Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
💿 Get Parkdale Fever on CD 👉 plaidonflannelshop.com/products/parkdale-fever
Nolan Randall of Plaid On Flannel performing a solo acoustic version of "Crooked Path". The studio version has a full band sound. "Crooked Path" is from Plaid On Flannel's fifth full-length album Parkdale Fever. An 11-song album that can only be heard on CD. Not for streaming or downloading. But for the listening enjoyment of album ownership.
Words and music by Nolan Randall
Recalling a memory has been locked away
Ramble on the avenue only when they say
Reckoning, awakening, for the enemy
Run into oblivion, beyond empathy
Heavily unforgiven, heavily in a trap
Occupy getting by, on the crooked path
Heavily unforgiven, steadily off the map
Open wide, take a ride, on the crooked path
Reminiscing of a place that was once allowed
Righteous anger underneath along with the crowd
Recollecting chronicles gathered long ago
Roll over a narrative past the status quo
Heavily unforgiven, heavily drifting back
Compromise in disguise, on the crooked path
Heavily in a prison, steadily losing track
Wonder why it’s a lie, on the crooked path
Heavily unforgiven, heavily falling flat
Stay alive from a dive, on the crooked path
Heavily wasted vision, steadily in combat
On a drive to survive, on the crooked path
© Copyright 2025 Plaid On Flannel
*Song Description By Noles*
The Parkdale Fever album has its share of melancholy. And "Crooked Path" is probably the darkest song on the whole record. It was something that was totally outside of my comfort zone. In 2020, I just let another side of me come out. Before that, I was mostly an optimistic lyricist. Between the direction of where the world was going and where my life was headed, I knew it was time to get real and not hold anything back. While realizing a lot of my influences like Alice In Chains and Smashing Pumpkins deal with serious subject matter in their lyrics.
By the time I started recording "Crooked Path" on September 27, 2020, I had already recorded 6 new tunes for the album. And I had established the album's pandemic poverty concept at that point. But I wanted to expand on what these songs are generally about. The lyrics for "Crooked Path" were written on the same day recording began for the tune. And the music was written 3 days earlier on September 24, 2020.
A place where I would go meditate a lot during that time was Ontario Place's West Island. Not far from where I live in Parkdale. As of 2024, this island is off limits due to construction. But before then, it was an abandoned amusement park that was open to the public. And I would go there often, with Lake Ontario as a backdrop. The walk I would take to get there required a lot of zig-zagging. Walking through Exhibition Place with various small roads and walkways. Never really going in a straight line to get there. Going back and forth and sideways to get to my destination. And that's when I came up with the idea for "Crooked Path".
It's a cynical song title, but it was something that really resonated with me. Life is not a straight line. It's not mapped out for us, no matter how much we want it to be. And I believe we are sent down crooked paths throughout our lives. Often when it's out of our control. Or if we made bad decisions without knowing what the results would be. Hindsight is 20/20. But the term "Crooked Path" is really open to interpretation.
My angle with the lyrics of "Crooked Path" is the feeling of being trapped in situation we can't really control. As if we are prisoners of our own fate. But there's also a political undertone that addresses social justice. The George Floyd protests happened that same year. And western politics were reaching uncharted territory during the lockdown era. When I wrote the lyrics for "Crooked Path", I wanted it to feel like modern times. The 2020s.
The music for "Crooked Path" was initially influenced by a song called "Absolutely" by Canadian rock band Headstones. Hugh Dillon's vocals are reminiscent of Ian Astbury of The Cult. A tough sounding singing voice. Somebody who sounds like he would fight you in a dive bar. Headstones' 1993 album Picture Of Health had some Canadian rock radio staples on it. And I wanted the chord progression and rhythm of "Crooked Path" to give off a Headstones vibe.
The guitar solo of "Crooked Path" uses both a Gibson and Fender guitar that take turns. While each guitar is playing, they pan back and forth between the left and right of the stereo mix. Something that's enhanced when listening to it on headphones. Giving off the feeling of a literal "Crooked Path". I finished the initial recording of the song on November 14, 2020. And 4 more tunes were written and recorded for the album after that. "Crooked Path" is a song I've been looking forward to playing in a band setting.
