I had the idea to do a parody of this song over the Labor Day weekend at Dragon Con. I listened to it about a hundred times while I was away from my music recording gear.
When I got back home I learned the chord changes (it is done using a capo that I prefer not to use. I just sung it all lower.
The idea wasn’t specific to the Heart of Hush however. It was just using the Memphis Blues Dylan song. I had the Oh Alfred and after part figured out. But I was thinking of making this a full length song and had like three sets of verses. It was a very long song. There were funny parts but overall it ended up being boring.
Getting the initial joke of doing a Bob Dylan voice on this song and a few funny lines really only was supportable for one set of verses and one chorus.
Stand up. Tell your joke. Sit down.
The chorus didn’t change but the only verse of the original that survived is the verse about the scarecrow toxin. That was the funniest part of the original.
So I recorded the full three set version. The problem was that I didn’t get the main rhythm quite right. I was adding things to fill and and make up for it. The production was getting very complicated and fussy.
So this morning I listened to the song a few times. Got the groove of the guitar rhythm and recorded it in one take. I used my Strat with the Duncan Vintage Rails humbucker neck pickup. I was very happy with the results of the single take and realized that I should approach this version simply, with just the rhythm guitar.
When I realized I had the guitar take I wanted, I rewrote the lyrics keeping in mind the events of Heart of Hush. I tightened it up as short and sweet as I could while still alluding to the story. Strangely enough I did this in one take too, which made me very happy for time management reasons.
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