@richaaay: I was first introduced to @Andrea's lyrics this summer during 50/90. She's been involved in other songwriting forums but she was new to 50/90 (and I was too). She was so full of good energy, commenting on songs and just embracing the entire experience. I knew then that I wanted to put music to one of her songs. When I read these lyrics I could immediately envision music to accompany her wonderful words. Little problem was that Andrea heard this being sung by a woman. Try as I might, that wasn't gonna work. I called in a favor card here and asked for a friend's help, @lizbrinker came through big time. So there you have it...Andrea's words, my guitar and composition and Liz's beautiful voice. Hope you enjoy it...
@andrea: These are some of my favorite lyrics I have written and I am completely blown away with what you have done. The music and vocals are both stunning. The whole song is a vision of beauty. Thank you so much for this wonderful collaboration!
Shangri-La © Andrea Brennan 2022
V1
Babe, have we lost our passion
Caught in the daily grind
Just trying to survive
Pleasure is so hard to find
V2
Come take a trip with me
Head for the mountainside
Check on into paradise
Find a life more simplified
Chorus
Welcome to Shangri-La, (ooh la la, ooh la la la)
Breath it in
Drink it in
Relax and open your mind
Welcome to Shangri-La, (ooh la la, ooh la la la)
We're never coming down
V3
Babe, this place is a dream
Pure white snow falls so sweet
Blissfully numbing you and me
As we walk on gold dust streets
V4
Feel the rush of ecstasy
Electric in the air
Lighting up our senses
Like magic everywhere
Chorus
Welcome to Shangri-La, (ooh la la, ooh la la la)
Breath it in
Drink it in
Relax and open your mind
Welcome to Shangri-La, (ooh la la, ooh la la la)
Yeah, we're never coming down
Bridge
We will live forever
In our land of make believe
Old world forgotten
Blacked out memories
Chorus
Welcome to Shangri-La, (ooh la la, ooh la la la)
Breath it in
Drink it in
Relax and open your mind
Welcome to Shangri-La, (ooh la la, ooh la la la)
Yeah, we're never coming down
@tamsnumber4 Mar 2022
I really was attracted by the hook, a very original write and the melody is so beautiful and melancholy, love the emotive vocal, so beautiful and those harmonies/background vocals are so perfect and effective. This is a beautiful song in every way! Amazing Collab!!
@nancycunning Mar 2022
Well, wow. What a sweet, poignant love song. Great collaboration all three of you.
@sherrycanary Mar 2022
Beautiful.
I love all of it.
The music is gorgeous. The lyrics lovely and Liz's vocals , especially the ooh laa laas are wonderful.
Now I have to check Liz out!
@billwhite51 Mar 2022
it is not difficult to create something beautiful and sad. making something beautiful and optimistic, however, is quite an accomplishment , and everyone who contributed to t his wonderfully joyous joining of poetry and song is worthy of high praise indeed,
@oswlek Mar 2022
Had to listen to this one again while going through Rich's stuff. Brilliant piece. Superb.
@danvaillancourt Mar 2022
Beautiful images in the lyrics. The guitar arrangement and lovely melody and harmonies really bring it to life. The pauses are really effective. I can imagine this performed in a cozy cabin next to a fireplace. Nice.
@elainedimasi Mar 2022
Perfect setting for this - I like the guitar strumming, it's like soft quiet steps around paradise when we finally realize we don't have to stomp and hurry any more. Good call on the ringer for the vocals! The vocal melody is terrific and I love how it tails together with the little 7-chords at some of the phrase ends/pauses.
@nadine Mar 2022
Double post sorry!
@nadine Mar 2022
This is so calm and dreamy. This guitar! Can anybody explain the meaning of Shangri-La? I heard this term a lot of times, but I really don't get it.
@edwardsmusic Feb 2022
This is a very wonderful, dreamy song. Nice imagery in the lyrics, colourful guitar playing, and the melodic guest vocals.
@jayjay Feb 2022
Beautiful vocals. Very Carpenters - esque
Fantastic collaboration. #tit4tat
@iwilleatyou Feb 2022
Great soothing collab. Very nice melody!
