Well well..it's been a while since I released a solo Katie Coyle track for the enjoyment, or otherwise, of your ears. Six months to be exact, I believe. Six months since the album landed huh? Wow. What a crazy time it's been this year. And what a crazy girl I was for much of the before, during and after period of the album. Everyone knows that. I may have been in denial in the past, blaming everyone who even cared to blink at me, but it was, at the end of the day, all my fault.

So, it's with great, great pleasure that I can now assure everyone that I'm back. I have a new attitude, I feel invigorated, I feel alive, and most importantly of all, I feel anyway, I'm completely happy. No more rubbish from me. It's going to be all about the music now.

Interestingly, I used the word "back" a moment ago. That's a strange choice of words considering how I feel my career has now progressed. Anyone who follows me on Facebook, or Twitter, or my blog, will know that I have never been totally pleased with the themes and messages that I wrapped into RCAoLS, and I listen to it now, and it's too sad overall. Apart from that last cheery song that sticks out like a sore thumb. But no, the point I'm making, is that that music was not what Katie Coyle is about. It's where I was at that moment in my life, but it is not what I want to be writing and releasing, and it never really was. So that's where the idea came from to release an EP. Obviously I want to do a second album, but it will most definitely be a more folky effort. I don't want people to be like "Woah...where did that big change come from?" So this is like a halfway house if you will, the EP I mean. It will have some folky tracks on it, and some acoustic pop, and hopefully people take to it in the same way they did to my debut.

Onto this first track, Take The Blame, I won't lie, as much as I have most definitely moved on, this song is a cursory nod to the past. I'm not moaning about it though, or taking my frustrations out through music, I'm just simply recognising it. To ignore my past would be to forget the progression I've made, and how far I feel I have come as a person. So this is saying, "Yeah, I know what happened back then, but I'm a different girl now, I have a new attitude, and I'm accepting blame for what went on."

Lyrically, the song passes through a few phases. I view "blame" as it were from my own eyes, the eyes of others, and then eventually I look at the blame everyone in the world has to accept. It's almost like a call to arms, like I'm saying "come on, we can all get through this together!" I like how it progresses. And I love that I managed to write an actual hook for the first time ever. The whole "fight, to fight" bit is the sort of thing a lot of my songs were always missing. It's like sort of a bit that people can memorise when they hear it on the radio. I don't think I've ever had that before. And I love the end of the song too, the bridge part I mean. That took me an age to write, because I wanted it to have a punch that the rest of the track didn't quite have, so it was hard hitting and stuff, you know? I think I delivered that too. I like how it sounds at the end.

And then musically, this is rather beautiful in my own mind, because it was so natural. This was the first song I wrote after my long break, and to get the feel back so soon was amazing. I just lifted the guitar and started to strum slowly, and literally within maybe, 20-25 minutes, I had the music down. I like the way it changes. The chorus is so different to the verses, but I think the contrast works.

I hope people like it though. That's the main thing here. I can be as self indulgent as I like, but I have a large following behind me, and the music is, and should always be, primarily about providing for the fans.

Track description

The track starts with two slowly alternating notes on the guitar repeating over and over for a few seconds, before a little finger picking section comes in, and some soft drum beats, played with brushes rather than sticks, slowly creeps into the background of the track, getting louder, yet staying unobtrusive throughout.

Just before the first verse starts, there is a single tap on the hi hat, and Katie changes the guitar section to play something more "strummy" with the occasional stray note put in to break the repeat of the chord progression, and give it a slightly unpredictable feel. In the background, behind the strumming guitar, the alternating notes return, just as Katie's flowing, hauntingly beautiful voice wanders across the music for the first verse smoothly. She sings the verses very slowly, and exceedingly softly, except for the "fight to fight" but, which has a little more conviction, without ever becoming too different to the rest of the verse.

The choruses are preceded by a stark change in the sound of the song. There is a sharp crash on a cymbal, just after the smooth last note of the verse is held, before slowly fading away, and then the much louder, more staccatto strumming on the guitar of the chorus comes in, accompanied by drums played with sticks rather than brushes this time. Katie's voice is much louder, and sounds more confident as she sings with a strong tone, laying the blame on the subject of the chorus. The strong punching lines are sung at mid tempo, with the pitch peaking in the middle of each of the first two lines, as Katie hits an impressively high note before working her way down again towards the end of each line.
The choruses finish with two very soft lines. The music stops before the last two lines, and Katie strums one soft note, before singing the last two lines in an amazingly soft tone of voice, acapella.

The song continues like this until after the second chorus, when the guitar comes back in softly, playing the intro again briefly, for around 30 seconds, before the song goes into the same style as before for the verse again.

The song then progresses in the same vein for the next two verses and choruses, before the bridge plays, and the song takes another turn. Katie's voice takes on an almost desperate tone, as she pleads for the subject of the song to grow wings and fly away to happiness. The music is a lot "harsher", as the guitar chords are slightly darker, although spaced out, and the drums are very much more prominent than in earlier parts of the song. On the final line "You fight! You fight! You fight!!" she really shouts the words, although standing back from the mic when it was recorded gives off an echoed feel to the line, insinuating the alienation and desperation all in one.

And finally, after the last chorus, the intro briefly returns, before a small flourish, softly played on the acoustic guitar, and then a single, slowly strummed note fades off at the end.

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Lyrics

Just like a bird she flies, so high and all alone//
The names still hurt her now, just like the sticks that broke her bones//
Just try to fight, to fight, but she still feels the pain inside//
The stab wounds in her back weep like the eyes set in her mind//

Why d'you try to fight it, you were not invited//
Don't blame it all on us, you couldn't see what you ignited//
We all tried to warn you//
We gave you someone to crawl to//
Shoulder your own shame//
And take the blame//

If you'd have looked up you'd have seen, that we were all here trying to help//
But its's too late now, you pushed it away, now you're down there by yourself//
You tried to fight, to fight, but you swung your fists at the wrong side//
Now your isolation beckons, don't you stretch your arms out wide//

Why d'you try to fight it, you were not invited//
Don't blame it all on us, you couldn't see what you ignited//
We all tried to warn you//
We gave you someone to crawl to//
Shoulder your own shame//
And take the blame//

Now I'm dancing on my own, cos no one wants to take my hand//
Tears in my eyes, a pain in my heart, this is not what I had planned//
I try to fight, to fight, I'll make my glorious escape//
But I am not a super girl, I've taken off my cape//


Why d'you try to fight it, you were not invited//
Don't blame it all on us, you couldn't see what you ignited//
We all tried to warn you//
We gave you someone to crawl to//
Shoulder your own shame//
And take the blame//

We stand here now united, one and all against the pain//
Everyone can lend a hand, to build us up again//
We tried to fight, to fight, and now we're stronger as we're one//
It's no longer dark, it's not so bleak, let's all hold hands and run//

Why d'you try to fight it, you were not invited//
Don't blame it all on us, you couldn't see what you ignited//
We all tried to warn you//
We gave you someone to crawl to//
Shoulder your own shame//
And take the blame//

And when the night falls and the tears flow//
You fight! You fight to let go//
This is your time//
No need to hide//
You fight! You fight! You fight!//
Don't let go (let go)//
Let the flow (tears flow)//
Spread your wings//
And take flight//
You fight! You fight! You fight!

Why didn't we try to fight, we are now invited//
Blame it all on us, but forget the trouble we ignited//
Everyone tried to warn us//
Crawling around causing a fuss//
We shouldered our own shame//
We accept...the....blame//

Sounds Like