Fancied doing an odd time signature big production for quite a while now. And… here she is :)
Started out 2 days before Christmas as a simple production exercise, which then slowly blossomed into this
Learned a lot and am rather proud of this one. Hoorah!
As always would be most grateful for your thoughts, dear fellow creatives
:)
D’you believe your best days are behind you?
Years stretching out ahead?
Hollow as a lightening-struck tree
Waiting to bloom again?
No matter what, the inner critic says
You don’t sleep on paving slabs
You’ve a roof over your restful bed
So why hold back your thanks?
Don’t sweat over how it ought to be
There’s love in the way things are
Come back from the way it ought to be
There’s love in the way things are
Won’t you forgive the lowest of yourself
There’s no cost to being kind
Overcoming all these delusions
Is the quest of humankind
Give your thanks, up to lady luck
Your lovers and your friends
Give your thanks, to the Universe
For all that she has sent
Won’t you give some love, just for being here
Beneath blue skies or grey
Give your thanks, finally to yourself
For living life this way
Don’t sweat over how it ought to be
There’s love in the way things are
Come back from the way it ought to be
There’s love in the way things are
(spoken)
Do I have all my fingers?
Do I still have my toes?
Not disfigured or in prison
So why the need to moan?
Forgive the lowest of yourself
It costs nothing to be kind
Overcoming these delusions
Is the quest of humankind
Don’t sweat over how it ought to be
There’s love in the way things are
Come back from the way it ought to be
There’s love in the way things are
@nadine Feb 2022
I love the flageollett riff and these vocals are just killer.is it a #odd-time-signature 7/4 groove? So hard to put this into pop music but you succeeded.
@kenmattsson Feb 2022
Yup +10 to all that's been said. How did I miss this one earlier. Great song!
@katestantonsings Feb 2022
Heard this on FAWMtalk! I can’t believe I missed this until now. This is fantastic! Kudos for the time signature and killer lyrics.
@headfirstonly Feb 2022
Ooh, that disjointed loop immediately grabs you by the ears. And the way that you've wrapped a gorgeous pop-song around it is outstanding. I keep noticing new bits of delight as it plays (man, those guitar harmonics...) Great stuff, this one.
@arthurrossi Feb 2022
Yeah... the odd time signature works here perfectly with the lovely lyrics and your performance! Very groovy and I love the piano... Your vocal delivery is awesome!
@tunecat Feb 2022
Listening to this like the rhythmic ambiguity has a three feel - the bass tone ( o yeah) brilliant oroduction
@mattoxic Feb 2022
My god. This is so good. I can so hear this over the end credits of a big Hollywood romcom, or just as our hero realises that things aren't that bad...
The 'There's love in...' after the spoken bridge is fantastic.
@lowhum Feb 2022
Enjoyed enormously! Drums are just madness and the reverse stuff was a treat - like the spoken accent part. Oh, and the singing! Yeah, yeah, yeha!
@kristi Feb 2022
Great message. This grabs you right away and the catchy melody and musical components lift it right up. If this was played live, the audience would be right there singing along. It's contagious! Cool spoken part & vocals. Amazing production.
@seemanski Feb 2022
Hats off to you. This is extremely ambitious and very entertaining, loved all the instrumentation you've got and the positive vibes are infectious.
@oswlek Feb 2022
Super cool. I really like the arrangement and the flow in the verses. The melody is woven in beautifully. I can't help but wonder how the chorus would sound if it switched to 4/4. Would that make it feel like we landed on solid ground and things locked into place?
That said, I really like how the chorus as a stand-alone entity and it sounds great as the finale, so maybe it's best to just ignore me.
@deena Feb 2022
Awesome This just pops right out, great sounds!!! And the message is so positive. We need this!
@sph Feb 2022
Your voice floats so easily and captures the listener so that the odd rhythm doesn't stick out. Brilliant production
@tomslatter Feb 2022
Funny, I was just listening to a song by HeadFirstOnly that has a 7/4 groove and reminded me of the 80s. So does this!
Fantastic production, hints of Dave Matthews band as @wrenarcher says but also a bit of a Paul Simon vibe to it. Really nice.
@caseewilson Feb 2022
Getting a real Hothouse Flowers feeling from this, which is a compliment :) the lyrics are great and that time signature just pops!
