Song Deconstructed: ‘Conspiracy Theory’ by Makena Hartlin

Makena Hartlin: “I had this concept vaguely in a note on my iPhone since 10/9/2022.”

Believe that Earth is flat, Elvis is alive, and Apollo 11 was a Hollywood hoax? This song is for you!

Growing up in a quiet suburban town near Chicago, and now making her way in Nashville, Makena Hartlin is a singer and songwriter with an alluring and imaginative way of telling stories through song and a voice as pure as morning dew that would stop even the most disinterested ear in their tracks. During our recent trip to Music City, we had the pleasure of spending a morning with Hartlin as she took part in a co-writing session with fellow Illinoisian Maura Streppa, gaining a rare glimpse into how the magic happens.

Learn more about our Nashville issue featuring Makena Hartlin

Mesmerised by Hartlin’s ability to turn the everyday into something both universal and ethereal, we were keen to find out even more about her process, and her latest single Conspiracy Theory provided us with the chance to do just that. Here, she breaks down the constituent parts to reveal the emotional core of a song that’s best listened to with a tin foil hat firmly in place…

INSPIRATION

I am typically a concept/title/idea-first songwriter and Conspiracy Theory was no different. I came up with the vague idea and title around 2022. Being fresh off of COVID lockdown times, I think the whole idea of “conspiracy theorists” must have been circulating in my brain; back when we were seeing how people were creating the most outlandish explanations for the awful and traumatic time that was thrust upon humanity.

As a songwriter, I think it struck me as a metaphor for just how wild our brains can run and grasp any sort of confirmation bias, we can grab onto, so long as it leads us to the desired conclusion. I thought it could be applied just as easily to interpersonal relationships as it typically is to the world at large. Especially when reality doesn’t reflect back to us what we’re so sure of (someone feeling the same towards you), we will cling to any evidence that points to the outcome that we so badly want to be true. I had this concept vaguely in a note on my iPhone since 10/9/2022 where it sat for almost a year. I didn’t yet know the tone or mood of how I wanted the delivery to be. Sometimes that takes more time.

Makena Hartlin: “We definitely strayed away from the weight of how dark and sinister some conspiracies can be.”

LYRICS

I had a session with another fabulous artist and writer in town, Taylor Bickett. On the day of our writing session, I had a feeling this would be a great idea to bring to her because of her laser-sharp lyrical style and pop sensibilities. I came in with a first verse and chorus lyric already written. At the time what I had written had no melody yet, and no chords figured out. I had this written in my notes as the first draft:

Verse:
I could be convinced
We’re walking on a flat Earth
The history books have all been burned
And we never really landed on the moon
There’s spies inside our cameras
Dinosaurs were made up
There’s aliens among us
And the rapture will be coming for us soon
Pre-chorus:
To any sane person I bet I sound like that
When I say I know you’re coming back 

Chorus:
And I know you’re holding on
I’m still in your dreams
You didn’t really mean it when you
Let me down gently
One day you’ll change your mind
And come running back to me
That’s one conspiracy theory
I’m crazy enough to believe 

After a couple of hours with Taylor, we made the verses with all the funny examples a lot catchier than I initially had them, and the chorus seemed to POP more with the way it ended up. We did sort of follow the roadmap I had initially laid out. The delivery ends up being sort of a cheeky, funny, sarcastic mood instead of something heavy and serious.

We definitely strayed away from the weight of how dark and sinister some conspiracies can be. I think it needed that comedic aspect to it, to display how ridiculous we all sound sometimes when we are so certain that someone feels the way we want them to feel about us – especially after they have made it clear they do not. But hey! There’s always that chance… right?

MUSIC

We wrote this acoustically just with guitars and the melodies seemed to pour out easily once we had the layout of the lyric. This song is very lyric-centred, so we had to make sure there was enough breathing room to sing for this word-dense of a song. It felt good to sing from the start, which is always a good sign to me as the artist that it will be a song I want to play out and eventually record.

Makena Hartlin: “I am happy to finally have this really fun, clever, poppy song out in the world.”

IN THE STUDIO

When I showed this to my producer, Tyler Chester, in LA, he thought the second verse was a bit too short and could use more lines, so I added in another half of a second verse quickly before we recorded. It was:

You’re hiding your true feelings
And Elvis is still in the building
The government’s watching you sleeping
And I’m still the one you’re dreaming of 

I recorded and sang it live with Tyler on bass, me behind the vocal booth and playing acoustic, and James McAllister on drums. We had so much fun tracking – a few overdubs later and BGVs that I recorded with Amy Rivera afterwards, and we had a finished song!

FINAL THOUGHTS

I am happy to finally have this really fun, clever, poppy song out in the world. Whenever I play it live, I usually get people who come up to me and mention it afterwards. Everyone always seems to love the mention of “batteries in the birds”. That ended up being part of the visuals for the song as well!

It’s been out for a short time and I’ve received so much love for it. I think people love the unique concept and that it rings true for so many people they’ve had relationships with. I also love that the song leaves room for both outcomes to be true – you don’t know if he really is still in love with the singer or not. I think it encapsulates how emotions can be layered and delivered with humour, joyfulness, drama, and desperation all at once. It’s unlike any other song I have, which is always a good thing. I hope people enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it.

Conspiracy Theory by Makena Hartlin is out now and you can listen to it here: orcd.co/makenahartlinct

You can also read about our co-writing session with Makena in the latest issue of our magazine

Read more Song Deconstructed articles here

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