2017-02-02 @ 12:51am
tags: folk filk acoustic-one-take incomplete doggerel fantasy songskirmish sci-fi skirmish1b
I jumped in 45 minutes late to lyric cloud skirmish #1 on Feb 1. The melody and key are definitely place holders, the lyrics are rough and this is merely the 1st 4 verses of approximately 756 for recount George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire.
The Lyric Cloud was: aftermath allies barbaric battle-lord beginning blood clans delania drive ebonfyre emboldened family great homelands mountain power powerful royal strong swords thinking troops unbidden unopposed wealthy witch-queen
*Note to self-- if I ever revisit this I should reset it as a minor chord metal song.
Sean McGaughey
FAWM #1 LyricCloud Skirmish #1
Key of Gish-- waltz--ish
Ned Stark was more than a family man
battle-lord of the great northern mountain clans
Moved southward at his royal allie's command,
To try bring peace to a barbaric land.
But the powerful witch-queen Cersei proposed
That Joffrey her son have the crown unopposed,
Ned discovered the dark secret she'd hidden
Emboldened he planned to unseat her unbidden
But wealthy Cersei caught onto his plans
And set out to destroy Ned and His clans
Strong swords aided in her drive for power
And the streets ran blood red on that fateful hour.
Tell me why George, why do they all have to die
A grim fate one can only postpone.
The end of your days is the price to be paid
When you venture to play the Game of Thrones
Great story that you built from the lyric cloud! Wonderful style let's the story song out!
Gosh, well done in such a short time. :) You've got me wanting to hear more of the intended 756 verses. š Pleasing vocals.
How cheerful-sounding! Yet rife with bloodshed and death. Nice.
Filker HO! Well met, my friend! Lovely ballad! Very well done.
Hey Sean, great first song, looking forward to more, and hopefully seeing you at an upcoming FILK. You rock!
Nicely done! And lasts longer than most characters did. Epic win on all counts! :-)
Agreed - It would be an epic Metal song. "Tell me why George, why do they all have to die" had me laughing for sure.
I wish I knew the backstory enough to get the full enjoyment from this, but I know enough to enjoy your joke "why do they all have to die"! :) The words seem to settle right down into your pre-existing storyline. Great way to purpose the skirmish!
"Tell me why George, why do they all have to die" is my favourite line of FAWM so far! And now I don't have to read the books or watch the TV show - as long as you finish the song that is :)
Great. Like everyone else, I do love that line directed at George!
A tale well told (and far shorter than just about any version I've seen/read ;) ) - and as others have said, I love the line for George. I dig this. Excellent work! (This was a lyriccloud skirmish? wow! I wouldn't have called that from just listening. Definitely excellent work!)
If you write all 756, please ask permission before singing in a circle! Great use of a lyriccloud skirmish.
As a book reader rather than TV show watcher, there's only been one POV character death, and that wasn't half as tough as waiting ten years to find out what happened to Tyrion :-) A fun song!
i see you also have a penchant for the form of the cowboy ballad, and surprisingly, you make this tale from a different time and place, work in that mileau well done.
Love game of thrones, love this, nicely done!
Beautifully written story-telling lyrics. The pair rhyme works here niceley with the slightly longer lines. The "Games of Thrones" reference is awesome. Lovely tune and performance!
Haha, this is great! Such a good rhythm and vocals. George R.R. Martin would be proud.
I actually love the casual major key waltz feel of this song... it's a great unexpected contrast to the dismal goings on of Westeros. Plus I think the minstrels of King's Landing would write a song like this! Love the "why George" section. George RR is such a cruel puppet master.
Fun song, I love the show but use more songs like this to help me keep track of the storyline. Very fun!
Kinda wandering minstrel story song. I love it! And double love it because I'm a massive GOT fan! š
Nice! I'm getting the wandering minstrel vibe too and it fits well with that world... Nice and almost happy feeling, which, as you know, is the opposite of the stories, mostly, lol. I liked that balance. I loved all the books and love the show too. And I even had a GOT song last year, thanks to @kovbleu and her lyrics/vocals. She has another GOT song this year too! https://zecoop.bandcamp.com/track/fire-and-blood-ft-stacy-koviak-davison
Super folky minstrel feel. I love a country waltz.
2017-02-03 @ 03:18am
tags: folk fuc silly acoustic-one-take
Not feeling the FAWM today. Watched Captain America with my teenager instead tonight. Then decided to write a simple silly song for World Ukulele Day.
