Liberty Hell came together pretty quickly because we both had a lot to say about the current state of our world and what it's like living within it.
I remember writing the bridge lyrics quickly and Phil asking me, after hearing them, "Hey, you mad about something?" as he slowly raised one eyebrow, sarcastically.
We made it a point not to take any sides, politically, on this track not because we felt we had to but because the song is about how big business and government has twisted and perverted the system regardless of beliefs or political identity.
It's a mess all right.
Trivia: The name came about when I mentioned the Liberty Bell and Phil misheard me.
Acoustically this was a Barry McGuire inspired protest song with a strange bridge.
We always imagined the bridge as a huge spectacle, with a full marching band playing through as we led them back to the end choruses.
That was a difficult sound to grasp in studio, taking right up until the end to get right.
The marching band part I ended up making adds new instruments every few bars as it builds to a purposefully anticlimactic transition back to the chorus where it marches away.
A drumline part really sells the idea.
When Aaron laid down drums on this song, my mind was blown.
I remember playing it back later and just listening to the drums, and nothing else.
The animalistic toms pounding through a rolling build to the last chorus was fantastic.
This is when I first realized that this album could actually turn out pretty well, if I tried hard enough.
I'd never done this before, and my plan was to just crank out an album quickly, but at the same time I was starting to feel like the weakest link in the chain.
Nobody made me feel that way, it was internal, but I started really trying to improve after this.
I feel we've ended up with a song that's a slow build through rolling hills of simmering and growing anger and frustration with pounding drums running the show.
The intent is exactly as we had originally planned.
This is a protest song for today.
BONUS FACT: Lincoln Trudeau should be in radio.
Liberty Hell
lyrics
You take me for a fool and take the reins to break me, then take the full advantage and take all my money.
You put your puppet on the hill with a passion for the kill.
It's a mess all right.
Oh, trapped inside the shell
Oh, of liberty hell.
We love the entertainment of the death on our screens, and never take the time with open eyes to really see.
Social media schemes feed clickbait dreams.
We're not learning right.
Oh, the media spell
Oh, on liberty hell.
Oh, we ingest what they sell
Oh, to liberty hell.
They've got the cure to beat it, but the secret won't sell.
Got to keep their profit margins flying off the shelves.
They've got pills for you and pills for me.
We're not feeling right.
Oh, the chemical swill
Oh, of liberty hell.
Whoah, oh, we're too high to fail
Oh, in liberty hell.
You give us freedom to be all that we can be, just toe that line and love the right party.
Never rock the boat, do what we're told, while you send away the young on the orders of the old.
We pay in blood to corporate thugs while you pull the rug and push dangerous drugs.
Lied, cheated and stole, all it cost was your soul in trade for mighty dollars backed with real fool's gold.
We starve while you feast free from moral binds.
Consumed by your greed, you're watching the world die.
Oh, don't ask and don't tell
Whoa, oh, in liberty hell.
Whoa, oh, we're all for sale
Whoa, oh, in liberty hell.
Whoa, oh, look how far we fell
Whoa, oh, down to liberty hell.
credits
from Let Me Go,
released March 19, 2024
Written by Jean-Pierre Larda & Phil Short
Vocals/Percussion/Synth - Jean-Pierre K. Larda
Backing Vocals - Cheryl Ireland
Additional Voices - Lincoln Trudeau
Drums - Aaron Spink
Guitars - Sean Roberts
Bass - Alex Paris
Drumline - Jean-Pierre K. Larda/John MacLeod
Produced by Jean-Pierre K. Larda
Additional production by John MacLeod
Recorded at Artist Development Studio, Courtice
Engineered and mixed by Alex Paris
Mastered and additional mixing by John MacLeod at Sweet Daddy Sound, Ajax
Rising Philadelphia band balance oversized pop punk hooks with vivid, intimate lyrics, presenting a raw, honest vision of guitar music. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 30, 2022