@djtjb Feb 2022
Oh my what a match made in heaven. Andrea's lyrics literally take you to Shangri-La, Rich's arrangement of this is breathtaking, and mystery friend just absolutely kills the vocals. Dreamy and beautiful I could live in this song forever a happy man. Great collab all!
@owl Feb 2022
Gorgeous floaty vocals!
Lovely relaxed guitar playing!
Evocative lyrics full of great images!
Excellent three-way collab, great job all around!
@wobbiewobbit Feb 2022
what a lovely 3 way collab. beautiful all round. love the harmonies... especially how they pre-empt the ooh la las. a real fairy tale feel. a real winner here. love it all.
@colgoo Feb 2022
This is my favorite kind of collaboration! Love all the La-las in those background vocals. Please pass on to your friend my admiration for her voice. The vocals pair beautifully with your guitar.
@greengrassgirl Feb 2022
Gorgeous! Very lyrical and lilting. Love the music and vocal treatment. Beautiful song! Something you can be proud of forever! Ooh, la la
@tseaver Feb 2022
Fine collab! Captures the "away from it all" feel of a great, peaceful vacation. Love the background vocals.
@n24 Feb 2022
This is such a rich warm audio environment, it’s beautifully smooth, I particularly love the rich harmonies in the lead and the backings. Really on point. It’s got quite an old school ballad feel to it whilst also having a very original feel. I totally love this collab. Gorgeous lyrics and ace production!
@dragondreams Feb 2022
This is just beautiful. The music is perfect for the song, and the arrangement is a chef's kiss!
@tukayandryan Feb 2022
Wow! What an awesome collaboration and agree that your friend provides a stunning vocal.
Beautiful harmonies. Just gorgeous all round.
@karlsburg25 Feb 2022
A simply stunning piece of work you two. The lyrics are simply beautiful and so expressive and full of imagary. And OMG this vocal has just taken me, picked me up and blown me away. Simply stunning harmonies, projection and to finish off something i could write forever about, the song structure chord movements make it sound like a long lost classic. Woohoo
@jerrypettit Feb 2022
Great, great collaboration--including your "anonymous" vocalist, who has the voice of an angel.
Great lyrics and they've inspired a really nice simple arrangement for a lovely song. Simple is better--I kind of went a little too much "wall of sound" on my latest, methinks...
Wonderful job, everyone!
@kristi Feb 2022
This is a beautiful song! The lyrics are wonderful. Makes you want to take a trip! The vocals & harmonies and gentle, rolling melody with the guitar are all mesmerizing together. The "ooh la las" tip it into dreamland just so. Great collab all around!
@gwyn1234 Feb 2022
Stunningly delightful and bewitching...the vocals are divine!
@schuylerf Feb 2022
Very enjoyable. Lovely harmonies and those tasty diminished things. Delicious!
@standup Feb 2022
I like the wordless harmonies in the intro, really pretty.
Paradise and a simple life — well, that sounds good. Ecstasy, gold dust.
It is a make-believe land, though, so I wonder about waking from the dream.
But meanwhile this song is a beautiful place to spend a little time. I read the wiki page for Shanghai-la, it was a refuge in times of strife where people lived peacefully and lived hundreds of years.
@brisk Feb 2022
This is just unbelievable. I'm getting "Puff the Paul and Mary" vibes, nothing specific, but just those lovely harmonies, exquisite voice and the quite lovely melodies that keep coming. There are more than I can really process on one listen, but I'm just really, really impressed with this.
And the lyrics! The music/words marriage is really wonderful. Now please do another one!
@thedutchwidows Feb 2022
This is so good! It's got a great 60s vibe. Every part is super-strong - great words, great playing, and that voice is sublime. A great collaboration!
@actualjulian Feb 2022
Very glad I came here to hear this. Beautiful. These lyrics are so natural. They never feel forced. That is so hard to do when waxing so dreamily. The composition and guitar performance are bright and unpredictable while still feeling comfortable and desirable. And the vocal performance is hauntingly beautiful. Congratulations to all three of you.
@wolfkier Feb 2022
Great collab, lovely vocal and harmonies and a beautiful guitar accompaniment. Well done both of you. I'm on the plane looking out over this shangri-la!
Enjoyed my listen much.
Thanks for the visit and kind words, Rich, much appreciated. Hugs.