Ukulele Day
FAWM 2017 #2 (c) Sean McGaughey
Key of C (Ice cream changes) c-am-f-g Boom de yada, yada, yada...
V1
It ain't your birthday.
nobody semi
famous died today
Too soon to forget
our anniversary.
It's just a winters day
Comes every year
One thing makes it special
I thought you'd like to hear
Chorus
Today Is
World
Play Your Ukulele day - lele day
Everyone one stop and shout hooray
There won't be another
till the second of May
It's World Play Your Ukulele day - lele day
V2
Mardis Gras comes
late this year
We're not remembering
a particular saint
Sure, a rodent checked
his shadow at first dawn
As millions wondered if
this winter will go on
Chrous X 2
Today Is
World
Play Your Ukulele day - lele day
Everyone one stop and shout hooray
There won't be another
till the second of May
It's World Play Your Ukulele day - lele day
O: I had no idea it was World Play Your Ukulele Day! Agh! *aggressively plays ukulele but not too aggressively because ukulele* And I love the "ukulele - lele day;" it's whimsical and clever and perfect for this little song. ^-^
*sways to the dulcet tones of the ukulele doing ice cream chords* *starts involuntarily singing along* Yep. That'll do. Cheers!
Man, you weren't even feeling fawm and you just pull this off? Nice one! I certainly didn't know about the day...I'm hope there is a drumming day...I don't have a uke!
Sweet song, I really enjoyed listening and smiling while this played. The Ukulele day lele day line is great :)
You do know that the second of May is only NATIONAL Play Your Ukulele Day, don't you? The second of February is the only day the rest of us in the world get to join in! I loved the rhyming pair of "ukulele daily" by the way. Such a cute little song. A ukulele anthem almost! :)
Adorbs! Nice job, Sean. :)
If anyone can unite the clans under the banner of 4 strings.... You *will* be the pennant carrier, m'lord!
I enjoyed reading your bio, and I like this delightful song. Nice uke playing, and I like the lilt in your voice. Clever lyrics, too.
Watching 'Captain America' will always inspire something good, in this case a good song. Loved it, Sean.
Love this verse "Sure, a rodent checked his shadow at first dawn As millions wondered if this winter will go on"
Super fun song for an important day. The lyrics are great and clever, "nobody semi famous died today" and the verse for the groundhog made me laugh. This song put me in a good mood.
I love the sound of this. makes me want to go buy a uke. maybe have to wait until May2. nice work.
Sweet uke sounds set this up really nicely. Then the wonderful little ode to the uke kicks in. Another lovely, and very listenable, little tune. It's got me grinning here while I'm feeding my cats! Love it! š
Very nice, silly, got me grinning right away song. Well done.
"day lele day" is wonderful. Silly saves once again. Your voice shines on this one. Sometimes silly singing lets us relax enough to get that full round vibrato, eh?
2017-02-04 @ 10:01pm
tags: superskirmish ss4h roots folk fuc dadgad
When I got the prompt 'Roots' for this skirmish I got out my trusty 5 string baritone uke, tuned it to open D and tried some slide blues. Nothing was happening so I retuned to DADAGAD, (Well actually ADGAD on a 5 string). This simple country melody came out.
Then I got crazy brave. I got my Casio CTK2300 keyboard at a thrift store for $25 in mid November. I have been practicing daily but I started piano at square 1. This is my first public appearance of using keys to make music.
Drone-- Casio preset 122- Syth Voice (I Think)
Solo: Casio Preset 168 Pan flute on octave C3
yes! open tunings are soo good. And the flutey goodness works nicely ;)
How pretty. I want this to be some old folk tune now. :)
Lovely job on the flute!! Very nice! And YAY for practicing daily. Great skirmish!
Nice organic vibe, I dig it!
I dig!
Early in FAWM, but that's my kind of an album ender - a calm exhale...
Nice melody. I like it. Haven't seen a 5-string baritone. Sounds interesting.
that sounds really lovely, congratulation on your keys debut, i loved the only slightly tentative way the two parts sat together and it sounded really atmospheric. put me in mind of a spooky american porch where someone is playing to themselves, with a dramatic irony that something is about to happen. nice melody. great skirmishing.
This was nice! :)
This is really beautiful. Takes me back in time in a to a place where things were much simpler. Really enjoyed it! BTW I appreciate your feedback on 'To Dance With Me", Cheers!
I really like this one. Simple and pretty. Thanks for the nice morning vibe...
this would hve worked perfectly on the cold mountain sountrack.
