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about
Songwriter Magen Tracy says, “Try to Be Free” was written on the heels of our last album, Long Fuse Burning, and we originally planned to record it at Q Division Studios in spring of 2020. I was newly pregnant at the time, and hyper-aware that my free time was about to become much more limited. Then the pandemic hit and turned everything upside down. Unlike some folks who threw themselves into making art at that time, I turned inward, and shut down a bit; this happens a lot when I’m going through an emotional time–it’s not until after I’m through it that I’m able to write or create from the emotions I’m experiencing.
Luckily for this tune, not all of my bandmates had the same reaction. Mike Oram (our guitar player, and the song’s producer) threw himself into writing and recording for himself and others during that time, and made it his mission to get this song out to the world. The recording started with guitar in his home studio, then made its way to Tamora Gooding’s Boom Boom Studios where she tracked her own drums, and back to me for scratch vocals. Mike continued to layer guitars, mellotron, and I’m not even sure what all else while we waited for a time that the rest of us could track our parts.
That finally happened in June of 2021: with enough of us vaccinated and Q Division reopened, Sam, Stud, and I went in to lay down bass, violin, and vocals, respectively, with Ed Valuaskas (our producer for Long Fuse Burning). This was a hugely emotional day. It was the first time we’d all seen each other in person in over a year, a bittersweet final session at a beloved studio about to close its doors and move to a new location, and, for me, my first time really spending a full day away from my new baby and focusing on music again.
When I listen to the song now, I hear all this at once–our excitement writing and playing it in the before-times; the devastation when that all went away; the musical love letters we sent to each other throughout the pandemic; the joy of meeting up again at Q; and the triumph of pulling it all together on the other side. I also hear all the ways the song, and our lives, have changed throughout that time. It didn’t start out that way, but “Try To Be Free”, for me, has become about freedom not from an ex-lover, but from a previous state of mind, and about embracing whole-heartedly what’s next.
lyrics
Now that it’s over
Can we just admit this was something
Trading always for sometimes
And drinks for apologies
Losing ourselves in a night that turned into a morning Telling each other we’re better off finally free
Now I can’t breathe when you’re around
I could never get up when you’re down
Take it in stride, turn it around
Try to be free
Now that you’re better
Can we just move on and move forward
Staying out after midnight
But still coming home before dawn
Hoping we left with our dignity knowing that
Feeling so right doesn’t making less wrong
I could never get up when you’re down
Take it in stride, turn it around
Try to be free
Moving ourselves up to the line
I could never be wrong when you’re always so right
And I won’t leave here to tonight
And try to be free
Now that it’s over
Can we just admit this was something
Knowing we stuck the landing
And you were my last great affair
I could never get up when you’re down
Take it in stride, turn it around
Try to be free
Moving ourselves up to the line
I could never be wrong when you’re always so right
And I won’t leave here to tonight
And try to be free
credits
released July 27, 2022
Magen Tracy, vocals
Mike Oram, guitars, mellotron, backing vocals
Stud Green, violin, backing vocals
Sam Spencer, bass
Tamora Gooding, drums
Written by Magen Tracy
Produced by Mike Oram with Additional Production by Ed Valauskas
Recorded by Mike Oram at Boonemusic, Ed Valauskas at Q Division Studios, and Tamora Gooding at Boom Boom Studios
Mixed and Mastered by Pat DiCenso
Graphic Design and Photography by Jenny Bergman (Secret Bureau of Art and Design)
Magen Tracy & The Missed ConnectionsBoston, Massachusetts
Magen Tracy & the Missed Connections are a fierce, feminist five-piece from Boston, MA soulful vocals, poignant songwriting,
and piano-driven pop-rock with a dash of sleazy swagger and alt-country twang. In the words of one fan: “It’s like if Tori Amos and Lucinda Williams made out.”...more
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