Belly Ache

Belly Ache is a silly little love song about liking somebody so much it hurts, even when they might not be very nice to you. It's about wanting to tell them how you feel but being afraid. And it's also about being insecure and queer and awkward. So, essentially it's the oldest story in the book. It started off as some lyrics written by my friend and then-colleague, Lashaunycee O’Cain, aka LASH. She gave the unfinished lyrics to me and told me to turn them into a song, which is exactly what I did. I added a melody, a bridge, and began working on instrumentation with other friends. Belly Ache quickly my song, the one everyone recognized and wanted me to perform. I spent the majority of my junior year of high school in the studio working on it, despite struggling with a then-undiagnosed chronic illness that caused me a great deal of vocal pain. I released that version of Belly Ache as a single in February 2020. I decided to completely rearrange and rerecord the song for my album release. The new (and in-my-humble-opinion-improved) version of Belly Ache is the forth track off my debut album Songs to the Monster Under My Bed.

Credits

Original Version

Mirabai Kukathas - lyrics, melody, vocals
LASH - lyrics
Daniel Pak - electric guitar, bass, production
Matt “Sabyu” Sablan - electric guitar, production

Album Version

Mirabai Kukathas - lyrics, melody, vocals
LASH - lyrics
Zoser Dunbar - electric guitar
Grafton Downs - bass
Olivia Green - drums (arrangement)
Matt "Sabyu" Sablan - drums (recording), keys, production