Break-Up Song Contest!

Hey folks, sorry for the delay in posting this, but we hope you'll enter! We're giving out free stuff!!!

Listen to the song featured on This American Life! Then make your own version!

"The Three of Us"—written during Act One of the episode, "Break-Up"—changed dramatically depending on how it was mixed. Witness: the slower, sparer version we played in the show vs. a happier, poppier version. Julia Greenberg's vocals are the same in both versions; Joe McGinty's arrangement changed. (If you want more than streaming audio, you can purchase mp3s at Joe's MySpace page.)

If you'd like to take a crack at mixing your own version, we've posted all of the tracks they used (53 MB): guitar, vocals, keyboard, back-up vocals, etc.—25 in all. Details are in the complete track listing, and the tempo of the song is 100 bpm. If you're a musician and want to take a crack at performing it yourself, we've also made the sheet music available. Plus, check out Joe's photos of some of the instruments!

The contest deadline is September 30, 2007, and we'll send TAL swag to everyone who enters. Email your version to web@thislife.org. Please also include an address where we can mail your swag. We'll post all of the entries on our website, and we also hope to create a little balloting system so that listeners can vote for their favorites.

Happy mixing!