Feb 2022 tenor guitar folk acoustic
I did it!!
I FINALLY wrote one.
I wrote a song about not being able to write a song, so I hope I don't disappear in puff of paradox smoke.
I was trying to get this done before midnight and it's 1am so I rushed the mix. I haven't even listened to the bass. It's just whatever I played on the last take so I hope I didn't make any bad mistakes. I will fix it tomorrow. Time to go to sleep now...
Make It Rain
I hear voices on the wind
Hungry to begin
But I can’t make out what they’re saying
I’m just a wide expanse
of dying grass
Givin’ up to cracked clay
A thirsty stretch of earth
Hell bent on verdancy
But how do I make it rain?
Make it pour down
Send me rivers to clean me
Buckets of healing
Let me drown in that feeling
How I crave the smell of mud
and movement in my blood
Stuck, stagnant, slowly decaying
If I could reach those clouds
Squeeze ‘em out
Drink ‘em dry without delay
It’s been so long I’ve clean forgotten
how to grow back green
How do I make it rain?
Make it pour down
Send me rivers to clean me
Buckets of healing
Let me drown in that feeling
Please, have mercy and make it rain
Make it pour down
I need rivers to clean me
Buckets of healing
Let me drown in that feeling
@richaaaay Mar 2022
Just a lovely song. I hope the buckets of healing have you drowning in that feeling. Seems you did produce quite a nice body of work this FAWM. Such sweet vocal phrasing and performance. I’ve never played a tenor guitar but hearing you play it here has me dreaming about it. It sounds fantastic!
@thedutchwidows Mar 2022
First up - I love the concept! I'm guessing you didn't evaporate in a puff of your own paradoxical logic as there are plenty more songs to listen to... You've got a stunning voice - really rich and it soars! I really like the guitar scratchy squeaks - it totally grounds the music in reality; you absolutely know there's a human in there wrangling with the instrument to force it into creation. The words are superb - I love the rain metaphor for song-writing and the need to open the flood-gates (I know that flood-gates are required several steps after it rains in the rain cycle, but it seemed an apt link to make). A really good song! #ListeningSkirmish
@mandolinda Mar 2022
Ooh, your voice is exquisite. You hit the notes perfectly.
Pacing is perfect, I do like the acoustic guitar, I think you play well. Your lyric is sad, but hopeful feeling. #tit4tat
@wylddandelyon Mar 2022
I love the melody and the words. The guitar part too (except for the squeaks). No bad mistakes!
This:
It’s been so long I’ve clean forgotten
how to grow back green
And that ending! Wow.
#tit4tat
@tukayandryan Mar 2022
#tit4tat
This really moved me - just so beautiful
@tukayandryan Mar 2022
Oooh this is full of such lovely imagery. Your vocal is full of emotion and just beautiful. Gorgeous melody. Love this.
@billwhite51 Mar 2022
excellent lyric, especially this verse, which is pure poetry.
How I crave the smell of mud
and movement in my blood
Stuck, stagnant, slowly decaying
i am glad you never made reference to songwriting in the song, as it would have limited interpretation and diminished universality
@jaegerin Feb 2022
I love this so much!
And it's so much more than an 'I can't write a song' song :-)
@sherrycanary Feb 2022
So beautiful Liz
Your voice is marvelous.
Love the music and bird sounds.
Lyrically gorgeous...especially the part about squeezing out the clouds
@arthurrossi Feb 2022
The melody is so gorgeous as is your voice... I love the guitar sound and the lyrics are teeming with wonderful, powerful imagery... Also, excellent use of words like in the line "drown in that feeling" where even "drown" creates a reference to "water"... Great song!
@guatecoop Feb 2022
I love the sound of that guitar! The register is just so nice. Now, this melody and the lyrics are wow....I know where this is coming from and I'm glad that you were able to get a little bit of it out. Beautiful and hopefully cathartic. I also like how you took your time with the pacing of this one....very deliberate in every way. Excellent!
@nancyrost Feb 2022
This is so gorgeous and moving. Brought a tear to my eye.
@karlsburg25 Feb 2022
My lord can't believe its taken me till now to get onto you liz. but on the other hand how lovely to still have your output to please my ear and boy this is one. A truly gorgeous melody and of course the vocal is utterly stunning. I love the images projected not just through the beautiful words but the gorgeous layered gently production. Totally feel the message. Thank you lovely. PS - i am someone who always finds being near any water amazingly healing
@mahtowin Feb 2022
Oh, this is sooo beautiful and true!
I‘ve been healed by a river a few years ago …
@gilhari Feb 2022
Really splendid… I was there in the imagery.