@crisp1 Feb 2022
The odd time signature gives this a quirky, joyful vibe -- really a pleasure to listen to. Definitely hear a bit of Peter Gabriel. Great message, too.
@wrenarcher Feb 2022
+1 to What DragonDreams said.
This is just so good on so many levels.
Love the message... just love it.
I think I'm used to listening to bands that do odd time signatures frequently like Tool and Rush. Dave Matthews has a few songs here and there as well. So your time sig sat really well with me.
Well done. Wonderful song.
@dragondreams Feb 2022
I think it's all been said already. This is so many kinds of good.
I'm a fan!
@daveyboy103 Feb 2022
A bit of Sting the last ship in the middle, love it
@daveyboy103 Feb 2022
Very nice instrumentation and vocal phrasing, complex and cohesive at the same time. Neat trick and super vocals.
Enjoyed the listen. Very original
@downburst Feb 2022
Everything about this is cool, from the bouncy synth (?) at the beginning to the gradual swelling of the instrumentation to the harmony vocals as it goes along. Great singing. I don't really even notice the odd time unless I deliberately pay attention to it, it just sounds tricky and kinetic.
@nuj4x Feb 2022
For an oddly timed tune, it works surprisingly well! The best songs are always accidents and it made me smile to know this started out as a simple production exercise and now all of us get to enjoy it here in FAWM 2022! I loved the vocals and the delivery! Great job!
@intoyourlight Feb 2022
Thank you!!! Was the perfect song for me today :) love the lyrics, so uplifting and energetic, the whole song
@robynmackenzie Feb 2022
Beautiful right off the bat. I like the almost-glitchiness in the instrumentation. Fantastic harmonies. I absolutely love the lyrics, that hook is so true and profound.
@vivalarayna Feb 2022
I like how the time signature works with the message of the lyrics. I took it as a metaphor that life (the slightly disjointed time signature) isn't always easy or predictable or the way we expect it to be, but we (lyrics) can still find joy and gratitude in what that offers. Thinking too deeply? Maybe! But isn't that what we hope our listeners will do? Great start!
@karlsburg25 Feb 2022
Wow so much going on in this. I love the production on this one and the disjointed rhythm makes for a whole world of ear pleasure. Its so dam melodic and your vocal is perfection. Woohoooo
@auditasum Feb 2022
"Don’t sweat over how it ought to be / There’s love in the way things are." Great message.
@kanttila Feb 2022
Well, this was interesting from the start! Great production here, everything sits nicely and the keyboard parts are really cool. The guitar works in well. Nice vocal performance and melody. You keep the song interesting, gotta love a spoken word break.
@dukongp100 Feb 2022
Huge track, great job on time sig, lovely little vocal licks and they enhance the tracks feel, you did great at fitting all this into the time sig
@skylermf Feb 2022
I love the way your synths actually highlight the odd time signature. And those harmonies at the end are killer!
@bradbrubaker Feb 2022
Ooh, glitchy piano. One of my faves. And an odd-time-signature that one can still nod along to, yes! I really enjoyed all the textures this had. I hope you don't mind compliments by way of comparison, but it makes me think of the Books if they collaborated with Ray LaMontange.
@beyondthelimes Feb 2022
Love the odd time-signature concept. I really get the XTC/Gabriel influences here. I love the little sound-design elements that peek out and surprise, and give it that bright whimsey I hear on Skylarking; like an audio version of a smile. You should be proud of this one!
@dreamscuba Feb 2022
Vocals and backing vocals/harmonies are really good.
Reminds me of Jackson Brown kind of vibe. Nice jangly guitars. Good production. Thanks.
@jackdawfactories Feb 2022
Oh! Oh I love this! That chopped piano is a great base to work from, and the general feel/mix of this really sounds like something you'd hear on a movie soundtrack (specifically something starring John Cusack in the 90s, I reckon). Excellent work!
@ineloquentsd Feb 2022
Oh, this is so groovy! I really feel like you made the most of the odd time signature to accent the upbeat attitude of the lyrics. Thanks for sharing!
@coolparadiso Feb 2022
that is slightly unsettling time signature. clever how you push the lyric against it - a good lyric well delivered as well. Very full sound! lots to listen to!