The story behind the song

I wrote the original 2 verse version of Kiss Hello in a little 2-story 1920 South Knoxville bungalow that my first wife April and I owned. I wrote in a room on the main level that had been painted a deep red by the previous owners. It had a big window looking out to the back yard, and I could see the telephone and electric wires running into the house from there. We had a regular murder of crows that were fans of the big old trees in our neighborhood, and they liked the wires running to our house, too. The first line of the song was literally me sitting in that room with the back window open, trying to write a new song while looking at a bunch of crows hanging out and squawking on the wires. Crows are often omens of bad tidings, and I occasionally indulge myself with the guilty pleasure of writing fancy pants lyrics in some of my songs, so the second line was easy, too. The rest just flowed from there. The original chorus was simpler, and I updated it with what’s now the first half of the choruses (originally what’s now the 2nd half was pretty close to a repeat of the first half) when Chameleous first started playing the song because it didn’t feel in step with the verse lyrics. The new second half of the verses, I pretty much just decided “I’m going to make these new 2nd halves of the verses pissier so it’s easier for me to sing them differently,” and all I really cared about was making sure the meter and rhyming schemes stayed intact.

Notes from the Studio

Mac Bartinelead vocals and rhythm guitar

Kiss Hello changed more in the studio than any of our other songs. The vibe of the song stayed pretty consistent before and after; it just became a little extra through the process. Over 1 and a half days on June 30 and July 1 2024, we recorded 3 takes of all 12 of the songs we originally planned to put into this album. After recording the takes of Kiss, Seva asked us to do a take where we doubled the length of the song, saying he wanted to have a version he could play around with after the album was done. We tried one take of it immediately where we doubled the length of the instrumental at the beginning, the verses (just repeating the lyrics), and the instrumentals between the verses and choruses, but I couldn’t wrap my head around repeating the choruses, so we just bulled on through those as we normally played them, and somehow it all came together in 1 take. Seva gave us all the takes to listen to after the 2-day initial recording, and we were immediately captured by the extra space built into the longer version of Kiss, and Seva had thrown in these wonderfully unexpected theremin-like sounds from a Moog Rogue he keeps by his console. I wrote a 2nd half of each of the 2 verses, and we recorded those new 2nd-half verse vocals on a different mic. The end result took a lot of back and forth extra sessions in the studio, a little friendly discussion, and a bit of extra imagination, but the way it came together made it all worthwhile. I love this track!

Rich Adlinlead guitar and harmony vocals

2017 Memphis Gibson ES with Bigsby Tremolo, Ryra Klone OD into Nobles ODR-1, Keeley Caverns Reverb, into 1979 Fender Deluxe Reverb amp with Celestion speakers.

Knowing that we were approaching the recording with limits on funding and a plan to get this out as soon as possible, I was initially skeptical of extending the song. After hearing the extended version, I was still somewhat hesitant about it until we all added our parts and the landscape of the song took shape, the added drama of each verse, with Mac getting more “pissy” both lyrically and in his singing with the new verses. When J changed tempo (or was it a change in meter from slow 4/4 to cut time) from the verse to the chorus, it made a huge difference in the song elevating it from being somewhat repetitive to being more dynamic. I also saw the opportunity for Jules’s keys and synth to shine, which it does fantastically. Any discerning fan of Pink Floyd can hear them in this song, including David Gilmour’s influence on my guitar. In some ways I see this song as the magnum opus of the album which is why I lobbied for it to be the final track of the album. Much credit also belongs to Seva as his role as producer really shines in it, conceiving it as an extended sonic (psychedelic?) indulgence for us. I guess one other interesting tidbit, I prefer to have everything worked out in my guitar parts before tracking but I was under prepared for this one, but pleasantly surprised that much of what I had improvised wound up working out well. I was expecting to have to re-track most of what I played but surprisingly didn’t have to.