@sheilerk Feb 2022
What a beautiful song! I know this feeling and you express it so well. The pain and longing is in your voice, and your words say it all. Excellent!
@elesimo Feb 2022
So beautiful, Liz! Love the metaphor here, and the delivery is absolutely amazing. I loved listening to it!
@hanley Feb 2022
Magnificent. Very glad that you didn’t disappear into the paradox hereafter! I’m sure there are many-an-Aussie farmer who’ll be singing this song with you right now!!
Wonderful embellishment of the Melody throughout each chorus, and there’s a real sense of hope oozing out in there too. Wonderful playing/singing all round, love it
@aflinner Feb 2022
This is beautiful, really great job! So warm and plucky, amazing tone and sense of space. Totally worth the effort you put into this. Dang...this one is release-ready. Gold star!
@katestantonsings Feb 2022
Gorgeous! Your vocals are so expressive and the lyrics are lovely.
@danvaillancourt Feb 2022
Love it. Glad you are back Liz. Great sounding tenor and beautiful longing vocals.
@hamiltonpoolhall Feb 2022
I hadn't realized how much I missed hearing you this year till I hit play on this one. And I really enjoy hearing your voice on a groove like this, in a sparer setting – the tenor guitar is a wonderful complement to your voice, and the bass brings in some of the slinkier/groovier elements of your musical personality, again in a complementary way. There's an emotional punch to the lyrics and delivery that feels effortlessly executed, even if it was anything but to get this one done. Someone below said "plaintive;" I'd second that. Both musically and emotionally deep, and, for lack of a better word, "folky" without sounding too, well, folky? Pretty A+++ all around.
@standup Feb 2022
Wow, this is beautiful. I hear the connections throughout, nice write--the wind, the dry, thirsty ground, how to make it rain. Craving mud! The dry earth has almost forgotten growth. That is complete, connected, and really, really nice.
The tenor guitar is clear as a bell, lovely. You know how to play bass, I didn't hear anything questionable there. If you work on the mix the vocal sounds a bit cloudy, but beautiful really, and I'm listening and enjoying, so who really cares?
NIce job, glad you're here.
@timfatchen Feb 2022
A lovely melody to our ever-desired wish in the lyric. Liz, this is really good! I like the maggies! (I'm trying to find a Campaspe poem, not Henry Kendall, something about the tired Campaspe winding across the dry Australian plain, which fits this mood!)
Don't know whether you did "fix it tomorrow" but if you didn't, don't. This is FAWM, remember! Write some more!
@jamkar Feb 2022
So spot on. Your use of metaphor is outstanding. And your voice is classy as always. But what really got me was your subtle use of birds and strings in the mix.
@sailingmagpie Feb 2022
Congrats on getting a track posted. Seems like a lot of people are struggling to get going this year (me included).
But what a lovely song this is! Well worth the wait. So tender and plaintive. Nice alliteration in "Stuck, stagnant, slowly decaying" and your voice sounds beautiful here(when doesn't it?).
@majormajormajormajor Feb 2022
Woah! Ok.
I love the part the birds play, and the open, ringing guitar with that E pedal tone and all the gorgeous little squeaks- it puts us right there at your feet. Beautiful vocal, too, with the same sense of closeness, and an impressive, dynamic performance. I'll be back for the next one :-D
@majormajormajormajor Feb 2022
Woah! Ok.
I love the part the birds play, and the open, ringing guitar with that E pedal tone and all the gorgeous little squeaks- it puts us right there at your feet. Beautiful vocal, too, with the same sense of closeness, and an impressive, dynamic performance. I'll be back for the next one :-D
@liz561 Feb 2022
Buckets of healing, Let me drown in that feeling. Lovely, lovely. The guitar is so soothing and the vocals are wonderful. So arresting.
@mikedebenham Feb 2022
Ah, Liz, lovely to hear you again, slaking our thirsty ears. Just wonderful. And it sounds like those magpies were as caught in the moment as I am.
@ceilidh Feb 2022
Good to have you back! This song works on SO many levels, not only as the metaphor for writer's block but also speaks to the frustration of climate change as well as the yearning to see the end of these pandemic years! This is the time of year that our newscasters in Oregon always obsess over the lack of rain and the low snowpack!
@kenmattsson Feb 2022
OMG! Everything about this is wonderful. Your expressive singing is so gorgeous, and the instrumental mix is well done. The addition of some cool chords and unexpected notes are a great addition.
And I haven't even talked about the writing.... Wow, just wow.
