Song Deconstructed: ‘Bird On A Swing’ by Cory Hanson

Cory Hanson: “Great songs always come back.” Photo: Asal Shahindoust

Soon returning with his fourth solo album, the Wand frontman tracks a melody across years, guitars, and life’s many distractions

Los Angeles native Cory Hanson has long defied simple categorisation. Best known as frontman of the psych-rock band Wand — with six albums to date, including 2024’s Vertigo — he’s also built a compelling solo catalogue marked by lyrical introspection and sonic ambition. His fourth solo album, I Love People (out 25 July via Drag City), reunites him with Vertigo collaborators Robbie Cody (co-production), Evan Backer (bass, string/horn arrangements) and Evan Burrows (drums), bringing a warm, orchestral touch to his 70s-inspired songcraft. Its lead single, Bird On A Swing, sets the tone — and here, Cory reveals the story behind it…

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MUSIC

Bird On A Swing was a song that eluded me for years. It sat in the back of my mind as a melody that had run through many different mutations and false starts; none of them particularly amazing. I knew the melody was special, but couldn’t figure out what the hell to make of it. It sounded like something that had already existed in the world or had been around for many years, and it’s hard to write a song that already feels like it’s been written.

I wrote dozens of verses searching for a single idea that would kick the pieces around and give me something to work with. The more I tried to force the pieces to fit, the more they appeared as just that – pieces. So, the song sat around for a while in parts as many other songs came and went over the years. It is amazing what little of a song can survive in memory.

INSPIRATION

When I’m writing I usually just fool around till something interesting happens. I have no desire to compose fully formed ideas. I am happiest when I’m writing freely and surprising myself with things I wouldn’t normally do. I never sit down and say, “I’m going to write a country song, or I’m going to write a ballad.” I don’t ever really sit down to write songs at all. I walk around, wash dishes, play guitar and piano, meditate, go out on a run or exercise. Lately I sing songs to my newborn son. I make up ten or so songs a day just trying to entertain him.

I keep my notebook or a guitar nearby so I can get ideas down quickly when something interesting happens. And when I don’t have either on me, like when I’m in the car or on an airplane, I sing into the phone (Don’t do this while driving, I once totalled my car this way and captured the entire accident on voice memo)

Sometimes a fussy song that won’t form just needs a new instrument to inspire it. In the fall of 2023, I got married and was quickly back on the road for the Western Cum US tour. I traded an amp for a Guild F512 12-string at a Music Go Round store in Aurora Colorado.

I tuned the guitar down a whole step, because it suits the tension and body of a jumbo 12-string better. Then I dropped a capo on the 7th fret, made a C shape – click – it was like a door had been unlocked. The easiness I had been searching for had finally revealed itself. I then sat down and wrote Bird On A Swing in ten or so minutes on Thanksgiving Day 2023.

Cory Hanson: “I am happiest when I’m writing freely and surprising myself with things I wouldn’t normally do.” Photo: Asal Shahindoust

LYRICS

The final lyrics for Bird On A Swing came together quickly once I had the chord changes and vibe finally nailed down. I don’t think I did more than one draft, which is unusual for me. I will usually write verse after verse playing with different ideas, but with this one the pieces really settled together and at that point it’s hard to take them apart again.

IN THE STUDIO

For this record I don’t think there were more than two or three takes for each song. We went into the studio completely unrehearsed; I would just pick out a song and we would play it a few times to get the feeling right then do a live take. The vocals you hear were recorded live with the 12-string acoustic guitar, bass and drums.

The whole record has a very organic feel to it because I recorded the whole album live, so my voice is completely natural. I wanted to produce something honest, just three musicians responding to the song and what it needed in the moment.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Bird On A Swing took four years to write because I let it run free in my mind while I was busy working on other things. I was writing so many songs I couldn’t count them, and the tune got lost in that. But great songs always come back, and you gotta let them travel the back roads of your mind for a while till they can magically appear again.

Bird On A Swing by Cory Hanson is out now and will be followed by the album I Love People on 25 July via Drag City coryhanson.bandcamp.com

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