SevaMoog Rogue; producer; recording, mixing and mastering engineer

As Mac says, when I heard Kiss Hello as they were tracking the original, it felt like the perfect jam song to kind of float upon. Most certainly a psychedelic Pink Floyd feeling was around, so after they finished a take they were all happy with, I dared ask them to make it twice as long. Actually I think my original request was three times as long. We all settled to double the intro, the verse, the chorus, the bridge, etc. The band actually agreed to do this(!), and while they were recording, I was playing a Moog Rogue (serial 5672) but they could not hear what I was playing. It was purely for my fun, to check my imagination when realized into this reality. Yeah, it seems I would be indulging myself to do this, but it was purely from intuition and no capability for shame. In playback of the takes, we listened to the last single-length version, then the double. Excusing myself for a break, I started the doubled version and accidentally left the Moog track turned on. When I returned came the query “hey! What’s that???”... (I assure you by my word: it wasn’t intentional to let them hear this. Sub-conscious impulse, obfuscated to me, to leave that synth track on, maybe, but it seems easier to neither confirm nor deny any such possibility.) That’s my story and I’m sticking with it. This is how it happened and then Mac wrote two new half-verses and it became this longer trippy version of the original.

Lyrics

Notes fly out the window through the trees into the road
As the black birds talk on the telephone wires of Nietzsche and annihilation
And politicians want to sell a ground store grasp on hope
A high rise in the big country, with residents of God’s creation

In between the treat-lights, ghosts cavort in the unknown
While the people slink the brightest lines and curse the night in consternation
And crazy diamonds eye the dark for that which helps them cope
A cafe by the golden sea where they might catch a reservation

These gray days of mad power plays through rooms of knife-sharp elbows
And no one knows if there’s still something to save
Well hey, hey, what do you say we share a friendly joke and kiss hello
It’s better that way

Venus lines with Jupiter, my horror-scope told me
The planets have decided I should detour from my destination
‘Cause friends and others might conspire to bring me to my knees
My back to stab with steely knives and so I say in desperation

So be it and Amen, but none here seek the close
Let fester wounds and noxious plumes of dreams to outlaw inspiration
So skip the wedding, return the gifts and fucking just elope
To foreign lands of perfect tans and natives who teach meditation

These gray days of mad power plays through rooms of knife-sharp elbows
And no one knows if there’s still something to save
Well hey, hey, what do you say we share a friendly joke and kiss hello
It’s better that way

These gray days of mad power plays through rooms of knife-sharp elbows
And no one knows if there’s still something to save
Well hey, hey, what do you say we share a friendly joke and kiss hello
It’s better that way
Alright
It’s better that way
It’s better that way
It’s better that way

Who played what

Brian Wooten — pedal steel guitarHeath Nicholls — bass and harmony vocalsJ Miller — drumsJules Bryce — keysMac Bartine — lead vocals and rhythm guitar (1990s Fender Stratocaster and Fender Twin Reverb)Rich Adlin — lead guitar and harmony vocalsSeva — Moog Rogue; producer; recording, mixing and mastering engineer

What they’re saying about “Kiss Hello”

The sonic shift between the opener “I Knew” and the near 8-minute thriller “Kiss Hello” sound like two different bands. However, their signature feel runs through it perfectly to keep you glued to the next track.
We Write About Music

“Kiss Hello” brings warmth and spaciousness, gradually growing from simple guitar and subtle percussion into a fuller arrangement. There is even a faint arabesque quality tucked into its musical language, adding another layer to the band's already broad palette.
Rock Era Magazine

A similarly dynamic pull shows on “Kiss Hello,” which spans 7+ minutes of textured psych-rock enthrallment, traversing from debonair melodic beginnings to more upfront personality.
Obscure Sound

This song connects us a bit to grunge, and we love that.
Indieoclock

With a guitar that immerses us in thoughts, a denser, darker rock vibe, with that 90s energy.
Indieoclock

The instrumental is surprising, psychedelic, with synthesizers, unique, a sound that envelops us.
Indieoclock

This dynamic vocal approach gives the eight-minute composition a strong human center, ensuring that its elaborate instrumental passages never overpower its narrative purpose.
Dulaxi

The result is cinematic and immersive, combining nostalgic rock grandeur with psychedelic experimentation and transforming the song's social anxiety into an expansive musical journey.
Dulaxi

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