@oaksnprairie Feb 2022
Beautiful. What a lovely collaboration Rich, Andrea, and anonymous friend!
@stephentanner Feb 2022
Loving all elements of this. Melody is stunning and your friend who is singing this has a certain Karen Carpenter quality to her voice which suits it so so much. Really enjoyed that.
@serene123 Feb 2022
Ohh this is so dreamy. It does sound like Eva Cassidy, David is right there! The melodies and harmonies are beautiful throughout
@tunecat Feb 2022
Lovely, sincere, heartfelt lyrics plus so much more. love that chord at end of first verse and the treatment of the vocals- all those delicious overlays. All tge mmms and ohs and io la la las. Great stuff
@gm7 Feb 2022
What a gem this is. Such a great write and vocal performance. And that chorus. ;-) . Sometimes I listen to songs and I just get lost in the music and this one of them ..captivating! Great collab.
@cts Feb 2022
I sit at my desk with my mouth agape. Incredible. I'm stunned. This is so beautiful I don't know what else to say at the moment. I've got to go back to the factory now...I've got much to think about.
@crisp1 Feb 2022
Well, you do what you have to, to make a song come out right, and that definitely happened here. Very sweet lyrics with really nice imagery and then a beautiful melody, but I have to say it's the vocals that totally take this over the top for me. Such a wonderful voice! A great collab!
@katestantonsings Feb 2022
Sensuous is a great word for this one. This is gorgeous and delicate. Beautiful vocals, production, and lyrics by Andrea! Nice collab, Rich!
@skibum1066 Feb 2022
Very dreamy song. sensuous. Escape back to the land high above everything. Together forever. Lyrics vocal and laidback guitar all work together perfectly. Congrats
@jorh Feb 2022
Very relatable lyric - love the ‘gold dust street’ and ‘land of make believe’ lines, it made question whether this new found happiness would be here to stay or fleeting.
Some very tasty harmonies in here too - the breathe it in/ drink it in just rolled off the tongue. Beautiful collab
@davidtaro Feb 2022
Ah, you’ve only gone and done one of my favourite songs of FAWM so far. This is absolutely sensational, top drawer. Your ‘friend’ is a really really ridiculously good singer, isn’t she ;) I mean, the melody here is disgustingly beautiful, and that’s before we even start talking about all the harmonies. It honestly sounds like an Eva Cassidy number. That chorus melody… wow. And then your chord progression is just magical. I don’t know how you’ve done it, but there’s something utterly intangible yet utterly sublime about the whole atmosphere of the thing. Production alchemy. And that’s all before we get to Andrea’s words, which are slightly enigmatic and poetic and wistful. Sorry if I’m rhapsodising a little here, but I’m very keen to convey how highly I rate what I’ve just put into my ears. Well done to all involved.
@daveescoffery Feb 2022
Great collaboration. I really love the harmonies and all the layered vocals. The music suits the lyrics beautifully!
@oswlek Feb 2022
This brought tears to my eyes Your friend's voice is one of the most beautiful things I've heard in my life. Stunning. It's so enchanting that I could barely remember to pay attention to anything else. I think I might have cried a little if she were singing the phone book or one of those old Letters to Penthouse. I'm seriously awestruck.
The chord arrangement is simple and effective. It guides the song along in comfortable patterns that keep things moving but don't try to step on the vocal or the lyric. I applaud your choices.
Andrea's lyrics are lovely, I probably would have asked if I could write something to them if I spotted them first. But I'm glad I didn't because it only would have gotten in the way of perfection. :-)
@trebled Feb 2022
Great work from you all here - a wonderful 3-way collaboration! And please tell our friend she sounds better than ever!
@nahlej381 Feb 2022
Really cool collab y’all! Beautifully written. The guitar is a perfect fit. Love this transitional chords the chorus harmonies are wonderful.
@pvk2020 Feb 2022
This is a very hopeful song. Nice folk style. Pretty voice and ooh lalas backup vocals. Sweet
@caitlin Feb 2022
The ooh la la las against the Welcome to Shangri-Las are just dreamy. I’m a sucker for those sweet harmonies throughout. Well done, both!
@blindkiwi Feb 2022
Welcome to shangri la indeed! Very evocative lyrics, sweet guitar and beautiful vocals. Lovely.