This for some reason seemed to me like a duet between a ghost and a mortal, as though the ghost were happy to be participating but the mortal was unaware and possibly even lamenting playing alone ... some irony there, and both happy and sad, but very cool the way it comes out.
Very pretty! The story @visiblydistorted came up for this matches perfectly. For me the two of them are dancing together... Bittersweet...
Really lovely; evokes a winter's night for me.
Nice contemplative feel. Conjures images of beautiful landscapes.
Lovely - the instrumental gave the feeling of being at one with nature, perfect for the roots theme!
This was really a nice interesting piece of music here! I especially liked synths, and the ukulele had an interesting tone to it as well. A pretty good skirmish!!
Soothing beautiful music you made! I am a massage therapist and very picky about the music I play in sessions- I would play your sonic simplicity performance and know that both client and practitioner are benefitting from the lovely sound!
Good stuff, that pan flute has me jealous. I want in on the cool instrument fun :D Definitely going to need to looks something fun up :D
Oh boy, that bari uke sounds absolutely gorgeous and the pan flute adds much, it's a nice touch!
Aw very nice. I can see why you favourited it. I love the pan flutes!
That's a very pretty melody and it sounds very classic folk. Nicely done on the keyboards too! I full support all songs with thrift store keyboards... I have two songs with them already and one more waiting for a collab. I enjoyed this song a lot and only wished it was longer.
The uke sounds very banjo, which I like. And Casio used to mean "cheap sounding" but not here. You found a super melody for that flute.
2017-02-05 @ 08:54pm
tags: instrumental jam fuc ukulele psychedelic
So I've always considered myself strictly a rhythm player. I used to joke about all those superfluous frets on my guitar and bass above the 5th.
This summer I have really concentrated on learning my instruments (guitar, uke, bass, and now keys, using Yousician.com to practice daily).
Do you know that guy at a jam who plays bad single note leads over everybody else's songs? THAT's ME! I'm just visiting- not planning to stay here, and I have far too much respect for fellow musicians to walk all over them.
But this is just me setting up a groove and jamming with my makala tenor uke, Fender acoustic Bass, and my Zoom G1Xon Guitar Multi Effects pedal set.
I suppose I could give it a title like Waking Dream and check off the Week 1 box ( but I'll only do that later if I don't write a dream song).
Wordless
Dmx4 Gmx4 Dmx4 Amx2 Am7x2
Dmx4 Cx4 Dmx4 Cx2 C7 x2
Gmx2 Cx2 Amx2 Fx2
Gmx2 Cx2 Amx2 Dm (pause)
I reeeeally love your style of strumming here, I definitely fantasized about where you could take this lyrically/vocally. Great job.
Wow! How do you make a ukulele sound like that? That is so cool! I wasn't sure I would like it, given the psychedelic tag, but it totally worked! I look forward to hearing more uke from you!
You did *what?* with that uke? Wow! That's very cool indeed :)
Your playing on the uke is super, so I'd say you met the super skirmish challenge. This would fit the dream challenge as well. Super dreaming there. Great work!
I don't jam, not even in my dreams. This has a cool spaghetti Western vibe. Thanks for letting it all hang out
This was a fun one. :)
I dunno, I'd say that was pretty super - so it fits! I have to echo the Spaghetti Western sentiment. Would probably add that to my 'ambient music' playlist on my iPod for sure!
Nice interesting arrangement and jam, enjoyed it thanks.
Psychedelic really is the right word. Could easily get the dream title treatment :D
Wow, that was dreamy!
I love D minor - I played along with this on the piano. Has an exotic-yet-classical vibe - and that mix is indeed psychedelic. Good one! I'm mainly a rhythm guy, too, but since I perform solo I've developed a hybrid lead/rhythm guitar style. It comes from listening to the Grateful Dead.
Another nice, unique arrangement, I love to hear you expanding the boundaries of the uke.
This is really enjoyable. You say you're just learning, but your lead has really nice phrasing. Never runs on for too long, leaves nice breathes to let the listener catch up, and uses nice variations in the timings. Not enough soloists understand that a constant stream of notes isn't always a good thing! I'd love to hear more of these, or even some of these incorporated into whatever new songs you write!
I'm terrified of playing leads. I don't even do it alone in my music room. Maybe that'll be my stretch for next year. Maybe I'll do as well as you. I really like this. Feels 60s, "Pictures of Matchstick Men" sort of.
