If I had a choice and I do
It would prove melodramatic
Swear to God I’d never save myself
But it’s true
It’s hard enough to
Compose and panic
And pierce the static too
See the world revolve around you
All our lies of consequence were fallin’ down… under and over
All that we arranged as common sense, but who knew?
It’s hard enough to worship a relic
And wax angelic too
See the world revolve around you
Watch the ashes fall around you
R. M. Goetz - lead and rhythm guitars, bass, vocals
Jennifer Schmidt - drums, vocals and harmony
If I Had A Choice
The original mix of this song was done friday Sept. 14, 2001. I had the chord progression for this song for a while but I just couldn't find any inspiration for lyrics. In those first few days after the attacks there wasn't much else to think about so I didn't so much write lyrics as channel my fear, rage, and paranoia into the vocal mike at Barbecue Bob's. The mix Rob and I came up with that friday sounded like Jim Dickinson and Alex Chilton circa "Like Flies On Sherbet" getting Billy Bragg shit-faced drunk and torturing him through the vocal. The rhythm guitars lurch along unsynched, the lead solo's a mess, and what I thought was a great idea (screaming the chorus in a high falsetto) doesn't exactly... work. So of course we scrapped it.
