"Chery Stain" is the second song from the Humming Bird record Hey, There's Tommy! Hey Tommy, Where's Mom & Dad? and the ninth track written for the record. It was recorded late in the evening on October 11, 2011—shortly after Martin watched the Tigers beat the Rangers in the 2011 ALCS (while Jack Mergist was back in the studio discussing drums with Ed Hpeoj), thus making it one of the final songs to be recorded for Humming Bird, excluding "Sha!" and "Raincloud Love." Interestingly, though, it was the very first song name thought up by Humming Bird (thought up shortly after the name). Martin wrote a song for it right after the band was created (while Jack was in the kitchen cooking Cock-a-Noodle-doo) but the duo never recorded the idea and completely forgot about it. They remember very little from that night.
Writing and Recording[]
The song was first written in about 21 seconds by Martin Michalek, who got the idea for the general first verse lyrics, the verse melody, and the chorus melody (as well as the chords) while flipping channels to watch another Detroit Tigers ALCS game. He had just gotten home from work and the idea came to him, so he went back and got his cell phone, sang the first verse and chorus into it, and emailed it to Jack (who never listened to the demo). Ed was forwarded the track and did drums that night.
The song was recorded around 11 p.m. on October 11. Before recording, Martin pulled up a Google docs sheet at Jack's house with the first verse lyrics and the chorus. They spent a little under two minutes coming up with a second verse and bridge lyrics. Martin then recorded the guitars in one take each, added a lead guitar track, and sang his vocal track (also in one take). Jack Mergist then went back and added his own harmony part. Excluding the drums being recorded, the total time spent recording was approximately 25 minutes, with most of the time being spent on Jack tinkering with the voice filter.
The song's lyrics discuss a girl, whom the singer has fallen for, whom he calls his "Cherry Stain." She is described through various similies—mostly of things the singer and the girl have done together: love, a roller coaster, a cup of tea, DMT. She is also compared to Jackie Kennedy, a Capulet (presumably making the lead singer a Montague, thus reflecting society looking down upon the relationship between the two), and a porn star. Said Martin: "Jack and I really wanted the sound to be a grungy, dirty, nasty pub rocker."
Reception[]
Initially, "Cherry Stain" felt like the unsung hero of the Humming Bird tracks. It has been described as "Nirvana-meets-Blur" and is notable for featuring very heavily affected British accents on the deliveries.