“Excellent, that voice should be heard.”
Maddox nudged me. “You think you can handleKillingon this baby?”
Glancing to the side, I spied an acoustic guitar. “Is that a house instrument? Would I be able to use that?”
“Of course.” Grabbing the guitar from the stand, Fournier walked it over to us, and I motioned for Maddox to stand. I readjusted the bench and plucked at the strings. They were tuned to a different key than I wanted, so I changed them quickly, and plucked through them again.
Maddox’s eyebrows went up. “Really. That key?”
“I love the song. But I’ve always felt that in a minor key it would be more powerful. And if we’re going to do this acoustic, I wanted to try.”
He motioned for me to start the song when I was ready.
Killingwas one of the most popular songs Robot Servant had, and we played it every night on the tour. It was a Rand-Holland collab and a very powerful song. But I was dying to try this softer version. Plucking out the first two lines of the song, Maddox got the sound right away and took up the words at exactly the right moment.
“The day will come
You’ll be alone
By your own hand
By your own will
Nothing will keep the pain
From creeping in.”
I took up the harmony,low and quiet under Maddox’s strong voice.
“Blame me,
I am blameless
Shame me
The shame is yours
Claim me
It’s all a lie from you.”
The song was lacedwith anger, but Maddox pushed it out and let in the defiance and power that Holland had woven into the sound and lyrics. I joined him on the chorus and threw my voice high over his as we pounded it out.
“I will be gone
You’ll be there
Sitting on your throne
Of lies and thorns
Killing yourself
Killing your hope
Killing all life and joy
You might have had.”
