Get By by Elena Loper

TRACK CREDITS:

COMPOSITION:

-Music and lyrics (vocal melody, lyrics, and acoustic guitar parts): Elena Loper © 2018-2020
-Piano arrangement: Austin Dean (2021)

PERFORMANCE:

-Main vocals: Elena Loper (2020)
-Acoustic guitar: Elena Loper (2020)
-Background vocals: Elena Loper (2021)
-Percussion: Tai Taitano (2021)
-Piano: Austin Dean (2021)

RECORDING, MIXING, AND MASTERING:

-Vocals and acoustic guitar recorded and mixed by: Johnny Bregar of Brickyard Studio, -Bainbridge Island, WA (2020)
-Percussion, Piano, and background vocals recorded by: David Salonen at David Salonen’s Studio, and at the Fremont Abbey Arts Center (2021)
-Final recording mixed and edited by: David Salonen (2021)
-Mastered by: Ed Brooks of Resonant Mastering (2021)

LYRICS:

Will I get by
With the minister of the moon
Bestowing emotion to the coyote’s cry and the bird’s chatter

Will I get by
I quake and stumble and swoon
In the swell of the sound and the mountains
I thought the details wouldn’t matter

Will I get by
mining the moondust
Of the makers I have deified

Could he get by
With the soul of a Satyr
Stuck in the confines of suburbia

Will I get by
Conflating the man and the music
Suspended in euphoria

Will I get by
Mining the moondust
Of the makers I have deified

DESCRIPTION OF TRACK:
“Get By” is a love letter to the majesty and beauty of a mountain valley town in Washington, and the people who live there. It’s about the beginning, middle, and end of being enamored with both a place and a person. It’s about being swept up in a situation and a place you romanticize. There’s so much excitement and optimism and giddiness in something you romanticize…but this can slowly become delusion and denial if a situation isn't truly right for you.

This song became my favorite over the course of making this record. I was amazed by the percussion work Tai Taitano did on this track- he came in with some amazing ideas of how to emphasize certain rhythmic aspects of the song, and created the most beautiful layers of percussion and dynamics. Musician Austin Dean also came into the Fremont Abbey where we recording late one night. He recorded the most beautiful piano parts, giving the song a gorgeous counter-melody and giving it some grounded-low end and harmony on key down beats.

As this was my first solo album, and as the sole singer, songwriter, and guitarist, it was at times liberating to be making decisions on my own…and at other times paralyzing. It was wonderful to have people I love and trust, including David the engineer and musicians Tai and Austin bring ideas and move them forward. When Austin was playing piano, I lay down on the floor of the spacious and beautifully acoustic Fremont Abbey, listening to the sound of the piano and the song fill up the room. It was a wonderful night!