"Loretta" is about my go-to Fender Telecaster electric guitar that I named Loretta the day I bought it in July of 2005. I wrote the music for "Loretta" on January 5, 2014. The song idea was greatly inspired by Green Day's "F*ck Time". That tune had come out a year earlier, and I loved the natural rock and roll sound to it. The rhythm of the guitar riffs between "Loretta" and "F*ck Time" are very similar, but I switched it up on "Loretta". So that it's playing a variety of different note combinations, while "F*ck Time" repeats the same phrases on it's guitar riffs.
"Loretta" was originally called "Sunrise" when I wrote lyrics for the song on July 8, 2014. There were initially lyrics during the guitar riffs. Words that followed the same notes as the guitar. While I had a bunch of new material written at the time, I started recording Plaid On Flannel's 3rd album Primitive Normative on August 31, 2014. I produced 5 other songs for the album before I began recording what would become "Loretta" on February 16, 2015. At that point, the song was still called "Sunrise" from the lyrics I had written the previous summer. But I knew I would re-write the lyrics as I wasn't pleased with what I wrote for "Sunrise". Then it dawned on me that 2015 was the 10-year anniversary of me buying my brand new Fender Deluxe Ash Telecaster in 2005 from Ed's Music in Peterborough. I was obsessed with the Beatles and the Stones in 2005. Keith Richards made me want to get a Telecaster. George Harrison performing with the Beatles for the last time on the rooftop playing a Telecaster made me want to get one. In fact, I named the guitar after the line "Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman" from the Beatles' song "Get Back". I also named the guitar Loretta after Cleveland's wife from Family Guy, which was a popular cartoon in those days.
The lyrics for "Loretta" were written on February 19, 2015. Although the song is about my beloved guitar, I wrote lyrics that make it seem like it's about a woman. "American girl of my own. And since the age of 17, I'm glad I could give her a home." Those words were a tip of the cap to Tom Petty. The first line is obviously a reference to the Tom Petty song "American Girl". But the second line is a reference to the Stevie Nicks tune "Edge Of Seventeen". Which was inspired by Tom Petty's wife telling Stevie Nicks that her and Tom had been together since the "age of 17". Petty's wife's southern accent made it sound like "edge of 17".
I cannot overstate the importance my guitar Loretta has had on my life. I've played it so much in my time as a musician. But the song "Loretta" is really about my love for music in general and all it's done for me in my life. To illustrate this, I used audio clips of Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2012. What he said in his speech resonated so much with me, that I had to include it on this song. I finished recording "Loretta" on February 22, 2015. And of course, I recorded the song with my guitar Loretta. I've never played "Loretta" with a band, but I just might try it out with some personnel someday.
lyrics
Words and music by Nolan Randall & Michael Balzary
"When we're hittin' it. When we're on.
When we are really inside the groove. I'm lost, man"
Yeah, I'm goin' home to Loretta
We've been kept apart for too long
I need to give her attention
So she can help me sing my song
"The burning, intense desire
that is inside of me to play music.
That has only deepened as time has gone on.
That has not diminished in the slightest."
I'm goin' home to Loretta
She knows how to take me away
We can't deny our attraction
I need her so bad everyday
Fulfill my destiny, Loretta holds the key
And after all this time, she'll still be mine
"And all the great rockers that have come before us,
it means everything in the world to me
to honour that tradition."
Yeah, I'm goin' home to Loretta
American girl of my own
And since the age of seventeen
I'm glad I could give her a home, home sweet home
Fulfill my destiny, Loretta comes to me
Better than all the rest, I feel it in my chest
Fulfill my destiny, Loretta will agree
That we were meant to be, a guarantee
"I love music, I love to play.
It's given me everything. It's given me a reason.
It's saved me a million times.
Thank you so much, humbly."
credits
from Vol. III: Primitive Normative,
released December 31, 2015
* Audio track features Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 14, 2012.
Plaid On Flannel is an alternative indie blues rock act from Toronto, Canada. With 80+ original songs recorded since 2011,
singer-songwriter Nolan Randall has remained the sole constant member of the band. POF's music is known for guitar riffs/solos, memorable hooks, catchy melodies/harmonies, evocative lyrics, & superb musicianship. While keeping a focus on originality and songwriting quality....more
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