Pretty Complicated

In de basis is dit een uit de hand gelopen rijm-oefening, die is uitgemond in een luchtig popliedje. Het gaat over een relatie tussen twee mensen die, ja, ingewikkeld is. Verliefd, verlangen, duwen, trekken, moeilijk doen. Alles was je in films tegen komt, en als je je vrioenden in de kroeg mag geloven, het leven van ons allemaal. Ik heb veel inspiratie gehaald uit de uitmuntende complexiteit die mensen in romkoms over zich afroepen.

Oorspronkelijk was dit echter een cover van John Mayer’s “Daughters”, zoals ik die op de radio hoorde, uitgevoerd door de Nederlandse band Valerius. Aanstekelijke groove, uptempo. Gewoon gaaf. Omdat wij de Try! versie van dat nummer toch al op ons repertoire hadden, was het gemakkelijk om die switch te maken, en daar waren wij best tevreden mee. Alleen onze dames niet. Zij wisten ons zonder veel overmatige dwangmiddelen duidelijk te maken dat we dat DUS ECHT NIET KONDEN MAKEN om zo’n mooi en gevoelig liedje OM ZEEP TE HELPEN met een uptempo stuiterbeat! EG NIE!
Wat nu? We hielden de groove, jatten een paar van de originele akkoorden en maakten ons eigen liedje. Klaar! Iedereen blij!

Mocht dit een blatende hit worden, dan sturen we meneer Mayer wel een briefje. Uit respect voor het effect dat hij op (onze) vrouwen heeft.

Luister dit nummer op Spotify of Youtube:

Essentially an exercise in rhyme in a pop format, this is more of a light-hearted song about a interhuman relationship that’s, well, complicated. Loving, longing, pushing, pulling, the kind of stuff the movies are full of, and if you believe your friends in the pub, everybody’s lives too. In fact, the interhuman complexity I often find in romantic comedy movies was much of an inspiration here.

The origin of this song was a version of John Mayer’s “Daughters”, covered by the Dutch band Valerius. They transformed the original acoustic ballad into an upbeat jumpy pop song, which we thought was kind of nice. Since we had the original (in the Try! version) in our repertoire, we could easily adjust it, and we were quite happy with the result. That is, until our spouses heard the recordings and convinced us in no time that it was absolutely OUT OF THE QUESTION to RUIN such an emotional, intense, true and authentic song. NO WAY! Hm. What to do? We kept the groove, we stole some of the chords and made a song of our own. It worked, everybody was happy!

In the guitar solo I pay homage to Mr. Mayer, quoting his intro theme. If this record ever goes big, we’ll send him a thank-you note, of course. For inspiration and out of respect for the overwhelming effect he has on (our) women.

Back to Square One (Album pagina)

 

Lyrics

She was pretty, complicated
Left me nothing but confused
and every now and then frustrated
as if my love had been refused

The first time that we dated
It wasn’t very hard to see
She was way sophisticated
She didn’t really fit with me

Pretty complicated
There ain’t no reason or no rhyme
But it felt like we were fated
To be together for all time

In the beginning I just waited
As different as we were
But the sparks that we created
Kept me turning back to her

Expectations underrated
Cause we related from the start
And I don’t exaggerate it
We are connected heart to heart

Pretty complicated
There ain’t no reason or no rhyme
Her love is much appreciated
We’ll be together for all time

When I’m floating, she brings me to my feet
When I’m down and out, she draws me in between her sheets
When I stand too tall, she brings me to my knees

When she’s restless, I draw her close to me
When I’m a pain is the ass, she kicks me out into the street
When we’re happy, we’re bound to disagree

Pretty complicated
But in the end she makes me smile
Her love is highly underrated
She makes me go the extra mile

Pretty complicated
There ain’t no reason or no rhyme
Her love is much appreciated
We’ll be together for all time

 

Credits

Music & lyrics by JeeWee Donkers

JeeWee Donkers: vocals, acoustic & electric guitars
Peter Holen: keyboards
Rob Weenink: bass guitar
Frank Schuuring: drums