Lyrics
Hey princess, put on your armorHide that hole where you had a heart
You have everything you need, but something is wrong
And you just don’t know where to start
If you must raise your voice in anger
At your love then he’s not for you
And if you have to shout to be heard
No that’s not what love’s about
You know that’s not what love’s about
So after all your prince turned out to be a fool
And your kingdom doesn’t feel so limitless to you
When you run away to find someone new
Run to me and I’ll run to you
Bring your horses, your catapults too
Bring your armies of men sworn to follow you
When those knights fail you and your days darken too
You can run to me and I’ll run to you
I said you can run to me and I’ll run to you
“Once upon a time” is wherever you are
And “happy ever after” is here in your arms
“Long ago and far away” is over and through
Run to me and I’ll run to you
Copyright © 2012 Karl Ward
Release Info
“Hey Princess” was featured in MTV’s World of Jenks, in the season 2 finale!- Release: Hey Princess
- Artist: Ghost Ghost
- Format: Digital single
- Date: February 15, 2013
- Links: Bandcamp, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Youtube, Last.fm
- Personnel:
- Karl Ward: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electronic drums, floor tom, lead and harmony vocals, synth
- Kevin Peckham: electric bass, harmony vocals, mixing, synth
- Mark Christensen: electric guitar
The cover art is derived from a picture of artist Neysa McMein marching in a suffrage parade.
Writing notes
I wrote this song in December 2011 and January 2012, mostly on trains moving back and forth between New Jersey and New York City. The inspiration for the song came from MakerBot, who asked Ghost Ghost to write a song for an upcoming video they had in production. They had a tight deadline and unfortunately the song was not ready in time for use in their video, but we continued working on the song until it was finished in September 2012.Aside from the band, Alice Boone and Adam Chimera were gracious and helpful during the early stages of my songwriting, as they listened hard to my early demos. At some point Alice taught me about chiasmus, which in retrospect I realize may have been an attempt at psychoanalysis. I’m watching you, Boone.
Recording notes
Recording was done asynchronously in River Vale, San Antonio, and Shoreham. Kevin mixed it, and it was mastered at West West Side.Choose Your Own Adventure
Here’s the text of my reply to Matt Griffin from MakerBot when they initially asked us for a song:Short answer: Of course we’ll do it. With whom do we coordinate? What is the time frame? Do you have general musical advice for us in mind (e.g. “it should sound like Arcade Fire”, lyrics vs. instrumental, it should sound high tech) or something more specific?
Long answer, AKA better answer: When you reach the foot of Ghost Ghost MakerBot Mountain, you see a pathway winding up the mountain, while another path leads directly toward a cave whose entrance is 20 feet below. The sound of drums echoes from the cave. Is that thunder in the mountain sky? Yes. A bad storm approaches, better make up your mind. Do you:
a) Take the pathway winding up the mountain, braving the elements? Turn to page 10. b) Rest for the night in the cave? Turn to page 32. c) Turn back (who are you to think you could climb this mountain anyway)? Turn to page 61.
Page 10: Finding a strange stone escalator carved out of the mountain itself, you ascend Ghost Ghost MakerBot Mountain and are greeted by Metallica, Lou Reed, and the NY Philharmonic playing “Theme from The Legend of Zelda.”
Page 32: Those weren’t drums you heard, they were the churning gears of a ski lift that has been refashioned into an anti-gravity zip line. You ascend Ghost Ghost MakerBot Mountain while Sting and the Park Slope Children’s Choir sing “Paddling Ghost” by Dan Deacon. Sting beat-boxes the drum parts, but you could have guessed that.
Page 33: Hey! No peeking!
Page 61: What’s that? Ghost Ghost was right behind you the whole time? Gosh, this will be easy after all. The sheer magnitude of sound coming from the wall of amplifiers pushes you up Ghost Ghost MakerBot Mountain within seconds. The tune? “You Shook Me All Night Long,” AC/DC. You always loved that song.