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[Digital Download]
"Extraordinary Dream" is the first single from Plaid On Flannel's fifth full-length album Parkdale Fever. Download the digital single on .mp3 or .wav today!
Personnel includes:
Nolan Randall - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, & Keyboards
Simon Miminis - Drums & Percussion
Produced by Hector Viola & Simon Miminis
Mixed by Josh Bowman @ Bowman Sound
Mastered by Harry Hess @ HBomb Mastering
Music video by Switzer Digital Inc.
Words and music by Nolan Randall
Every day in the neighbourhood, we did everything we could
Far away from the way we stood, we know this ain’t Hollywood
Entertain to carry the load, get salvation a la mode
Cargo on the side of the road, setting what’s been overflowed
Out of control, when it’s sure to take a toll
Extreme extraordinary dream
Supreme imaginary theme, a dream
Ventilate a community, breathing air to some degree
Respirate a society, wake up to reality
Cure the fever that no one knows, wary of the highs and lows
Caution taken until it slows, there’s no telling where it goes
On a patrol, with the order to console
Extreme extraordinary dream, supreme imaginary theme
Extreme extraordinary dream, supreme imaginary theme A dream, a dream, a dream
Extreme extraordinary dream, supreme imaginary theme
Extreme extraordinary dream, supreme imaginary theme A dream, a dream, a dream
© Copyright 2022 Plaid On Flannel
*Song Description By Noles*
"Extraordinary Dream" was written in June of 2020. With the music composed on June 9th and the lyrics written on June 13th. The song was a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the world changed in March of 2020, I had already recorded the bed tracks for 3 new tunes. These songs were made to be included on Plaid On Flannel's 5th full-length album Parkdale Bandits. With about a half-dozen written tunes ready to be recorded next.
At first, the pandemic seemed like it was transitory. Something that would fade away by the time the weather got warmer in 2020. As it turned out, that wasn't the case. Because the world experienced something that had never happened in our lifetimes, that changed my approach on the album I was making. I examined the songs I had already recorded, and tried to figure out where to go from there.
One of the tunes I had already recorded called "All Along" has the opening line, "Ahead is an unknown fever, lurking in the after dark". I had no idea what it meant when I wrote it in 2019. Then suddenly in 2020, that unknown fever became what they called a "coronavirus". Subconsciously, my lyrics seemingly predicted the pandemic. That coincidence really got me thinking. Another song that I had already recorded called "Priscilla" is a true story about me falling for a nurse after I was hospitalized in 2018. Because of the health care theme I had gathered from those tunes, I decided to change the name of the album from Parkdale Bandits to Parkdale Fever.
I changed a lot of the lyrics for the next song I recorded called "Where We Belong". I also recorded another tune that was to not be included on the album. But used as a test song for how the eventual full-length album would be made. While working with other professionals on the music. After I laid down the foundation for those tunes, I threw away the other songs I had ready to record. And decided to write brand new tunes for the new theme on the Parkdale Fever album.
At this point, I was reading my book on blues history. To go back a century and see what life was like for people in the last pandemic. And it turns out, a lot of those legacy blues musicians were poor. Socially at a disadvantage. But because of this, they had a strong connection with their audiences who had been through similar experiences. In the book, they called it "empathizing with the audience". That sincerity made the music more captivating. And provided a deeper connection with the listener.
I would say I'm one of the lucky ones, but I've experienced a fair bit of poverty in my adult life. And I happen to live in a low income neighbourhood. One day in the spring of 2020 when I was sitting by Lake Ontario staring at the water, it all came to me. A concept album themed in pandemic poverty. As inequality becomes more extreme. I had never written a song about being poor in my life, but I was ready to dive into it. I wrote a few mediocre tunes, and then I wrote "Extraordinary Dream".
It took me awhile to come up with the chorus lyrics. I went through so many different phrases until I landed on "Extreme, extraordinary dream". In the song's lyrics, there's a reference to Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" in the line "Get salvation a la mode". Aqualung is a character created by Ian Anderson and his then-wife Jennie Franks in the early 1970s. They were inspired to write it after seeing a photo of a homeless person.
The guitar riff in "Extraordinary Dream" was difficult to come up with. I knew what the chord progression going along with the riff would be. The same chord progression as the choruses. But the arpeggiated notes and positioning was tricky to figure out. By the time I got it down, I knew it was the most appropriate riff for the song.
