Welcome to the "Song and Music' page where a graystar song and its lyrics will be regularly featured. The song will be also be available to as an mp3. This month is the song Satellites.
Surveillance
Satellites was an idea inspired by an article on Galileo or the GNSS, the European Space Agency's satellite system, in a newspaper in 2004. Further reading of an article on Strike the Root led to the feeling of fear and surveillance for the song's theme. Living in an area of the city where we realised a short walk would result in us being displayed on 12 different CCTV cameras delivered the very personal concerns the song voices.
Space
The original demo of Satellites, strangely named "You and the Sky" was very different from the band's single of 2005. Needless to say the latter was the better version! Both incorporated plenty of sound effects including drones and mayday signals, keyboard delays and guitar effects which made the song a real challenge to record. Over time the song became a mix of spacey keyboards sounds and heavy rock, and has developed into one of our best live tracks. It is a song that never really sounds the same twice, and is deceptivley tricky to play, especially on larger stages.
Changes
The band now plays Satellites at a higher tempo, and the song now has a different type of groove to its original sound. Billy's Nord keyboard creates a different sound to the original Roland XV88 rhodes and effects, and we believe the song has never sounded better. The theme of the song is still pertinent one, and the ever-increasing interference of government as well as private organisations collecting data on an unsuspecting public, or at least one that feels powerless to do anything about it, is an issue we feel compelled to express.
Some lyrics from "Satellites"
The Phone lights in your hand
With fingertip command
A signal comes a part of you
These interactive days
And voyeuristic phase
The "Sign Me Up Online.."
Listen to "Satellites" on our mp3 page.