Released August 12, 2022
Genres: Hypnagogic pop, reggae, new jack swing
Beach Stroll has an incredibly long story. The first recording of it I can find dates back to July 6th, 2017, in the Summer before I went into 9th grade! I somehow came up with these incredible chords that generally move IV-I around the circle of fifths for most of the song. As such the song kind of has no key signature. This first recording is just a backing track I made on my Mom's old piano and me soloing over the chords. The song was originally made to be for a beach area in a Pokémon Emerald romhack I was making at the time, I made the MIDI file a few days later on July 12th. Maybe eventually I'll upload the audio file to this site. (side note, I also made a version of it for a romhack of Super Mario World I was making at the time.) Even in that form, the song felt very poppy in nature, so I decided to put lyrics and a melody to it. I found a recording of myself with the lyrics for verse two from June 28, 2018, so I was probably writing it around that time. I made it on Garageband at some point. Then, once I got Logic, I remade it AGAIN on there, on Apr 18, 2019. Once I got the general idea for the album in September 2021, (detailed more on my page for Dream That I Had), I knew I had to reproduce and rerecord the song so that it sounded fine with the rest of the album. So, in total, that makes at least 5 DAW projects dedicated to various versions of this song from 2017 to 2021.
The lyrics of the song are basically just me infodumping about the beach at Santa Cruz, California. I used to go there every few weeks, so the setting is basically burned into my mind - the pier, the promenade, the palm trees, the seafood restaurant, and of course, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, which does not appear in the song. Basically every lyric in the song has a specific spot on the beach I imagine, for example, when thinking about the sea spray against the rocks, my mind always imagines the rocks underneath the wharf there. The song means a lot to me because of that, it's a setting from my childhood that I have very fond memories of. Maybe I should write about that more often.
I'd like to think I did this beach justice in the production, it's some of my favorite on the album. The strings, best heard on this preview of the song I released on my Instagram, are probably my favorite element about the song. Another thing I'd like to highlight is the vocal layers on the final "vacation" around 2:56. I have 12 lead vocal tracks, 6 more in that group that chime in for "vacation", 14 background "ahhhs" that run through the chorus, 14 more vocals in the same background tracks saying "cation", and then I bounced all of those and added spiraling dub delay on them. All of this adds up to 92 vocals for that one moment.
Lyrics
Verse 1:
Down the pier towards the shore
My feet are burning, how about yours?
Take a rest, sit on the bench
Beat the heat while we catch our breath As we rest in the shade
The waves crash and we get sprayed
Laugh it off, it's alright
We didn't come to the beach to stay dry We're on the move, waves lappin' at our toes
Love the salty ocean air fillin' up my nose
Love the way your silhouette stands against the sun
Wish I, wish I could tell you you're the one Corny as it sounds, you make my time at the beach much better
I'm never wishing for raincoat or sweater weather
I just need you holding hands with me Chorus:
Strolling at the beach
Warm sand underneath our feet
Gazing into the sea
Got no destination
Among our wet location
We just want a great vacation Just strolling at the beach
Ocean within our reach
Sky turning shades of peach
Sea spray against the rocks
I'm lost within my thoughts
As we're walking past the docks Verse 2:
Normally I'd sit at home, windows locked, AC on
But I feel much cooler with you here
You live just down the street come here like every week,
Know the food well, make me feel new here We sit on the promenade drinkin' icy lemonade, freshly made,
Spend our day with this view here
Ooh yeah, I got no qualms in the shade of the palms,
Just as long as I got you here Bridge:
We find a cajun place to eat
And sit outside in the waning heat
And give a rest to our aching feet As we wait for our food to arrive
You look me in my eyes
Everything, you say, is better when you're with me
And of course I agree Chorus:
Strolling at the beach
Warm sand underneath our feet
Gazing into the sea
Got no destination
Among our wet location
We just want a great vacation Just strolling at the beach
Ocean within our reach
Sky turning shades of peach
Sea spray against the rocks
I'm lost within my thoughts
As we're walking past the docks