So Wrong
So Wrong
Serialising the album The Drunken Fisherman (And Other Stories) by Schall und Stille (@stephan): The debut release inspired by early childhood memories, pirate radio broadcasts, war and climate change among other things. It’s a sonic journey between ambient, electronica, triphop, wave and pop; between Eno, Kraftwerk and Massive Attack. Extended instrumental pieces alternate with atmospheric pop songs, layered voices and lush sonic landscapes, sometimes sublime, sometimes sombre.
Track 4/7: So Wrong
“So Wrong” was inspired by both Putin’s war on Ukraine and the initial situation in our neighborhood.
My wife and I had recently moved into our new home, hoping to finally settle down and make our own little peaceful nest in this world… only to discover that some parents from the upper village had just recently rented the barn across the road so that their “children” (i.e. 17-19 year olds) could let off steam there.
The result? A constant invasion of an ever-changing cast of teenagers throwing parties, blasting stupid music with lots of stupid bass, revving their engines, tearing down the road in makeshift motorcycle races with screeching tires, firing potato cannons across our estate (and sending our poor dog shivering and shaking under the bed in the process), slapping “Fuck You Greta” stickers on their stupid cars and motorcycles, shooting defenseless birds with air rifles, chasing stray cats down the dirt road …and all kinds of other assorted deeply antisocial and downright punishable-by-law shit right on our doorstep – every two to three days, and, for some weeks during the summer holidays, every single fucking evening.
Since we were new and didn’t want to make an enemy of the entire village, we didn’t call the police but tried very hard to settle things in a responsible and adult way; talking with the youths, and when they didn’t relent, talking with their parents.
Big mistake. All pleading and trying to act rational from our side was in vain. In fact one day, two of the mothers stood there, arguing with me and using the 3rd person though I was standing right beside them…: “He won’t let our kids be! But our kids need some space to let off steam!! My poor boy is unstable, he needs this to unwind! It takes a village to raise a child, doesn’t he know that? He can use earplugs if they’re too loud, can’t he? Yeah, I think so, too!” etc. pp.
It was such a staggering and completely inconsiderate display of insolence that it almost seemed unreal – like a case of “where’s the hidden camera”?
I vividly remember sitting there one night watching the news about Putin doing one of the first really severe bombings of Ukraine, while some idiot kid tried their new subwoofer right in front of my door, and the sheer menace of it all, the fact that people do this to one another, in my mind it all became one and the same thing – the effects of a sickness we have, a complete lack of empathy. And that it’s wrong. So very, very wrong. And that’s how this song came about.
Fortunately, the kids are gone now, but the whole experience left us damaged, distrustful and distant for a very long time. We never received any sort of apology, but at least they’re gone.
Which can’t be said for Putin, unfortunately.
“So Wrong” has me on lead vocals for the first time since Botany Bay’s 2009 production “Stupid Summer Dreams”. The extraction of my thyroid in 2017 took its toll on my vocal cords which is the reason why I’m very reluctant to sing nowadays. But things are slowly getting better there, too. Instrument-wise it’s mainly me experimenting with (as so often on “The Drunken Fisherman”) organic FM sounds courtesy of the opsix and the TG77.
Support Schall und Stille
All proceeds from this album go to “Tara Tierhilfe e.V.“, an animal sanctuary near Cologne, Germany, which is home to more than 70 horses, goats, sheep, donkeys and pigs.
Lyrics
teenage kid revving up his engine
bass pumping in the middle of the night
mother says, “the boy is unstable
it takes a village to put him right”
and it’s wrong so wrong and it’s wrong so wrong
fascist shithead sending out the bombers
mothers, children, torn apart
frightened faces lined with terror
dark shadows upon our hearts
teenage kid shooting down pigeons
has a gun and is willing to fight
mama says, “the boy is unstable”
bass keeps pumping all through the night
and it’s wrong so wrong it’s wrong so wrong and it’s wrong so wrong it’s wrong so wrong
