Just some fun background information. I guess Blake posted a list of descriptions of the songs on Dear You upon its re-release:
"Basilica - It felt like the end, the end-all. It's kind of an extension of Lurker, a rum conclusion. I was spending a lot of time at Mission Dolores, either attending services or just sitting quietly in the pews. I would put on a black suit and walk down there, like an undertaker. I had a lot of heavy shit going on, a lot of worry. The verses come from that church meditation – especially the small graveyard in the back of the Mission. It's such a lovely, sunlit place. Birds, brilliant San Francisco sky, figures at rest. Basilica was fun to record because we used these different amps. We tracked the guitars on this really surreal night. We turned out all the lights; it was ghostly. The instrumental portion adds a lot to the song. When we do it live, it's great to open it up, make it loose and smear things around. When it works live it feels like purging; it becomes really physical in the end. I just used my upper arm and beat the shit out of my guitar. It's pretty satisfying – definitely the rock instinct. A total power trip."
Just some fun background information. I guess Blake posted a list of descriptions of the songs on Dear You upon its re-release:
"Basilica - It felt like the end, the end-all. It's kind of an extension of Lurker, a rum conclusion. I was spending a lot of time at Mission Dolores, either attending services or just sitting quietly in the pews. I would put on a black suit and walk down there, like an undertaker. I had a lot of heavy shit going on, a lot of worry. The verses come from that church meditation – especially the small graveyard in the back of the Mission. It's such a lovely, sunlit place. Birds, brilliant San Francisco sky, figures at rest. Basilica was fun to record because we used these different amps. We tracked the guitars on this really surreal night. We turned out all the lights; it was ghostly. The instrumental portion adds a lot to the song. When we do it live, it's great to open it up, make it loose and smear things around. When it works live it feels like purging; it becomes really physical in the end. I just used my upper arm and beat the shit out of my guitar. It's pretty satisfying – definitely the rock instinct. A total power trip."