Chords for Songwriting with Nai Palm - Hiatus Kaiyote

_ _ _ [Cm] _ _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _ [Dm] _
_ _ _ [Bm] _ I have been writing music since
I was 13 years [D] old.
Motivation is talent.
[Dm] _ [G] You have the motivation to work on your [D] craft
before you get better at it.
The hardest thing is [Dm] you create something,
it is like a baby.
[A] To be able [Am] to make that transition
within your own ego to hand it over to people
to workshop is massive.
_ It usually comes from something so personal.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ It comes from a place of love. _
It is a place of trust.
I have been writing music since I was 13.
I have been writing music since I was 13.
I have been writing music since I was 13.
It has been a really amazing evolution
and learning curve of _ _ trusting the musicians
that I work with
and _ [G] allowing them [Am] to bring to it
their own emotion.
In the arrangement side of things,
how can you write something tasteful
that shows off everybody's skill
without it being
them showing off?
_ _ _ When _ _
_ _ _ [A] you write
[B] in [D] _ sections
_ [Dbm] and [Bm] then tie it together,
[Dm] that is how you can [Am] bring everybody's flavours together. _
_ _ [A] Something that someone wrote in their bedroom
[Gm] might be the missing piece
of [Dm] three quarters of a song you have over here.
I have [Dbm] _
[Dm] been _ _ writing music since I was 13. _ _
_ _ _ I have been writing music since I was 13.
Predominantly, I was raised
on Stevie Wonder records
which [Em] _ is why there is [D] such a heavy soul [Dbm] element
[Dm] in the writing.
You can listen [G] to a flamenco record
from the other side of the world
and not speak [Dm] Spanish
and be able to feel
the grief that goes into it.
[D] Try not to write music
[Bm] that you think other [D] people will like.
_ [Bm] Because you are already selling yourself short.
[D] What people really like
[Dm] is to be surprised.
_ Sometimes [D] if you have a formula
then [Dm] it is too set
[Am] and your music can become rigid.
_ The whole thing [Dm] about art is that it is elusive
and you never [Am] really want to get there.
_ _ _ _ _ [Dm] _ _ _
_ _ _ [A] _ [Bm] You have come [C] here [G] wounded [Dm] _ .
the way things are.
If you can [Bm] educate yourself sonically
_ [C] , [Dm] you have so much more to work with
as far as your [B] understanding
of the way things interact
and how they work [D] with each other.
The _ _ [A] chorus of it
, [Bm] I wanted to make the vocals sound like
they had been reversed _
without actually relying on a pedal .
Trying to emulate something that would be
sampled [D] but play it live.
_ [Bb] _ [G] _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
[D] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [D] I think certain music [Bm] genres
belong to certain people
but the thing is
people are [D] tapping into a frequency
and that translates
all around the [A] world .
There are so many similarities between
Rajasthani folk music and flamenco
and they might seem like polar [Bm] opposites
but [Gb]
there are always amazing [Bm] threads
[F] even in the most _ [Db] obscure of [Eb] genres.
_ _ _ [Db] _
_ _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ [Bbm] _ _
[Db] _ _ _ _ [Gm] _ [Fm] _ _ [Bbm] _
[Eb] _ _ _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _
[E] _ _ [Eb] _
I will [Ab] follow you
[Fm] into the _ [C] sunrise .
[Eb] _ _
_ _ _ [Ab] _ We thought [Eb] _ _ [E] we would never be Grammy
[Ab] nominated, we have been together for three years
and you think you get used to all the [Eb] crazy industry and things
and your idols [Ab] liking your music,
but you just never get [Fm] used to it.
_ [C]
And I guess it's because the intention wasn't to
make [F] it big, it was just [Db] to kind of _ [Eb] make music.
[Db] The track in question, _ [Eb] Nakamura, [Db] that was nominated,
_ [Eb]
I recorded the [Ab] vocals [Bbm] in a tiny room into a mattress
[Cm] and I [Db] had to do takes in between trucks going past.
[Eb] _
[Db] Like literally.
_ [Eb] ♪ I do, _ [Ab] _
_ Nakamura.
_ [Eb] ♪
♪ Sweet red [Ab] earth will hold you like the spring.
♪
[Em] I mean, the [Fm] industry in general has changed massively
in such a short amount of time because of social networking.
_ Because there's no [Gm] barrier.
You can directly [Ab] have, you know,
you can [Fm] directly find [C] your demographic _ [Db] with the [Ab] internet.
♪ They may be, [Abm] we'll see in time.
♪
We have a hundred [Ab] percent creative freedom, _
like literally mixing it ourselves and recording it
in a home studio because [Db] that's what works for us.
Like people tend to think like, once you've made it big
and you have all this pressure,
you have to like [F] _ put all this money into working
with pot shop [Eb] producers.
But it's like, [Bb] [Fm] if people are already recognizing you
for your art and what you do, [Gm] like [Db] that's it.
10 years ago, you [Eb] know, 20 years ago,
the only way you could [C] get airplay
or you could get people to hear your music
is if you bribe a [Ab] DJ. _
And radio is still really important.
♪ [Gm] [Ab] You and [Db] I [C] _ [Gm] _ _ [C] know it [Ab] sets our hearts afire.
♪
So [Db] Nakamura is [G] a skin name that was given to my friend,
[Db] Hannah, who was [G] working in a really [C] remote community
in the desert [Ab] called Kintore.
As soon as [C] you become too political with something
and try and force feed an idea,
people already shut off from it.
So I guess I wanted to _ _ [Ab] incorporate
_ [Fm] _ [G] a tiny element of indigenous culture
in a really positive [Db] way.
_ _ That is an invasive, I guess.
The people, _ [Eb] indigenous mob out there,
like some of the most warm, [Db] hilarious,
like [Gm] the humor out there is so [F] beautiful.
I just wanted to, _ [Eb] _ [Fm] without being too [G] intense,
showcase that [E] lightness.
♪ Hannah, my [Em] darling, [Eb]
I will [Ab] follow you into [Fm] the [C]
sunrise.
_ _ [Ab] _ ♪
You kind of keep working at something
and it could be completely cohesive
and it isn't [Eb] until you get the last [E] pieces together
that you're like, oh, it's an actual song.
Because we like to challenge ourselves so [Ab] much,
there's nothing specific that you can [Eb] reference,
which is terrifying.
[Ab] _ Because of working with other musicians,
it's just become something else.
It just hits you.
_ [Fm] _ So the fact that the new record has the ability
to make me cry is probably a good thing.
♪ _ [F] _
_ [Eb] _ _ [Db] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, [Dm] [Eb] yeah.
_ [Bbm] ♪ _
_ _ _ [Ebm] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ Thank you. _ _ _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _