Why Neil’s been such a slug for this project
First off, for those who don’t know, I’ve been battling house issues related to moisture, mold, and air quality for more than a year now. Each time I’ve thought that I had it figured out, it would quickly become clear that there was more to be resolved. The only thing worse than feeling unsafe in your own home, is being in a pandemic that requires you and your family to spend most if not all of their time in an unsafe home. I’ve had a bunch of work done on my basement this past month as part of this on-going quest to save the house, and this has displaced me from my music making space. Luckily, some friends moved to California for the winter and asked our family to watch their house while they’re gone. This has provided me with a temporary recording location, which I took advantage of today (Saturday, Nov 14), so I could knock out a cover.
So about this song… I had no intention of covering “Hope You’ll Be Happier with Him” for many reasons. For one, the subject matter does not resonate with my life right now. I’m a happily married man with a great family. Nobody (fortunately for me) is leaving for another man. There’s no heartbreak. Things are hunky dory.
Another reason I planned to avoid covering this song was because of the vocals. I love Bill Withers’ amazingly emotive vocal style. He brings a passion and power to his deliveries that cannot be matched. There’s nothing I could bring to that vocal that could possibly improve or enhance it.
I had other much more ambitious plans, but time and circumstance was not on my side. As I mentioned earlier, my house is in disarray. Tensions were high leading up to the election (though obviously that’s much better now), we all had anxiety from the house problems, and my job also became super intense. It was almost impossible to find time to actually go to another house and record.
I finally had time this morning. I reviewed the songs and realized that “Hope She’ll Be Happier With Him” was very simple, repetition, and ultimately attainable for a fast cover. I do love the song, even though it’s not very relatable to my present life. If nothing else, hopefully this is a fun adaptation.
-Neil
