Recording and Mixing Dates: Recorded November 3 and 17, 2016. Mixed November 17, 2016.

 

Genesis: I wrote this song during the 2008 FAWM (February Album Writing Month) and revised some of the words and music in December 2015.

As some of my previous songs show, I am drawn to film noir of the 1940s and 1950s, as well as books by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and James M. Cain. The lyrics document the interaction between a hardboiled detective and a suspect who has been threatened with the third degree. This takes place long before the reading of a suspect’s Fifth Amendment rights became a Supreme Court edict.

I particularly like this arrangement. The pedal steel guitar is a counterpoint to the distorted rhythm guitars. It reminds me of some of Neil Young’s darker albums from the mid-1970s.

Production: Bass Guitar, Electric Guitars, Pedal Steel Guitar, and Drums.

Lyrics

Before Night Falls

You dance around my questions

You hitch and then you slide

Your story keeps on changing

How much you have to hide

I’ve watched you picking fruit

From those poisoned trees.

You grift and lift and always drift

Doing as you please.

CHORUS:

I’ll have the truth

Before Night Falls

You’ll give it up

Before Night Falls

 

You’ve heard about my methods

This ain’t no spelling bee

Patience is no virtue

When it comes to me

To get along you’ll go along

Be my finger man

Point me to the others

Mixed up in this plan

CHORUS

 

Take it on the heel and toe

Find me what I need

With lots of ground to cover

Best show you’re up to speed

Failure is no option

Here on Curfew Street

I’ll watch what’s coming down

From my ringside seat

CHORUS

Copyright 2016 Fred Grittner All Rights Reserved