Perfectly … Still (featuring Universal Hall Pass) by curtsmith
“Perfectly … Still (featuring Universal Hall Pass)” is the second single in a planned album-length project of collaborations with artists Smith meets via social media. It’s available in digital format from his website, AmazonMP3, iTunes, and other online retailers. It will also be available as a signed, limited edition CD single, sold only at concerts and via Smith’s website.
Smith met guest artist Universal Hall Pass (Melissa R. Kaplan) when one of his fans responded to a request for collaborator suggestions by tweeting: “Can I please be a complete slobbering fangirl and recommend the ethereal Melissa Kaplan?” Smith was captivated by Kaplan’s music and reached out to her via MySpace. Kaplan didn’t believe it was really him at first, but was ultimately convinced of both his identity and interest, and enthusiastically agreed to participate. As with his previous collaboration “All Is Love” with cellist Zoë Keating, Smith sent Kaplan the in-progress tracks, to which she added both vocals and instrumentation. To this day, the two haven’t yet met in person.
“Perfectly … Still” tells the story of a man who has an amazing family and home life, but is tempted to throw it all away for a potential exotic relationship in a different country. The song’s title is both cautionary, “because when hormones kick in you have to resist acting on them until your head straightens out,” and celebratory, “because you then realize that what you already have in fact works perfectly, still.”
Like Smith’s previous solo effort, Smith is releasing “Perfectly … Still” under a Creative Commons license. The license Smith uses allows others to freely share, perform, and remix his work, so long as the uses are non-commercial, Smith is credited, and any derivative works carry the same license.
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