Behind The Tracks: Iron Wings - Devil's Lullaby (Single) (2021)

Frequently asked question. What was first - music or text? 

It was even more unusual when Devil's lullaby was created. True, we never write music in a mess. Each piece has come differently but naturally. Either as a result of a life event, a revelation, or even a coincidence. In this case, the first music came which, with the help of a Shakespeare, found a long- forgotten text. 

Devil’s lullaby music was like an unexpected revelation. It was time after the album “Dzejnieks” ("Poet") was recorded in the studio. As if the work is done, but new ideas come and go, some are captured, some disappear as fast as they show up and then there is a click. Suddenly wake up in the middle of the night and realize that it is. Take a guitar and write down everything that comes to mind at that moment, and go to bed again to get up the next day and see what it is. And a lot of demo riffs were made for the song. After everything has been put on the shelves, work on the arrangements begins - the song enters the rehearsal room and is shown to the other members of the group. Explaining the idea and wishes of who is there and how it should be and each member of the group begins to put their work on arranging the song. We as a group have never wanted to put ourselves in a particular frame. We like to experiment with sound, its colours and atmosphere. This is exactly how the songs chorus was made full with the guitar overtone`s. The stage of the song after the drum solo part, where the guitar solo should have been according to the classical scheme of classical heavy metal music, also became very interesting. We jam in a rehearsal room and started playing the swing. And then that click happens again – “yes, that's what it needs!” Using this rhythm characteristic of the swing, the further part of the song was created, which was supplemented shortly before being recorded in the studio by a guitarist's unexpectedly invented solo riff. 

The lyrics went harder. As a lyricist, I do not want to create blank lines. I always want to put some deeper thoughts, messages, content. So one evening while working on the music for the song, I watched the 2000 film “Hamlet” starring Ethan Hawke and the way he expressed Shakespeare's famous phrase "to be or not to be" came to mind. At the same time, the idea was to connect the existing album “Dzejnieks” ("Poet") with the next one, which is yet to come. So the idea arose to continue the poet's path with various quotes in the following songs. True, not in all but still. The phrase "hell is empty and all the devils are here" was very appropriate with current world situation. 

The biggest turning point in the creation of the lyrics was an unexpected discovery. While scraping old papers, I stumbled upon almost 10years old text sketches. And there was one sketch that fitted very well both musically and with Shakespeare's quotes. Editing, changing and improving it created the current lyrics for the song "Devil's Lullaby".