On Talking To Girls - Bella Donna

Have a listen to Bella Donna, won't you please?



Many of my songs deal with themes of trying to talk to girls. I'm not some sort of smooth operator or anything, but I do force myself to talk to girls when I see 'em, because I've learned that you'll never get anywhere by NOT seizing those opportunities.

A friend of mine asked me to host a musicians showcase in L.A. I donned a suit, dialed up my lounge, and did it with aplomb. It was a quiet night but I was fascinated by the beauty working the door. She had long brown curls and deep brown eyes. She was clad in black and had these crazy knee high steel toed boots. For lack of a better word she was "goth". And she told me her name was Belladonna (which of course, means Beautiful Woman).

You drew a pentagram upon my hand
I thought it looked more like an
anarchy symbol and
so I stood near where you stand


In between my band introductions, I would go and akwardly talk to her. One of my questions was, "What's your favorite holiday" to which she blithely replied, "Halloween. But every day is like Halloween to me." So dark. It was kind of funny and as I was driving home I rolled that line around in my mind. "You say every day is Halloween. I know just what you mean." That didn't quite flow correctly, so I changed it to "don't know what you mean". That not only flows better, but in my opinion, adds a sense of longing to the song. This line is the refrain, and the crux of the song.


conversation was pretty good i guess
but there's just one thing that i've
gotta confess

You say every day is Halloween
Bella Donna
I don't know what you mean

We've got some subject/verb disagreement here. Shouldn't it be, "I don't know what you meant?" Maybe. But that doesn't rhyme. I peppered the rest of the song with this same dissonance and I would say that this is sort of the "high concept" of the song. In the first verse you've got the "so I stood near where you stand". Again, sacrificing gramatical correctness for a rhyme. The first verse lines were written to sound the most nasal and whiny, which suits my nasal and whiny voice. Lots of "n" sounds.

Engaged in a furtive flirt
I complimented you on your skirt
and those boots look like
they could hurt

Like to get to know you could I call you on the phone
But first there's something that I feel needs to be known


Lots more of the "n"s and alliteration. As I have stated, I'm not a poet. I do like the sounds of words, especially rhymes, alliteration and consonance. Reading through this draft, I'm noticing a lot of that as well. Apparently, when I was a kid, I had a habit of answering my parents in rhymes. "Go to sleep." "I'll count some sheep". So, I guess my brain just works in that way.


[2nd chorus]

Whistle solo

My fascination with vocal harmonies (largely a result of my exposure to Doo Wop music via Frank Zappa) comes through in this song. I don't know enough about music theory to tell you exactly how I'm harmonizing (pretty sure it's just major thirds during the verse and a 13 during the last time through the chorus), but I'm just singing what sounds right. Years and years of trying to harmonize with everything I listen to makes it relatively easy for me to do on the fly. The whistle solo, warmed by the harmonies, is quite dear.

The recording for this song was done in my high ceilinged room in L.A. I love how the sound bounces around the room. For a mic, I used the one on my video camera and recorded into my friends DAT. You can hear police sirens in the background during the first chorus and some car horns honking later. I've recorded this song several times since, but nothing captures the sweetness of this recording in arrangement, mix and performance.

I drew as close to you as I could dare
I became entangled inside your hair
it don't suck to get stuck there


This actually happened during our conversation. This girl had wild hair and it totally caught me. Also, one of my favorite lines. When I play this song with my homeboys Derek and Sean, it seems to be recast in the mode of an Irish brogue.


Your eyes are the deepest brown
that I'm swimming in 'em
and couldn't care if I drown

This is, simultaneously, one of the best and worst lines. It's sweet and poetic, but it doesn't make sense. What kind of liquid is brown? Don't think about it too hard. What can I say? I'm a sucker for pretty eyes.

And I never really learned just what she mean

Subject/Verb tense!

The chords for the song were definetly written around the chorus. The name "Bel-la Don-na" has a natural rhythm to it that allows for the breaks in the song. The opening chords of C to A minor is a classic, 50's style progression heard in songs like the "Twin Peaks" opening theme.

As for the rest of the chords, there wasn't much futzing with that. The melody and words naturally dictated them and I remember writing the chords 5 minutes or so before I recorded it.

After the show, Bella Donna got picked up by her boyfriend on his motorcycle. I never asked her for her phone number or anything like that, but as I said, the evening was on my mind.

So this song is basically a recounting of the evening with Bella Donna with one aspect changed; I knew exactly what she meant.