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Toe Jam


Featured on The Brighton Port Authority's album I Think We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat, released January 6, 2009 by Southern Fried Records exclusively on Amazon.com. The BPA is Norman "Fatboy Slim" Cook: read his story here.



Video directed by Keith Schofield.


DB HOW AND WHY
:

Some time ago, in between working on our Here Lies Love project (the song cycle about Imelda Marcos and Estrella Cumpos) Norman Cook approached me about collaborating on a song not connected with that project. Norm sent some tracks for me to sing/write over, and, as I have done in the past, I initially sent back a scat vocal so he could hear the melody and structure (verses, chants, choruses, etc) without real words attached. Norm liked where I was going so I began to work on lyrics to fit the melody I'd sung. Little did I know this song would be the result.

Norm's track was pretty infectious and upbeat, so a dark melody and lyrics would be out of the question. His track seemed to be a mashup of calypso, African and funk elements — which might be why he sent it to me in the first place. Lyrically it wanted to be some kind of celebration of….something.

Often when I'm writing lyrics I carry a micro-cassette recorder around in my pocket or backpack; if a phrase springs to mind that matches the meter of the song in progress I whisper it into the recorder. I must look like a madman, but then there are a few of those in NYC, so no one notices. (I reference this nutty behavior in the lyrics.) In doing this I don't censor myself — any phrase that fits is added to the list. Later, some narrative thread often emerges and a large percentage of the verbiage gets tossed.

I've written elsewhere about how lyrics emerge in this process. Some assume that not starting with lyrics implies that I don't have anything pressing to say — but that's, well, not exactly true. Although calling these lyrics pressing might be asking for it.

What's it about? Well, in a way the video that Norm had done captures it pretty perfectly. What exactly IS happening in between my toes, anyway? It's all slightly loopy innuendo, ecstatic, sexy and borderline disgusting — and this video pretty much takes that vibe and runs with it.

The song will be available to buy digitally on 7th July — there will be a link on the BPA Myspace page. The album itself, under the moniker Brighton Port Authority, will be out later in the year.

—DB
Midtown

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