I'm Sorry I Laughed

Album: Burning like the Midnight Sun (2010)
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Songfacts®:

  • The Choir drummer Steve Hindalong writes their lyrics, so we asked him why he was sorry he laughed. Steve told us the story: "We were playing at a club in St. Louis back around '90. During our sound check, Dan Michaels (Choir sax, lyricon player) somehow lost his balance and fell off the stage. It must have been about 4 feet high, and he went down hard. We all laughed. Luckily he wasn't hurt, but he was quite shaken and his saxophone was badly bent. He had to find a repair shop on the road and wasn't able to play sax with us for several shows. I felt ashamed for laughing. Most humans, it seems, share the same dark trait - finding humor in the misfortunes of others. Why is it funny when someone slips on a banana peel? That seems to be the primary appeal of most reality TV. Why are the humiliation, ridicule and suffering of other people so entertaining to us?"
  • The slightly psychedelic sound of this song is similar to some of the earlier recordings by The Choir. Says Hindalong: "Back in the '80s we used to have to turn the 2-inch tape reel upside down to accomplish that. I have no idea what all he did, but yeah, it sounds great. I threw a thin blanket over my drums and played with mallets to get that muffled sound. Tim played bass thru a wah-wah pedal that I worked with my hands. We lifted the sax riff from our Chase the Kangaroo album. Dan's lyricon was truly emotive on the outro - maybe his best since 'More than Words' from our Shades of Gray EP in '86. Semi-psychedelic period? Sure. But that spirit is always alive!" (read more in our interview with Steve Hindalong)

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