... moving and poignant. Its odd in these mask filled days, you can look at a stranger and really see beauty in their eyes...
Thanks for the compliments and very kind observations. I wanted to have comedy yet still touch a note of realism and honesty so that it was not silly pantomime pastiche. And very perceptive of you to pick up on the line about eyes - that is exactly what I was aiming at - the fact that as we meet people now, with faces covered, the eyes become even more important as a connection.
... the C&W style fits it to a tee ... Great performance and in no need of any critique, as these "observation on life" songs just need to be allowed to live...
I did drink to that. G&T last night however - not at all a country & western drink haha.
@embishop
Thanks Mari.
Three lovelies! Wow. I am happy with that. I see what you mean about the potential to morph this into a universal song of yearning. I was so taken with the impulse to follow a creative spark yesterday I just rushed the lyrics, and the entire thing truth be told, in an effort to get it out there.
Maybe it is something that can now be moulded artistically.
@batwoman ...
Dexterous, melodic, clever playing, nice lilt, swing and sashay to the vibe. In all sincerity I like your voice very much, so much so that as you and your guitar hit some high points, several times I had to exclaim 'Jolly good show Richard'.
For real? All of that? Oh my. Oh my goodness.
In truth, I was surprised and pretty happy with the main melodic parts I stumbled upon. When I first began, I had a faint echo of a vocal line that had come to me as I neared sleep the night before. When I tried to turn that into a melody starting from chords and embellishments it didn't seem to work. So my fingers took over and altered the melody plus transformed the whole thing into a waltz three-quarter time thing.
As I wrote the lyrics for the verses in more concrete form - and I should use that term loosely as I threw them down on the page of my Word Doc fairly rapidly with only a few edits along the way - I was concerned that the verses seemed to be following the phrasing and structure of the chorus (which had come first). So I set about consciously looking for a different chord progression which, fortunately, took me to a different verse melody also.
I am very aware that the intro is lengthy - one full sweep of the chorus and a verse plus a little more hang time. I needed to establish in my ear - and that of my poor listener - just what the actual melody is. I knew that my vocal attempts may or may not hit the mark. So with the intro, at least people would have a reference as to what I was trying to sing!
I mentioned above that this was a second take.
Truth be told though, take one was abandoned after just a short time.
So, in essence, this was actually the first time I had played and sung the entire song from start to finish. Before this recording I had just run through little fragments as I developed the ideas and checked that the lyrics scanned okay.
Maybe I could almost call it a one-take.
@DavidP ...
even with the lighter turn-of-phrase the song was evocative, told a moving story.
Thank you so much David. Very, very kind.
I know you have an interest.
To add to what I said above about composing and recording ... I used a Scarlett Solo with guitar DI and dynamic mic both into Audacity.
Post recording I added a touch of noise reduction and a smidgen of reverb. If I had any technical know-how I would have attempted to do things with my vocal track but I don't and I didn't so it remains what it is.
I reduced the level of the guitar some to even out, but am aware that the vocal is lower than the guitar.
Which suits me ha ha.
@RC23
Thanks so much Rod. I guess in many ways you're right. Especially if you're singing something of your own and can invest in it and imbue it with your own emotions. I felt I 'had' to sing this rather than ask Mrs C to do the honours. She would naturally have made it sound sweet and beautiful. But I was driven to try and get out what I had put in. Even at the expense of exposing myself in public.
Topic: Locked Down and Lonesome - original track for the Covid 2020 album (Read 2545 times)