2017-02-07 @ 04:02am
tags: oldies ukulele collab
Our town isn't that big. About 18000 people. @visiblydistorted is one of the 4 other people from our Saturday Songwriting group at the local art's centre who has joined in on FAWM this year and she is cranking out the lyrics. Her original demo and lyrics at http://fawm.org/songs/66663/ gave me enough sense of melody and feel that I ran with it.
Instrumentation is tenor uke with some amp modelling, Bass, and a B3ish tone on my keyboard.
Aren't we going to have something to share at our Saturday Songwriting confab?
Songs That Pay
by visiblydistorted
for FAWM 2017
Feb 3, 2017
1
A
Another night awake
F#m
Another tear stain
A
On my pillow case
F#m
A
Another boring dream
F#m
About him dancing with
A
Another pretty face
F#m
E
Another pen run dry
Bm
Another journal page
A F#m
An empty coffee cup
A D
One shady afternoon
A D
I'll be in a greasy spoon
A D
In a town that's Overrun
E E
with washed-up Cynics
A D
And on that merry day
A D
I'll be Singing
A D
Songs That Pay
A D
And I'll Finally let go
E E7
Of heartbreak's Gimmicks
2
A
Another old guitar
F#m
Another sticker for
A F#m
Another carry-on
A
Another bill to pay
F#m
Another cheap perfume
A F#m
And a loveless song
E
Another bath for one
Bm
Where I don't shave my legs
A F#m
Another hour stood-up
A D
One shady afternoon
A D
I'll be in a greasy spoon
A D
In a town that's Overrun
E E
with washed-up Cynics
A D
And on that merry day
A D
I'll be Singing
A D
Songs That Pay
A D
And I'll Finally let go
E E7
Of heartbreak's Gimmicks
3
A
Another Eleanor
F#m
Another lame excuse
A F#m
To book another gig
A
Another crowd impressed
F#m
Another dressing room
A F#m
Another wasted cig
E
Another hand to shake.
Bm
Another photo op.
A F#m
But there's no time for deep.
A D
One shady afternoon
A D
I'll be in a greasy spoon
A D
In a town that's Overrun
E E
with washed-up Cynics
A D
And on that merry day
A D
I'll be Singing
A D
Songs That Pay
A D
And I'll Finally let go
E E7
Of heartbreak's Gimmicks
A
Another winter's here
F#m
And I've seen every town
D E A F#m
I'm just another Creep.
A F#m (vamp to end)
Dude. The nearest town to me is 22,000 people, not a muso among them. You have 4? You jammy, jammy bastard. This is a super whistful piece. Also I love the line "another sticker for another carryon." That's such a "show, don't tell" line.
I knew this wasn't really a country song ;) Nice take on the track.
Thanks so much for giving this one some life :)
This is great! I also _love_ that @ductapeguy didn't try to gender-flip anything. The original version of the song had a line about shaving legs, so he sings it. This is excellent! :)
@mdavisto , including myself, there are 5 people from our town doing FAWM and I'm working on (read 'pestering') a couple others.
Coming to a dimly-lit coffee shop, or a second encore after a sold-out arena show, near you! The uke voicing is tasty. I like that you play a little with backphrasing int he vocal melody but don't overdo it. Just enough variance to keep us really listening to the words. Nice!
I can definitely see this in a coffee shop, while drinking tea and playing Jenga with friends. Beautiful collab, the vocals work perfectly and suit it so well :D
The cynics and the gimmicks and the pen run dry are all very satisfying. And songs that pay! That's a future to look forward to ;-) Good job, you two!
I predict many more collabs between you two! And I am going to be watching her now too, after hearing those excellent lyrics.
Great lyric, and I really like the musical approach - bit of a Leonard Cohen vibe going on. The subtle organ is a nice touch!
Nice collab, like the arrangement and it all fits together so well, some great images in the lyrics. Well done both
I like the pen run dry / journal page verse. Lots of good stuff here. The greasy spoon. Heartbreak gimmicks. Nice atmosphere and a really engaging listen.
The loneliness and desolation of emotion is powerful here, with the basic uke backing capturing the starkness of the "singer's" (character's) life. The lyrics are filled with evocative flashes and images that reveal the character's desperate life, and the vocals have an undercurrent of tenderness that tell the sad tale well.
Pretty melody and chord progression, the lyrics really get my attention, it's a nice song. Great job on the collab you two!
This works really well, SO lonely and full of weariness and melancholy. Nice work, guys!
