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When Will Everything Begin?

from Vol. I: Fairbairn Meadows by Plaid On Flannel

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*Song Description By Noles*

I wrote "When Will Everything Begin?" on November 3, 2010 with the original title "Debutante". The title was changed when I made some lyrical edits while beginning the production of Plaid On Flannel's debut album the next year. When I initially wrote the song, I knew it would have a reggae-ska kind of style like Sublime or No Doubt. With the guitar playing on the off-beats.

The lyrics for "When Will Everything Begin?" are rather indirect and random. But the song ultimately has everyday life lyrics, with the need to start a new chapter on life's journey. I think this was because I hadn't recorded an album yet, and I really wanted to get started. College slowed me down when it came to that. So "When Will Everything Begin?" was more or less a cry for help to get my music career underway. As I was not financially stable in those days. Some of the lyrics for "When Will Everything Begin?" are based on occurrences that happened to me the week I wrote the tune. The guy named Jack from the line "Told my friend Jack on a weekday" was a contractor that was working on something in my house during that time. He wasn't even my friend. Lmao The line "So many at bats for Aubrey Huff" is about the veteran baseball player who had just won a World Series with the San Fransisco Giants. There was a statistic about how many at bats Aubrey Huff had before being on a playoff team in the MLB. In his 11th season, it was a lot! His team won the World Series a couple of days before I wrote "When Will Everything Begin?". Later that month, I came up with the name Plaid On Flannel. But that's not quite when everything began.

Everything began on September 3, 2011 when I started production for Plaid On Flannel's debut album Fairbairn Meadows. Of course, the 1st song I recorded was "When Will Everything Begin?". The tune has several lead guitar fills and a guitar solo outro that's over a minute long. The beginning of this solo is an homage to Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er" from their 1973 album Houses Of The Holy. At the start of the guitar solo from "When Will Everything Begin?", I basically play the same melody as the verses from "D'yer Mak'er". But there's a 2nd lead guitar that comes in and improvises new parts. My tip of the cap to Led Zeppelin was based on the fact that "D'yer Maker" is also a reggae song. I used a MIDI software instrument horn section for the choruses of "When Will Everything Begin?" to give it more of a reggae feel.

I finished recording "When Will Everything Begin?" on September 18, 2011. 11 songs later, the Fairbairn Meadows album was released on July 1, 2012. I've never played "When Will Everything Begin?" with a band or even as a solo acoustic act. Like many other tunes from Fairbairn Meadows, "When Will Everything Begin?" was an experiment to find out what "the Plaid On Flannel sound" was going to be. Which is why I retired a lot of the songs from the early days when I established the alternative indie blues rock sound of Plaid On Flannel. But "When Will Everything Begin?" will always live on as track 10 from Plaid On Flannel's debut album Fairbairn Meadows. And it's the tune that officially started Plaid On Flannel in the beginning.

lyrics

Words and music by Nolan Randall

Stepped into town about yesterday
Ran outta decent songs to play
Found my way back on the freeway
Told my friend Jack on a weekday
This ain't a decent place to play
Never thought it would be so tough
So many at bats for Aubrey Huff
People are strange on the weekends
Trying to change all my weak friends
I wouldn't live without my stuff

I got a strange feeling that won't ever go away
As far as I go, it seems that it is here to say
Writing a sentence without the right words to say
It's not okay

It's time to break free from the walls that keep us in
I'm getting rusty from my heart that's made of tin
Lost in the cold, and I found my buddy
Does what he's told, and his feet are muddy
When will everything begin?

Got a new car, it's breaking down
Stuck inside this limited town
It takes too long if I only
Write a new song for the lonely
Maybe I'll find another sound

I got a strange feeling that won't ever go away
As far as I go, it seems that it is here to say
Writing a sentence without the right words to say
It's not okay

It's time to break free from the walls that keep us in
I'm getting rusty from my heart that's made of tin
Lost in the cold, and I found my buddy
Does what he's told, and his feet are muddy
When will everything begin?

credits

from Vol. I: Fairbairn Meadows, released June 29, 2012

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Plaid On Flannel Toronto, Ontario

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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