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Down in the Valley

from DOWN IN THE VALLEY by The Gatekeepers

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about

The valley is Fortitude Valley in Brisbane. I came out of a party or gig there at one point and didn't know the way home. It was well past the last bus but the walk wasn't epic. I had the panic of anyone in an unfamiliar place, young and drunk that I would never get home. As usual with a song you start out writing about something literal and find something else in it.

While I could only remember a few lines of the original the spirit of this reconstruction is pretty faithful. The music hasn't changed at all. I did toy with changing the D-G-A chorus to something more interesting but then what was I doing this for anyway? See also the chugchug guitars for the prechorus bit which I normally wince at but suits the time.

The bass and one of the guitars are put through a chorus, a thing I normally steer clear of but it suited this song and the era in which I wrote it. Speaking of the era, I'm playing this on my Gibson SG which has P90 pickups, just like Peter MacPherson's guitar which would have been the only electric I played it on before. There ya go.

Gear nerd note: I initially recorded it with a Strat in the bridge/middle position for the clarity. The SG was put there for some reinforcement but it sounded better. I had them both there with the Strat getting lower in the mix until I muted it outright. The SG is the right one.

credits

from DOWN IN THE VALLEY, released December 12, 2013
Words and music Peter Jetnikoff 1981/2013

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The Gatekeepers Melbourne, Australia

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