I wrote ‘The Other Side’ in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and global lockdown. I’d found this little voice memo on my phone from a year or so ago of me singing what is now the melody of the chorus. I loved the vibe and needed to write a track to be released before my album, and this moulded well with my feelings at the time. My partner was going through a rough period and I felt distant from him emotionally and also physically because of the isolation measures in place. I had this want to reach out and grab him, but he felt so far away. I think when you are so closely connected to someone, you feel their pain and you have a longing to take this away from them. ‘The Other Side’ encompasses exactly that; the feeling of sinking down with someone who’s feeling low in an attempt to help them but also in desperation, that surrender to the darkness.
I first wrote the song on piano, but I knew it needed to be played on guitar- it felt quite dark and dirty and I thought guitar would be a better fit. My partner Edwin and I did a short guitar + vocal voice memo and sent it through to my management who loved it. We all decided it should definitely have someone guest on it- perhaps a guitar solo and even vocals. The incredible Joey Landreth sprung to mind and I hesitantly contacted him to feature on the track. Lucky, lucky me, he said yes. It is amazing to have Joey on ‘The Other Side’, his tone, guitar playing and authenticity mesh perfectly with what I was trying to create. He kindly offered to sing on the track so I wrote verse two after the fact. It was a little harder to write verse two than it was to write my verse. I felt I really needed to get into the head space of the person going through that rough time and I focussed on the frustration of knowing there’s a way out, but not being able to reach it.
We all recorded our parts remotely, which was challenging but interesting working with our home studio setups. We had lots of fun trying to cram into Edwin’s room to record string parts and double bass, big drum crashes (poor neighbours) and creating percussion sounds- throwing keys on the ground, stomping, just generally banging stuff around until we achieved the right sound. It’s nice working with my partner on production because it gifts us the time and creative control to really work out the best musical layering for the track and it remains authentic to us.
When Joey sent us his parts to be added, we were very excited and were not disappointed! It took a while to comp everything and find the exact right guitar part for each section, but it was worth the time as I think we have created a very sophisticated track considering the extraordinary circumstances we’re all in at present. We were helped along by the awesome James Welch at Masterlink Studios, who did wonders to the mix and then had it mastered by British legend John Davis. The end result is a truly collaborative track that has all the rawness and authenticity of a lockdown recording, but the sophistication of an excellent creative team.
lyrics
Making my way to the other side
I don’t feel alive
Hey Lord I’m burning
Making my way to the other side
I don’t feel alive
There’s a stone
In your shoe
Ah there’s a hole in your pocket and a rip in your shirt
Where your heart once grew
And your soul
Is mine too
I get an ache in my side and wet my eyes
Every time your blue
Ooh and you can’t be moved
So I’m going under
Ooh you can’t be moved
By rain or by thunder
Making my way to the other side
I don’t feel alive
Hey Lord I’m burning
Making my way to the other side
I don’t feel alive
Making my way to the other side
I don’t feel alive
Hey Lord I’m burning
Making my way to the other side
I don’t feel alive
There’s a light
There’s a truth
There’s a promise land for every broken man
If we just break through
Yeah it’s in sight
It’s in view
And as I swim through the sand I reach out my hand
But I’m losing you
Ooh and you can’t be moved
So I’m going under
Ooh you can’t be moved
By rain or by thunder
Making my way to the other side
I don’t feel alive
Hey Lord I’m burning
Making my way to the other side
I don’t feel alive
Making my way to the other side
I don’t feel alive
Hey Lord I’m burning
Making my way to the other side
I don’t feel alive
There’s a stone
In your shoe
Ah there’s a hole in your pocket and a rip in your shirt
Where your heart once grew
credits
released October 23, 2020
Musicians
Vocals: Georgia van Etten, Joey Landreth
Backing Vocals: Georgia van Etten
Electric Guitar: Joey Landreth
Acoustic Guitar: Edwin Ireland
Mandolin: Edwin Ireland
Double Bass: Edwin Ireland
Drums: Edwin Ireland
Percussion: Georgia van Etten, Edwin Ireland
Cello: Edwin Ireland
Organ: Edwin Ireland
Production
Songwriter: Georgia van Etten
Producer: Edwin Ireland
Co-producer: Georgia van Etten
String Arrangement: Edwin Ireland
Recording Engineer: Edwin Ireland
Mixing Engineer: James Welch at Masterlink Studios
Mastering Engineer: John Davis at Metropolis Studios
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