One day when the Doug-free trio version of ENB was practicing, between songs we were discussing what sort of additional instruments would be nice to add to certain songs.
Preston said, "Whatever you do, don't put a cello on 'Coffee Den,' it'll just make it sort of maudlin and sappy."
And on that note, I am pleased to introduce "Coffee Den" as the first of three songs on this album that include Tianna Kennedy (right) on cello.Fortunately for all of us, Tianna doesn't play the cello in a maudlin and sappy sort of way. She's able to add interesting colorations to the sound without making it blatantly "emotional."
Out of character
Frankly, Elastic No-No Band almost never plays this song live. It's not that it's necessarily a buzzkill, but when folks think of us, I don't think "portraits of isolated, lonely people" immediately pops into their head. (Maybe it does; we do have more than one song like this.)
After all, Phil Collins (left) had to cut down on performing lesser-known ballads during stadium shows because... well... frankly, people got bored."Play 'In the Air Tonight,' you twat!"
"Su-su-suddio! Not this!"
So usually when I make out a set list, this tune gets passed up. But that's the beauty of recording, because now the song gets it due, I think. I mean, it's not a lesser song of ours. It's just out of character.
Kierkegaard
When I went to see Tianna, after first giving her the work-in-progress recording of this song, she asked me which Kierkegaard book I thought the fellow in the song was reading."Is it Either/Or?" she asked.
Frankly, I don't know Kierkegaard, so I just nodded, smiled, and changed the subject.
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