The story behind the song #1 Tiny Microphone

The simplest songs are often the best ones. Some of you might recognize a little band from Chicago called Very Truly Yours. Their leading lady, Kristine, has also been recording solo material under the moniker Tiny Microphone and her song, “You Disappear” has been reverberating around my skull for the past months. I like it’s simplicity and in particular how the distorted guitars kind of swerve off the road in a few places. You can practically feel them tipping over the side and then righting themselves again. 

Wanting to give this song a prominent place in a blog post, I picked up the courage to write to Kristine herself and get the background of the song. You can listen to the song in the meantime here. I suggest turning up the volume.

“You disappear” was written during a kind of sad time of my life. I had just graduated from college, and had a very hard time figuring out what to do with my life. Honestly, i’m still having that problem..but back then, i didn’t have much money and i didn’t have a job, and i had a lot of time.  I was very confused.  As a child, i felt like  i could do anything when i “grew up”. And when i kept unsuccessfully looking for work, i felt like, at this point in my life, i was lied to. The album that it is on, “Home,” draws a lot of references to finding your place, and me not knowing where that was.

As far as how i wrote it, it kind of just came to me.  It was one of the easiest for me to write and record.  I did both in a matter of hours.  To be honest, it was such a quick process, that if you asked me to play it, i wouldn’t remember off the top of my head…

Here are the lushly sung lyrics:

Start with nothing
nobody knows your name
and in your bedroom the city keeps its pace
all alone you feel satisfied
and when someone calls
you disappear

When I knew you
you used to laugh
when I hear of you
they say you’ve changed
take me to a place where no one knows my name
I can’t keep feeling the same thing
I want to learn to love and feel with you

Dear, if my heart explodes in the sky
will it give you piece of mind
to know when it falls
it falls for you

MP3: Tiny Microphone – You disappear

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