I wrote “The Inevitable Letdown” in New York City in 2009. I had two things on my mind:
- The stock market crash that led to the 2009 recession: As reports came out regarding the short-sighted greed of the financial industry, it reminded me of the same ravenous rampaging of the “jazz age” of the 1920s, with folks at the top spending, drinking, and living as though tomorrow were no concern. I created the character of the speaker, a fast-talking huckster promoting a carpe diem philosophy to a young acolyte, based on these fast-living, morally-bankrupt Wall Street characters.
- A depressed feeling that I’ve noticed consistently clouds my mood after something I’ve been looking forward to – an event, a friend’s visit, an exciting performance – finally comes to pass. It’s occurred to me that no matter how great an event is, no matter how lovely it might be to see a friend or give a concert, I miss the feeling of anticipation when it’s done. I’ve come to think of that feeling of emptiness as “The Inevitable Letdown” – anything good must be followed by a little bit of mourning.
I combined these two ideas and wrote a song that I could imagine being performed at post-Jazz Age bar that’s passed it’s prime, with sticky tables, cracked windows, and waitresses who are, well, past their prime.
The lyrics are all listed at the end of this post. My favorite line from the lyric is:
“Light up dark rooms with your smile and make that cold night hot.
If you’re lonely just tell yourself that you’re not!”
I feel like it’s so typical of someone in a deep depression to also be in denial and I’ve often found that people who are “lighting up the room” tend to be the ones who need the most light themselves.
Musically
Musically, I like exploring the idea of taking the form of stride piano (the same LH style you hear in ragtime) and adding more modern elements like counterpoint, cross rhythms, and dissonance.
This recording by Fred Hersch and Nancy King has been an inspiration – once you get the piano solo, try to keep track of where beat 1 is – it’s hard not to get lost in the different groupings Fred superimposes on the regular 4/4 time.
Jason Moran is another pianist who plays stride in a more modern style, often speeding up and slowing down. In this reimagining of a James P. Johnson stride piece, Jason juxtaposes more tonal stride against more dissonant and unfamiliar elements.
One of the top pianists of my generation, Sullivan Fortner comes from New Orleans and knows a thing or two about stride. You can hear him start this tune with traditional stride piano, then begin adding in complex chordal substitutions to personalize the style. I’ve heard Sullivan do wild metric variations with stride piano, sounding as though Thelonious Monk’s playing was refracted through a funhouse mirror.
When we were creating this arrangement, I didn’t want to have a tune that directly went from the melody to two straight solos and back to the melody, because I want the story telling to always be at the center of the music. I decided to write a second verse so that Nancy sings again in between the piano and saxophone solos. Ultimately, the form is kind of Verse 1-piano solo-Verse 2-saxophone solo-Verse 1 (coda)
Click here to download a chart for The Inevitable Letdown.
Click here to download a free album (donations accepted) from this video series.
Lyrics for The Inevitable Letdown
Verse 1
Light yourself a cigarette my boy!
Light it with a star.
And comb your hair with reams of moonbeams Gathered from afar And if you should ever feel loneliness creepin’ Pour yourself a drink:
How bizarre: bubbles wink so right in sync!
Light up dark rooms with your smile and make that cold night hot.
If you’re lonely just tell yourself that you’re not!
When things are goin’ good, boy. Gin-filled drinks and flowin’ food, boy!
Waitin’ for that inevitable letdown is all you’ve got.
Verse 2
Light the lights and strike the band, my boy!
Let that music play.
To have this green world at your feet’s too sweet for shades of gray.
What your after’s lots of laughter, laugh it louder laugh it faster still,
Life’s a stale (and) bitter pill, so get your fill.
Savvy folks strike hard and fast, my boy, when that iron’s hot.
If I lie, may I die, my lord, on this spot.
Keep making lucky bets, boy. Cheat at cards and duck your debt, boy!
Waitin’ for that inevitable letdown is all you’ve got.