@davidtaro Feb 2022
Beautiful song, Liz. I love where you go on that first line of the chorus with the 'raaaaain' - when it would be just as easy to run the melody downwards, which wouldn't be a fraction as good. There's so much feeling in the way you deliver the lines. And the use of incidental sounds adds a layer of texture that genuinely elevates it all. Classy.
@majordanby Feb 2022
Ooh, this is pretty. The guitar and bass sound so lovely over that subtle synth. Really well sung and the melody is really lovely too. The bird noises are a nice touch.
The lyrics are clever and hide the fact that they’re about song writing. Really great track!
@blindkiwi Feb 2022
Love this Liz. The rain and regrowth theme is spot on and it is beautifully played and sung, and the magpies <3 Are they your locals?
Charles Bukowski said, if it doesn't come roaring out of you don't do it, but I'm not so sure. The ones that come roaring out are wonderful but sometimes the really goods one will turn up with a little coaxing too.
@tan482 Feb 2022
Oh wow, this is so beautiful! The bird sounds at the start completely hooked me straight away: I’m sure a lot of us can relate to what this song is about - you have captured it in such a gorgeous way. Agree with the others.. this song was worth waiting for!
@mikeb Feb 2022
Well, that was worth waiting for! Beautiful singing, melody and accompanying music!
@sorby69 Feb 2022
This utterly gorgeous Liz - really powerful & moving, without being over-done at any point. I had a proper lump in my throat and felt a bit teary listening to it. Beautiful song, beautifully done.
@crisp1 Feb 2022
Stunning vocals and a beautiful melody. Wow. "Hellbent on verdancy" -- love that! If this is symptomatic of writer's block... Somehow reminds me a bit of some Indigo Girls songs, but, really, this is just an incredible work of art.
@metalfoot Feb 2022
The irony of writing about the inability to write has never sounded nicer. Love this.
@emkaydeebee Feb 2022
Oh Liz, I’m sat here with tears in my eyes but a smile on my face. This is so beautiful, lyrically, musically right through to your delivery… thank you for sharing this.
@sph Feb 2022
What a lovely little hook in the tenor guitar that takes us through the song. Your singing is great as always.
@sbs2018 Feb 2022
So very lovely! Love the sound of the movement and the vocals are special.
@jacobeverettwallace Feb 2022
LIZ IS BACK! But for real, this is such a lovely song. Kudos for using verdancy in a song. Such a nice write, it feels so much deeper than just writing about writing a song, it feels almost cathartic for a whole couple of crazy years. This is a keeper for sure. That chorus gives me goosebumps.
@pcob1993 Feb 2022
How lovely and strong and uplifting, all the the things a song should be. Voice, lyrics, production, playing.. sheeesh.... just plain gorgeous in every way,,,, thank you sooooo much,,,.. you da bomb..
Pearse
@zecoop Feb 2022
This song was a complete joy to listen to, especially knowing where it came from and the struggle. Wonderful playing, singing, melody etc… more importantly, the song is beautiful and conveys a ton of emotion from the lyric. The yearning is strong and here is the reward. Gorgeous!
@mikeskliar Feb 2022
This is absolutely wonderful on every level! You've taken a 'can't write a song' and crafted a song about the human spirit searching for something bigger, - its relatable to all, I think. Such great and striking images, 'sending rivers to clean me', reach those clouds , squeeze em out, a thirsty stretch of earth hell bent on verdantcy... wow! If this is writers' block, i want a shot of that! :)
seriously wonderful!
@wobbiewobbit Feb 2022
lovely. i love the way you have danced around that metaphor and played with the imagery. really full and rich lyrics and your vocals are beautiful. lovely guitar and bass too. glad you've had some rain
@jorh Feb 2022
"I hear voice on the wind, hungry to begin" is such a fantastic intro, had me hooked from the start. So many great metaphors in the lyric. Beautiful soaring melody in the chorus too, evoking the process of healing.
@leepat Feb 2022
great cleansing feeling pouring through your vocals. love the nature sounds and the sparkly cuddly guitar.
the nature images too - great writing and rhyming.
you've got this!
@xfloorpunchx Feb 2022
I really love your voice and it worked perfectly well with the arpeggios on the guitar! Sounds already amazing for me, no need to work on the mix :D
@bethdesombre Feb 2022
Yay! Not just for writing a song, but such an excellent one. You describe this feeling so well, and the images are powerful. Such a gorgeous melody, too. I love the searching/yearning that is so evident in the chorus (especially its melody). And "Stuck, stagnant, slowly decaying" is so evocative. This is GREAT!