Aaron J. Trumm – Don’t Stop – Digital Album Experience
Hey it’s been a week! Today’s song is called Pay Me…
Lyric Video
Song Audio - "Pay Me"
Lyrics
lookin at the clouds kinda spitting and storming
as I fall through the sky at the top o the morning
got move through the world let me give you a warning
gotta fix it, change it
tear the sucker down rearrange it
strange, it never seemed impossible before you know?
so just keep it up buck
you might just get a fat lip
smack you back to the lack you felt back when you were smackin jack
and every body always askin if it pays or not
as if the only thing of value were a bank account
and yet
i value heaters steak and paid rent
so i’m on another plane trying to make a dent
i need to speed up to catch up i’m leavin myself behind
even i can’t keep up with my mind
so pay me (pay me)
pay me (pay me)
what i’m worth
and i’ll think about art when i’m sheltered and fed
just
pay me (pay me)
pay me (pay me)
i’ll be high minded and pure as soon as i’m sure
that i’m not about to end up dead
got you noddin like you got some parkinson’s
pretty beats and the rhymes that i’m barkin son
bitin lines from the rain in the back of my brain
and i’m fluffy like a big ol’ tire chain
said i’m beatin my head against a big fat piece of lead
when i see a little crack
i step back and look at that
try to attack again do it til it caves in
watchin me run away
feelin kinda stuck
hangin dead from the bottom of a turnip truck
bump your head on the speed bumps
kinda like a drum
trailin blood in the mud from Katy to Houston
better give me
what i need
or i won’t be ok
so pay me (pay me)
pay me (pay me)
what i’m worth
and i’ll think about art when i’m sheltered and fed
just
pay me (pay me)
pay me (pay me)
i’ll be high minded and pure as soon as i’m sure
that i’m not about to end up dead
now I ain’t no pop star
ridin in a fancy red car
everybody know who i are
baby gonna take me too far
but i been chokin to death since 75
when i first came alive
what you think it’s a joke?
i’ve got to keep this habit fed
on art i tread
i need the bread
so pay me (pay me)
pay me (pay me)
what i’m worth
and i’ll think about art when i’m sheltered and fed
just
pay me (pay me)
pay me (pay me)
i’ll be high minded and pure as soon as i’m sure
that i’m not about to end up dead
Back Story And Credits
Pay Me! Pay Me was a tune that I cobbled together from a lot of little lyric snippets, but the main point was that I was feeling quite frustrated with making zero money – but I was also aware that a high minded snobbery about the purity of art wasn’t going to really work. In fact, snobbery doesn’t work too well for simply connecting either. I think I was listening to a track by Atmosphere at the time. Not that I have anything against Atmosphere. It just suddenly occured to me that I might want to think differently, and then I wrote down the chorus of this song – the rhythmic complexity there is definitely influenced by Atmosphere.
I wrote the first verse on a plane. I was going to California both to check in on my new lungs and hit the studio. I remember recording scratch vocals in the hotel room on my tablet and I thought “how slick is that?”. Then I recorded the real vocals in the studio at Stanford. The whole time I was alone. That can be weird. I recorded the piano years earlier – it’s an old beat up piano that my step mother had. I mic’d it up and played some riffs – so it’s this really weird funky un good sound which I loved! HA!
So – that’s the story there. Pay me! I mean, you can if you want, you’re welcome to, but either way, let’s connect!
Here’s yer credits:
- Aaron J. Trumm “Pay Me”
- Produced by Aaron J. Trumm
- Everything: Aaron J. Trumm
- Lead Vocals: Aaron J. Trumm
- Mix: Aaron J. Trumm at NQuit Music
- Mastering: Aaron J. Trumm at NQuit Music
I did that lyric video above – I’m not even sure why! I just wanted to, I suppose. It took about 2 full days of tediously making one frame after the other of the words. You can see where I was getting tired – it’s the places where suddenly a whole phrase appears at once 🙂 That’s the first music related video I ever made though, so I’m decently proud lol.
Ok – story over! I will see you tomorrow!
— Aaron
PS: If you want to talk – email me at aaron@aarontrumm.com or come talk to me on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AaronJTrumm