't disappear
Rage cools into ashes and still the pain is here
So if that's what comes back, persistence in regret
Just need to learn again what it is to forget

To be alone with no one but no one and nobody else
To be alone with no one and no one to see for myself

Download mp3s below by right-clicking on the links.

F Posterity, 2006
52. F Posterity (Getzschman) - May 16, 2007
51. Crazy (Burton/Callaway/Reverberi/Reverberi) - May 9, 2007
50. Persistence of Regret (Getzschman/Ryan/Sahm) - May 2, 2007
49. Breakin' Plates (Getzschman/Ruthsatz) - April 26, 2007
48. Trio for Vocal, Metronome, Wurlitzer (Getzschman) - April 18, 2007
47. She Hates It When I'm Right (Getzschman) - April 11, 2007
46. Beat It (Jackson) - April 4, 2007
45. Mass Ave Strut (Getzschman) - March 28, 2007
44. Let's Fall Asleep Like This (Getzschman) - March 21, 2007
43. 2010 Ain't What They Said It Would Be (Getzschman) - March 14, 2007
42. Three Red Stars (Getzschman) - March 7, 2007
41. Birdhouse In Your Soul (Flansburgh/Linnell) - February 28, 2007
40. Everybody Thinks They're Self-Aware (Getzschman) - February 21, 2007
39. Hysterical Woman (Getzschman) - February 14, 2007
38. Hollaback Savior (Getzschman) - February 7, 2007
37. White Collar (old Philly dollar) (Getzschman) - January 31, 2007
36. Bottle of Blues (B. Hansen) - January 24, 2007
35. Ask Somebody (Getzschman) - January 17, 2007
34. All Time High Score (Getzschman) - January 10, 2007
33. Bury Me In My Jetpack (Getzschman) - January 3, 2007
32. Eggnogg Is The Liquor Of This Household (Getzschman) - December 27, 2006
31. Like Spinning Plates (T.Yorke/J.Greenwood) - December 20, 2006
30. Jack or Jesus (Getzschman/Peterson) - December 13, 2006
29. Runes (Getzschman) - December 6, 2006
28. We Leave Just Like We Come (Getzschman) - November 29, 2006
27. Shampoo! (Getzschman) - November 22, 2006
26. Tomorrow Is A Long Time (Dylan) - November 15, 2006
25. Was That Seriously Your Plan? (Getzschman) - November 8, 2006
24. Understated Explosions (Getzschman) - November 1, 2006
23. Everything Sounds Better On Vinyl (Getzschman) - October 25, 2006
22. Take Heart (Getzschman) - October 18, 2006
21. Pigs (L. Freese, S. Reyes, L. Muggerud) - October 11, 2006
20. Upstart Casualties (Getzschman) - October 4, 2006
19. Troubling (Getzschman) - Sept 27, 2006
18. Tales of Woe (Getzschman/Getzschman/Booth) - Sept 20, 2006
17. Manual Labor Pains (Getzschman) - Sept 13, 2006
16. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Gibbard/Tamborello) - September 6, 2006
15. Postmodern Burlesque Review (Getzschman) - August 30, 2006
14. Neverending Love Affair (Getzschman) - August 23, 2006
13. Living On Credit (Getzschman) - August 16, 2006
12. Broke As A Muhfuh (Getzschman) - August 9, 20006
11. Josie (Becker/Fagan) - August 2, 2006
10. Cold Day at the Races (Getzschman) - July 26, 2006
9. Calaveras (Getzschman) - July 19, 2006
8. Narcissist Blues (Getzschman) - July 12, 2006
7. Advice to a Young Jedi (Getzschman) - July 5, 2006
6. God Only Knows (Wilson/Asher) - June 28, 2006
5. Miracle Hubcap (Getzschman) - June 21, 2006
4. A Paycheck Is All I Ask (Getzschman) - June 14, 2006
3. Halfway (Getzschman) - June 7, 2006
2. Summer Crazy (Getzschman) - May 31, 2006
1. Sunday Street (Van Ronk) - May 26, 2006