Phoning It In. I’ve always loved the phrase and I was just inspired to write a song with it. To keep in spirit with the title of the song, I made sure not to try too hard on any one element. I wrote the riff quickly, wrote the lyrics quickly, we got the guitar sound quickly, and there was no overthinking or really changing anything. My only complaint about it is that I think it is a little too fast, so it forces me to sing harder to keep up, and it doesn’t fully sound like I’m phoning in the vocals. So I thought about slowing it down and delivering a more laid back vocal take. Just ever so slightly. I played the guitar, sang, No bass yet. Doug programmed the drums. Every once in a while we will have someone play drums on the songs, but usually only when we are finishing something for release. Otherwise, all the drums in the demos are programmed by Doug, and I think he does a really good job of making them sound kind of real and natural. I get attached to them. All of Hesitant Alien started as demos with programmed drums by Doug. He and I have a cool relationship, and have evolved together over the years since he engineered Black Parade, Danger Days, and engineered and produced Hesitant Alien. We work in the same space, the studio at my house, called Milk Friends. I just let him have the space I’m not using and he brought in all of his gear and works on various projects, recording, and mixes, and I would be in the other room, the office, writing comics. And every so often, when neither of us is too busy, we record things. I like sharing artistic spaces with people, especially Doug. It’s nice to have a friend that can record you when you have an idea, because I’m terrible at recording and I barely even know how to use Garage Band. So all the singles you have gotten from me over the last couple of years have been done with Doug and I, and then various musicians who would replace certain things, making them real, and sound better.
https://soundcloud.com/gerardway/phoning-it-in
Phoning It In
Some folks make hasty decisions
They live their life on the go
I can’t be bothered to give a damn bout anything and
Some people say I’m a pro
You’re busy climbing the ladder
I’m busy lying in bed
It doesn’t matter if anybody calls me names and
I’m gonna fuck off instead
Because
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
Don’t care just phone it in
Get bored just phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
You busy yourself with fashion
I busy myself with fun
I’m busy painting these mini metal skeletons and
You say I’m dressed like a bum
You say that you’ve got a passion
About what you’ve gotta do
You say you can’t wait to buckle down and start your day and
I’m less excited than you
Because
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
Don’t care just phone it in
Get bored just phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We are the ones
The ones who never give a damn
We are the ones
Without even a basic plan
Out in the sun
We are the ones enjoying it
You work too hard
I quit
I quit
I quit
I quit and
I’m tired of people complaining
My best is not good enough
I’m only doing the minimum to get me through and
If you don’t like it then tough
Because
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
Want pizza phone it in
Hate work just phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in
We’re gonna phone it in