"Extraordinary Dream" is the first single from Plaid On Flannel's fifth full-length album Parkdale Fever. Download the digital single on .mp3 or .wav today!
Personnel includes:
Nolan Randall - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, & Keyboards
Simon Miminis - Drums & Percussion
Produced by Hector Viola & Simon Miminis
Mixed by Josh Bowman @ Bowman Sound
Mastered by Harry Hess @ HBomb Mastering
Music video by Switzer Digital Inc.
Words and music by Nolan Randall
Every day in the neighbourhood, we did everything we could
Far away from the way we stood, we know this ain’t Hollywood
Entertain to carry the load, get salvation a la mode
Cargo on the side of the road, setting what’s been overflowed
Out of control, when it’s sure to take a toll
Extreme extraordinary dream
Supreme imaginary theme, a dream
Ventilate a community, breathing air to some degree
Respirate a society, wake up to reality
Cure the fever that no one knows, wary of the highs and lows
Caution taken until it slows, there’s no telling where it goes
On a patrol, with the order to console
Extreme extraordinary dream, supreme imaginary theme
Extreme extraordinary dream, supreme imaginary theme A dream, a dream, a dream
Extreme extraordinary dream, supreme imaginary theme
Extreme extraordinary dream, supreme imaginary theme A dream, a dream, a dream
© Copyright 2022 Plaid On Flannel
*Song Description By Noles*
"Extraordinary Dream" was written in June of 2020. With the music composed on June 9th and the lyrics written on June 13th. The song was a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the world changed in March of 2020, I had already recorded the bed tracks for 3 new tunes. These songs were made to be included on Plaid On Flannel's 5th full-length album Parkdale Bandits. With about a half-dozen written tunes ready to be recorded next.
At first, the pandemic seemed like it was transitory. Something that would fade away by the time the weather got warmer in 2020. As it turned out, that wasn't the case. Because the world experienced something that had never happened in our lifetimes, that changed my approach on the album I was making. I examined the songs I had already recorded, and tried to figure out where to go from there.
One of the tunes I had already recorded called "All Along" has the opening line, "Ahead is an unknown fever, lurking in the after dark". I had no idea what it meant when I wrote it in 2019. Then suddenly in 2020, that unknown fever became what they called a "coronavirus". Subconsciously, my lyrics seemingly predicted the pandemic. That coincidence really got me thinking. Another song that I had already recorded called "Priscilla" is a true story about me falling for a nurse after I was hospitalized in 2018. Because of the health care theme I had gathered from those tunes, I decided to change the name of the album from Parkdale Bandits to Parkdale Fever.
I changed a lot of the lyrics for the next song I recorded called "Where We Belong". I also recorded another tune that was to not be included on the album. But used as a test song for how the eventual full-length album would be made. While working with other professionals on the music. After I laid down the foundation for those tunes, I threw away the other songs I had ready to record. And decided to write brand new tunes for the new theme on the Parkdale Fever album.
At this point, I was reading my book on blues history. To go back a century and see what life was like for people in the last pandemic. And it turns out, a lot of those legacy blues musicians were poor. Socially at a disadvantage. But because of this, they had a strong connection with their audiences who had been through similar experiences. In the book, they called it "empathizing with the audience". That sincerity made the music more captivating. And provided a deeper connection with the listener.
I would say I'm one of the lucky ones, but I've experienced a fair bit of poverty in my adult life. And I happen to live in a low income neighbourhood. One day in the spring of 2020 when I was sitting by Lake Ontario staring at the water, it all came to me. A concept album themed in pandemic poverty. As inequality becomes more extreme. I had never written a song about being poor in my life, but I was ready to dive into it. I wrote a few mediocre tunes, and then I wrote "Extraordinary Dream".
It took me awhile to come up with the chorus lyrics. I went through so many different phrases until I landed on "Extreme, extraordinary dream". In the song's lyrics, there's a reference to Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" in the line "Get salvation a la mode". Aqualung is a character created by Ian Anderson and his then-wife Jennie Franks in the early 1970s. They were inspired to write it after seeing a photo of a homeless person.
The guitar riff in "Extraordinary Dream" was difficult to come up with. I knew what the chord progression going along with the riff would be. The same chord progression as the choruses. But the arpeggiated notes and positioning was tricky to figure out. By the time I got it down, I knew it was the most appropriate riff for the song.