That's All That's Left to Me Now

Robert James

2022 RPM Challenge song #20 of 20!

The fact that this is song number 20 is part of the story behind it. I was sitting on 19 and feeling pretty wiped out. I wanted to hit 20 just to say I had two RPM Challenge albums but nothing was coming and that was fine. Then, on the 23rd of February I had finished adding rhythm guitars and writing melodies and lyrics to the last couple of songs and I figured I’d take one last shot at a 20th song and almost instantly this whole thing came out. I had the music and the melody and the lyrics written and in no time I had the guitars down too. More important, I actually really liked it. The verse is a pain in the ass to play rhythmically, but it’s worth it. I really like this one.

Surprisingly for me, I think my favorite part of this is the vocal (bite your tongue, Robert!). I don’t know what happened. It was the last song I sung and I guess I just didn’t care anymore and cranked it out. I really like how it breaks into the first guitar solo. I have lead guitars play over vocals all the time, but it was kinda cool to have the vocals intrude for once. Then there’s the unaccompanied bit at the very end. When I track vocal harmonies I like to listen to them on their own with the rest of the tracks muted just to make sure there aren’t any weird phrasings or whatever. I was thinking to myself that I should work something like that into a song, and since this was the last song I figured what the hell. I was planning on singing the eight bar phrase at the end, then copying the first two bars and pasting it to the end, but while I was on the mic I just sung it and I think it sounds cool.

The guitar in your right speaker is a Gibson SG. In your left is a Gibson Les Paul Standard 50’s. The leads were the Les Paul too. The amp on all tracks was a Fender Bassbreaker 15. The pedals on the rhythm tracks were a Keeley Super Phat Mod into a Klon KTR. The leads were the KTR into a Keeley D&M Drive.

Chorus
Have a need that you cannot reach
what’s the use in trying
have a feat that you can’t complete
should you even care

Verse 1 and 3
self compete
you’re a loser
what’s the problem now
Don’t you cheat
you’re a quitter
No one showed you how

Verse 2
Precious time
always slipping
watch it fade away
‘nother day
‘nother dollar
nothing else to say

Break
That’s all that’s left to me now

Outro
Last time around
that’s so profound
no hate allowed
that heavy crown

Last time around