Perpetual Emotion Machine
from The Unforetold / Released as a Single
2009
Like Lullabye, from Omega, I wrote this for my daughter. In fact, the words suggest I wrote it to her, almost like a conversation I was having with her in my mind. At the time I wrote this, I was separated from her by thousands of miles and only got to see her a couple of times a year.
The idea started as a poem — I don’t consider myself a poet, but I have written several. I was walking around my neighbourhood and passed by a house with a fence made of thick metal decorative chain. When my daughter lived with me, she was younger and would always point it out and say ‘Chain! Chain!’ It always reminded me of the Aretha Franklin song ‘Chain of Fools’. That memory stayed with me, insignificant as it may seem, but was particularly powerful when she wasn’t around. Many thoughts would come to me when I passed by that chain and processed my feelings.
So the poem came first, I wrote it in about 2 hours. Everything in the poem reflects my memories of a particular day when she was younger and we were out walking in the neighbourhood and out at the park, playing. The words are very literal — I was hoping to capture the happiest moments of that day freeze those moments in time. At the end, the lyric sets describe a picture each of us had of the other.
For the music, I was going for lazy-summer-day beats. I admit I was inspired by Kraftwerk in constructing the bassline, as it does rather sound like ‘Autobahn’. But what I find most intriguing about the way the music came out is that I was really attempting to make happy-sounding,peaceful and content even joyful music — all the chords are major, there are no minor chords. I added birdsong and environmental elements and poppy sequences. But the music somehow still sounds very sorrowful, and not just to me but to others who listened and didn’t even know the context. The ad-libbed vocalizing at the end even sounds like a lament. I can’t explain it, but it’s probably better that I don’t try.
Chain Chain Chain
Perpetual Emotion Machine
The original album version.
Credits
written, produced and arranged by Perpetual Emotion Machine. ©2009 Key.
Chain Chain Chain (Crunch-O-Dub)
Perpetual Emotion Machine
There are two remixes of this. The Crunch-O-Dub was an experiment to see how distorted I could make the music become before it was intolerable
Credits
written, produced and arranged by Perpetual Emotion Machine. remixed by OCIII. ©2009 Key.
Chained (Live Jamix)
Perpetual Emotion Machine
The Jamix is an experiment. I had pianist Archibald Macdonald play in the same key but not in the same tempo when I recorded his parts. He played at the tempo of the original song, but I sped up the timing when I remixed it. It really works — it’s loose and meandering. I cut up my vocals into little bits and then played them on the controller.
Credits
written, produced and arranged by Perpetual Emotion Machine. remixed by Perpetual Emotion Machine. keyboards by Archibald Macdonald. ©2009 Key.
Chain, Chain, Chain (2023 Live Mix)
Perpetual Emotion Machine
This version and the one below were recreated for a live performance, using the original source files, but with new mixing. Additionally, new piano parts were added which was the intention when the song was originally composed.
Chain, Chain, Chain (2023 Ambient Mix)
Perpetual Emotion Machine
The percussion has been removed on this version to highlight piano.
Credits
written, produced and arranged by Perpetual Emotion Machine. additional production by Key. ©2009/2023 Key.
Lyrics
chain, chain, chain a warn breeze flutters by black painted pickets along the beaten path walking hand in hand picking flowers by the roadside talking about the options of what to have for supper chain, chain, chain a buttercup in your hand cherries, hearts and rosebuds adorn your sunday best there's time for everything now the seconds and the days pass at ease for countless centuries with you chain, chain, chain a puddle ripples in the playground casting your reflection to the brilliant sky above the place we call our own so close to a home that has kept me from the thing I need to do chain, chain, chain a stain a yellow mark so plain on my denim jeans, reminding me you travel back and forth in time to the rhythm in my mind as we laugh and sing of nonsense chain, chain, chain a picture on my nightstand among the items strewn there in a fit of apathy it sits there every night and day awaiting my attention capturing the moment of the buttercup chain, chain, chain a picture on your wall hung one foot from the ceiling with four strips of sellotape from my nightstand I look through at you and you look back at me while Aretha hums the memory of that blissful summer's day