For Orchestra

“I hope it’s gonna make you notice / Someone like me”

I first heard about Kings of Leon about a year ago, but it wasn’t until recently that my friend Katie introduced me to them more in depth, and Jeff Pulver mentioned them to me, too. I heard this composition, the lyrics, the drum beat, and was hooked. So I’m thrilled to have arranged it this week.

We’re all looking for something. We’re looking for our friends, people who understand us, a career we’re crazy about, and somebody to love us back. Sometimes it can feel like a lonely world, and we’ve all been there. We could use somebody to help us along the way, listen to us, hold our hand, and be a part of who we are and our lives.

Life is a learning process. It is something that brings us joy, understanding, desperation, growth, passion, and thought. I feel these lyrics capture our cries to be wanted. This piece speaks volumes, and each musician has a key role that I love in this piece:

1.) Keeping the drums out in the first verse. It builds tension, and allows the piece to grow rather than hitting it’s climactic moment too soon.

2.) The bass line in the second verse. It s perfect syncopated passage that compliments the drum pattern. Breaking away from simple ‘whole notes’ created a sense of movement, and freshness.

3.) The lyrics “Someone like you and all you know and how you speak” leading into the second half of the first verse. It hints at the lyric that enters the chorus, and creates uniformity throughout the piece.

4.) The guitar part underneath the last chorus.

This carefully crafted composition allowed the flutes to introduce the verse perfectly while the trumpets performed the chorus. Last week when I arranged the Foo Fighters, I was told I didn’t bring out Dave Grohl’s drums enough – so I was happy to bring them out more here.

Congrats to KOL on their role at the 2010 Grammy Awards. I hope I was able to capture the beauty of this piece within the orchestra.

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