Breaking Down "Smash Smash Bang" Part 5.

So, the last song on the EP is called "Ghosts in the Radio."

Me and Stine wrote the original music in the studio together. I was noodling around on the guitar and wrote the hook-guitar part. Stine programmed some crazy drums to go with it and played the bass line and the organ part. I played the guitar part in the verses too.

Sentence and I wrote our verses and came in and laid them down -- at that point, though, the song was like a minute and a half long. It was just intro-verse-hook-verse-hook. We knew that we needed something else, and wanted to do something (in keeping with the whole mentality of the EP) weird and different. So Stine brought in Grey, who plays keys in the live band, to help us write another section.

Neither Sentence or I was there when Grey came in to the studio, but we knew we wanted a honley-tonk kind of section. Apparently Stine say Grey down and showed him some videos of Jerry Lee Lewis playing for inspiration. And Grey proceeded to play every instrument in that section: piano, guitar, banjo, and organ. At the time, Stine's studio was like a Guitar Center or something. He had so many instruments in there it was ridiculous (and amazing).

So after the middle section was completed Sentence wrote the part that we yell and we came in and laid that down and then did a bunch of tracks of us screaming different things off-mic, trying to make it seem like it was recorded in a rowdy ass bar. If you listen closely in headphones you can hear some of the ridiculous things we were yelling. It was a very fun session.

And after all that was done, Stine put in some cool sound effects: more crowd noise, radio-frequency-noises, etc. And it was done, done, done.

We were very happy with the song because we felt like there had never been another hip hop song that sounded anything like it.

Here are the lyrics:

Leaned back in the car seat with the sun's heat and a six pack
And the crap work of a past tattoo artist boyfriend read live fast
And as the road cracked we acted like we were in on a secret
Under the summer sky on the highway made plans, acting like we believed it

We both would become runaways to Vegas, she could sing
And I'd deal blackjack and smoke cigerettes as the slot machines would ring
But I knew sh'd never do it, that night I kissed her when I left
And I drove the dream we shared right past the state line while she slept

Late night I hear the ghost on the radio
Last dance, I ain't never coming back
My love left a ghost in the radio
Can you hear that? Can you hear that?

My fingers were dirty from digging these graves. I was breaking my back for you.
And I would have robbed all the banks in Georgia if you had asked me to.
I gave you the necklace. Gave you the earrings. Gave you the matching pendant.
You said I was lazy. Said I was stupid. Said I would never get it.
You're shutting the door and killing the lights and turning the radio up.
We're keeping it quiet so your ma can't hear us making love.
I left on a Tuesday morning, packing while you slept.
And I ain't missed you for a single second yet.

Late night I hear the ghost on the radio
Last dance, I ain't never coming back
My love left a ghost in the radio
Can you hear that? Can you hear that?

Go where you want. You can't stay here. Hit the lights.
Thank you and goodnight.

Late night I hear the ghost on the radio
Last dance, I ain't never coming back
My love left a ghost in the radio
Can you hear that? Can you hear that?

And here is the song:




Holler.