Influenza with Daniel James of Leopold and his Fiction

Approach Influenza as a series which serves to help give insight as to where music is born; these are the thoughts, influences and the inspirations directly from the mind of the artists. Here, Daniel James of Leopold and His Fiction introduces a track from the band’s new album, Ain’t No Surprise. Throughout his description, James touches on the root of the song’s sound, what the lyrics mean to him and the song’s noteworthy reception in Oklahoma.

On “Come Back (Now That I’m Here)”:

In this case, I believe it was easier to write the song than it is to figure how each element of the puzzle pieced itself together. What may be easier to determine is which well influence was drawn from and possibly give a taste of the overwhelming lurid water the song emerged from. The music and arrangement of the song is a conglomerate of mid-sixties bop, a remembering of Love’s “7 and 7 Is,” with a blast of Motown jangling. It is derived from the reoccurring agglomeration of my past 27 years.

I’ve been listening to the ground swell and cement embody a trust, that spits out most of the commotion I try to wrap into a meaningful tale. Meaningful to who else? I don’t know. It means a lot to me. I find the best stories are the real ones. This to me is a real one… The words sum up nicely. I’m gone all the time. This time I know it may have been the last you let me walk out that door unnoticed, but because I don’t want to crawl through your window seeing that this window acknowledges the odds I put us at, as a result of the situation I inevitably put us in, how about just not changing the locks on the door? This one last time. I would also prefer to not have to crawl through any window, because I will get hurt on broken glass or arrested. You know what? You might as well not even leave because I’m here and when I am here, I am here. I swear. The moral of the story, the protagonist of this tale, is this fact. I am not going anywhere at all and you need to be here with me too, for right now.

The rhythm section belts out fragments strung together with a rye intervention and elbow grease gear shifting. Guitars confidently banter where horn arrangements would most likely reside. “Come Back” was written on acoustic guitar and all that other shit was added later. It’s a fun song; people like to dance to it. I love it when people dance to any ideas I’ve had. It allows for growth, dancing being a positive gesture… in most of the places we’ve played it is a positive gesture. It is not a positive gesture in Tulsa. I would insist on wearing a helmet so any untamed flying limbs don’t bomp you right on the head, or I might suggest just playing an album on a record player at a moderate volume when in Tulsa. The rest of Oklahoma I cannot say, I haven’t lent any of our touring time to their degenerate dancer. However I have spent time with some of their big fish in their small ponds. They’ve led me to believe their dancing isn’t any better than their attitudes. I’ll let you know our next time around.

Also: Kentucky Slang & Detroit Grit – Leopold and His Fiction