A year ago, Pharrell's auspicious blessing was only a dream for D.A. Wallach and Maxwell Drummey, both 21-year old Harvard seniors at the time. But when their demo found its way to Kanye West last December, Chester French quickly became one of the most hotly pursued new artists of the decade, attracting offers from Kanye, Jermaine Dupri, Pharrell and Jimmy Iovine. That same demo has become the basis for what will surely be the most talked about debut record of 2008.
Tentatively titled Love the Future, the album was written, arranged, produced and engineered entirely by D.A. and Max in their dorm's basement. Full of intricately imagined pop songs that fuse lush string arrangements with modern beats, it is the product of lifetimes of music making and listening.
D.A. was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has been a performer for as long as he can remember. His interests have shifted over time from magic to politics, comedy and drumming -- and finally to singing, songwriting and producing. Max is the product of Boston, Massachusetts and a strong musical upbringing, beginning classical piano lessons at three, studying jazz guitar, jazz and classical composition through high school, picking up further instrumental skills, and finally settling on pop music in college. While D.A. sings lead vocals and Max scores and plays the majority of instruments for Chester French, they work collaboratively on every detail from the first note to the final mix.
The two first met in their freshman year dining hall at Harvard. Along with three friends they formed the first incarnation of Chester French and the quintet quickly cut its teeth playing shows around campus and at Boston bars. At the end of the year, they won a local battle of the bands and, with only two days and $300 to spend, cut a five song EP aptly titled Chester French's First Love.
When school let out, D.A. and Max stayed in Cambridge for the summer, selling copies of the EP on the street by day and writing new songs by night. In their free time, they became engineers at the on-campus recording studio and became fascinated by record production. As they began to master the intricacies of recording, their energies solidified around a common goal: to try to create a classic album in the studio.
As a duo, Chester French worked for three years on Love the Future, making money on the side by engineering recording sessions for Boston area instrumentalists, rappers, and other bands. Finally, in May of 2007, D.A. and Max completed their recording and their degrees, in African American Studies and Social Anthropology, respectively.
Now based out of L.A., Chester French is putting the finishing touches on its epic first offering. Get ready to Love the Future.
Neal
Chester French Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But why did it take so long
Now your children they are grown
Wearing makeup and cologne
Working’s tired out your eyes
Yeah drinking milkshakes, eating fries
Grease your hair down, polish up your shoes
Get a girlfriend, take her to the zoo
Check your balance, paycheck’s coming through
Something’s going on my friend, it’s you
Days are turning into years
What a wonderful career
Now your children they are grown
And your wife is all alone
It’s time to find out where you’re at
Cuz we don’t want no heart attack
(Chorus)
The lyrics of Chester French's song "Neal" seem to be talking about the passage of time and how it affects our lives. The song discusses how time can fly by without us really taking notice, and how suddenly we find ourselves older, with children who have grown up and families that may be left behind. The song also touches on the theme of finding oneself, of taking a moment to reflect on where we are in life and if we are taking care of ourselves and those around us.
The first verse of the song references a song that "everybody knows" but wonders "why did it take so long" - this could be interpreted as a nod to the fact that we often don't fully appreciate things until much later in life. The second verse speaks to the toll that work and time can take on us, leading to tiredness and unhealthy habits like eating fast food. The bridge reminds the listener to check in with themselves to make sure they are not ignoring important aspects of their lives like their health and relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
Everybody knows this song
This song is very popular and well-known among people.
But why did it take so long
Despite being a popular song, it took a long time for it to become well-known.
Now your children they are grown
Your children have grown up and are now adults.
Wearing makeup and cologne
They are now adults and have started taking care of their appearance, using makeup and cologne.
Working’s tired out your eyes
Working for long hours has led to exhaustion and tiredness in your eyes.
Yeah drinking milkshakes, eating fries
To cope with work stress, you resort to unhealthy food habits and consume milkshakes and fries.
Grease your hair down, polish up your shoes
You want to appear well-groomed, hence you use hair grease and polish your shoes to look presentable.
Get a girlfriend, take her to the zoo
You want to engage in romantic relationships and take your partner to fun places like a zoo for a good time.
Check your balance, paycheck’s coming through
You check your bank balance as you are expecting a paycheck soon.
Something’s going on my friend, it’s you
Something is wrong with you, and you need to figure out what it is.
Days are turning into years
Time is flying, and days are adding up to become years.
What a wonderful career
You have had a great career so far.
And your wife is all alone
Your wife is lonely as your grown-up children don't live with you and the responsibilities have taken you away from her.
It’s time to find out where you’re at
It's time to take stock of where you stand in life.
Cuz we don’t want no heart attack
You should take care of yourself as nobody wants you to suffer a heart attack.
Contributed by Elijah N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jaime Macias
That guitar break down is too ill!
Manuel Yarto
the lyrics made me laugh so hard
Ace x 621
still like them ~~~
Sherman Henderson
two
lvstumpf
fifth comment!
Stefan Isaacs
first