Field Notes for “1+1+1=3”
Three does not divide evenly.
I don’t want to be the window when you could’ve used the door.
The moment you choose is the moment you lose.
Making the music video
A lot of people have written me very kind messages about this video. They get what’s happening, and realize it took a bunch of work to pull off. Then there are a handful (there’s always a few in the bunch!) of folks saying: “This is awkward.”
Ummm, yeah! You think I made a technicolor pause-freakout triple-headed lip-sync with flying cat animations thinking it wouldn’t be awkward? Geniuses.
Anyway, here’s how it works: I cut chunks of audio out of the song (three different ways), so that one word would jump into the next. Then I memorized the lyrics with all those weird gaps.
For instance, there’s a line in the song that says “Maybe he was meant for you, but baby, what if I was too.”
I chopped out everything between “Maybe” and “baby” — so what I was lip-syncing to was “May-by what if was…”
I did the whole song like that, three separate ways. During editing, anywhere there was a skip, I found the still-frame of that instant and stretched it (like a giant pause) until the music caught up with my mouth.
It’s a bit technical, so perhaps this explanation doesn’t make sense. It’s not really important.
Just watch the video and rest assured, I KNOW it’s awkward ; )
1+1+1=3: The Lyric Video
“This, This, This”
Lyrics to “This, This, This”
You only wanted to be wanted
and i can’t blame you
‘cause when you’ve got it
you should flaunt it
and not be ashamed to
now the leaves are falling off the trees outside
and it seems it’s just a worthless gesture now
to hear your shaky voice apologize again
yeah we can still be friends
(la la la la)
hey, but it doesn’t really help to soften the blow,
cushion the fall, it does nothing at all for me
to know that you didn’t mean
to leave me alone, caught in between
what I feel is real and this, this, this
I kinda knew that this would happen
if I followed my foolish heart
You never wanted this to happen
but I got torn apart
and now the light is fading out on one more year
where I hope the closing darkness helps me
hide behind those blurring lines
that seemed so clear to me, when you were here with me
(la la la la)
hey, but it doesn’t really help to soften the blow,
cushion the fall, it does nothing at all for me
to know that you didn’t mean
to leave me alone, caught in between
what I feel is real and this, this, this
Credits
Arthur Parker - Keyboards
Daniel Adlaf - Synth Bass
John Stewart - Drums and Percussion
Chris Robley - Vocals, guitars, and keyboards
Jeff Stuart Saltzman - Engineering at Secret Society and mixing at Mysterious Beard (both in Portland, OR).
Adam Gonsalves - Mastering at Telegraph (in Portland, OR).
Doug & Anna from Chicken 3000 — Cover artwork.