#PlaidOnFlannel #CrookedPath #AcousticVersion
💿 Get Parkdale Fever on CD 👉 plaidonflannelshop.com/products/parkdale-fever
Nolan Randall of Plaid On Flannel performing a solo acoustic version of "Crooked Path". The studio version has a full band sound. "Crooked Path" is from Plaid On Flannel's fifth full-length album Parkdale Fever. An 11-song album that can only be heard on CD. Not for streaming or downloading. But for the listening enjoyment of album ownership.
Words and music by Nolan Randall
Recalling a memory has been locked away
Ramble on the avenue only when they say
Reckoning, awakening, for the enemy
Run into oblivion, beyond empathy
Heavily unforgiven, heavily in a trap
Occupy getting by, on the crooked path
Heavily unforgiven, steadily off the map
Open wide, take a ride, on the crooked path
Reminiscing of a place that was once allowed
Righteous anger underneath along with the crowd
Recollecting chronicles gathered long ago
Roll over a narrative past the status quo
Heavily unforgiven, heavily drifting back
Compromise in disguise, on the crooked path
Heavily in a prison, steadily losing track
Wonder why it’s a lie, on the crooked path
Heavily unforgiven, heavily falling flat
Stay alive from a dive, on the crooked path
Heavily wasted vision, steadily in combat
On a drive to survive, on the crooked path
© Copyright 2025 Plaid On Flannel
*Song Description By Noles*
The Parkdale Fever album has its share of melancholy. And "Crooked Path" is probably the darkest song on the whole record. It was something that was totally outside of my comfort zone. In 2020, I just let another side of me come out. Before that, I was mostly an optimistic lyricist. Between the direction of where the world was going and where my life was headed, I knew it was time to get real and not hold anything back. While realizing a lot of my influences like Alice In Chains and Smashing Pumpkins deal with serious subject matter in their lyrics.
By the time I started recording "Crooked Path" on September 27, 2020, I had already recorded 6 new tunes for the album. And I had established the album's pandemic poverty concept at that point. But I wanted to expand on what these songs are generally about. The lyrics for "Crooked Path" were written on the same day recording began for the tune. And the music was written 3 days earlier on September 24, 2020.
A place where I would go meditate a lot during that time was Ontario Place's West Island. Not far from where I live in Parkdale. As of 2024, this island is off limits due to construction. But before then, it was an abandoned amusement park that was open to the public. And I would go there often, with Lake Ontario as a backdrop. The walk I would take to get there required a lot of zig-zagging. Walking through Exhibition Place with various small roads and walkways. Never really going in a straight line to get there. Going back and forth and sideways to get to my destination. And that's when I came up with the idea for "Crooked Path".
It's a cynical song title, but it was something that really resonated with me. Life is not a straight line. It's not mapped out for us, no matter how much we want it to be. And I believe we are sent down crooked paths throughout our lives. Often when it's out of our control. Or if we made bad decisions without knowing what the results would be. Hindsight is 20/20. But the term "Crooked Path" is really open to interpretation.
My angle with the lyrics of "Crooked Path" is the feeling of being trapped in situation we can't really control. As if we are prisoners of our own fate. But there's also a political undertone that addresses social justice. The George Floyd protests happened that same year. And western politics were reaching uncharted territory during the lockdown era. When I wrote the lyrics for "Crooked Path", I wanted it to feel like modern times. The 2020s.
The music for "Crooked Path" was initially influenced by a song called "Absolutely" by Canadian rock band Headstones. Hugh Dillon's vocals are reminiscent of Ian Astbury of The Cult. A tough sounding singing voice. Somebody who sounds like he would fight you in a dive bar. Headstones' 1993 album Picture Of Health had some Canadian rock radio staples on it. And I wanted the chord progression and rhythm of "Crooked Path" to give off a Headstones vibe.
The guitar solo of "Crooked Path" uses both a Gibson and Fender guitar that take turns. While each guitar is playing, they pan back and forth between the left and right of the stereo mix. Something that's enhanced when listening to it on headphones. Giving off the feeling of a literal "Crooked Path". I finished the initial recording of the song on November 14, 2020. And 4 more tunes were written and recorded for the album after that. "Crooked Path" is a song I've been looking forward to playing in a band setting.
#PlaidOnFlannel #CrookedPath #AcousticVersion