The wandering minstrel song is always a winner, a fave singer-songwriter influence on me wrote one called "The Unknown Singer's Tomb' about the dives. Sounds like this singer-songwriter is at least haveing the kind of problem where there are gigs at all :-) but the actual lament here is for relief from writing serious songs about a serious life and instead be able to write insincerely but lucratively like it seems those songs that sell are. Strong Lyrics!
Wow you guys are good. another 60's folksong, Woody Guthery would be proud Another Fantastic Collab Sooo... very well done Russ :)
Ah the pen run dry... good collab guys! Washed up cynics was a stand out line for me. Uke and keys made a good blend here to bring the message forwards.
Cool tune! It has a very Don McLean feel. I love the "One shady afternoon.." line. Who needs an excuse to book a gigš
Rhyming "afternoon" with, of all things, "greasy spoon" is unexpected and wonderful. Okay, hearing YOU sing about not shaving your legs is also unexpected ;) A smart, specific lyric, delivered dry and sad as it should be.
2017-02-09 @ 02:24am
tags: pop ballad
I love working with @arthurrossi 's lyrics. They often suggest a melody from first read. This one, IĀ“d repeat all mistakes again, apparently wanted to be a keyboard pop ballad. I tried on uke and guitar but it wanted the electronic sounds. I've only been playing keyboards for 2 months but I put the Casio on autopilot, clicked on beat 014- Slow BLD and played 2 finger chords to lay down the band track.
I've only started playing lead notes on guitar and uke since last summer so the solo is new for me too. I used the Valentine effect on my zoom G1Xon pedal processor. Thanks Arthur. That was fun.
IĀ“d repeat all mistakes again (needs music)
Lyrics (c)Arthur Rossi February 8, 2017
http://fawm.org/songs/68883/
Music (c) Sean McGaughey Feb 8, 2017
Intro
C Em F G
C C
People call me crazyā¦ crazyā¦
Em Em
If for you, then they are rightā¦
C C
yes, I am chasin`ā¦ chasin`ā¦
F G
for castles in the sky to be by your side
C C
I write you poemsā¦ poemsā¦
Em Em
I`ll save you when you`re in need,
C C
they say āwe know himā¦ know him,
F G
since that girl, he's gone to seedā¦ā
C Em F G
ā¦but I love you,
C Em F G
I just love youā¦
(Chorus)
F G Em Am
If I had a chance, if I had a choice, if I had a plan,
F G Em Am
I`d repeat all the mistakes with you again,
F G Em
I`d give you my heart, I`d give you my soul,
Am F
they`re already yours anyway and after allā¦
F G Em Am
If I had a chance, if I had a choice, if I had a plan,
G G
INSTRUMENTAL
C X2
EM X2
C X 2
F G
C C
They say you`re not worth itā¦ worth itā¦
Em Em
but you've got me, I have your nameā¦
C C
you know I carved itā¦ carved itā¦
F G
in my soul and heart, in my mind and brainā¦
C Em F G
ā¦yes, I love you,
C Em F G
oh, I love youā¦
F G Em Am
If I had a chance, if I had a choice, if I had a plan,
F G Em Am
I`d repeat all the mistakes with you again,
F G Em
I`d give you my heart, I`d give you my soul,
Am F
they`re already yours anyway and after allā¦
F G Em Am
If I had a chance, if I had a choice, if I had a plan,
F G Am G
I`d repeat all the mistakes with you againā¦
F G C
ā¦over and over againā¦
Wowza, not at all what I had anticipated! I like it though! It's a bit cheesy, but I really like cheese. Lots of different kinds of cheese. Layers and layers of cheese. Right on you two.
@arthurrossi is officially now my go-to for love song lyrics. I read another of his earlier today and was deeply moved - and I had to snap out of it by the end of my short lunch break! @ductapeguy You've got the voice and the pacing to do this type of song! You make very effective use of rests in the vocal melody, giving dramatic pause as if someone speaking to his or her lover. Great interpretation of great source material!
Oh, that melody works beautifully with the lyric. I like the repeated end words and it's cool to see how the lyric and music work so well together.
Sean, I think this is your strongest composition ever.
Oh, I really liked how the drums and chords built up at 3:41... and then it ended right away :( That would have been really cool to have a longer ending using that. But still, it was nice while it lasted, and I liked the song.
This was fun. :)
Aw.. this is a good effort on both parts. As always great lyrics @arthurrossi and good interpretation @ductapeguy !! Yes the keyboard was a good choice. I'm curious what your guitar and Uke takes sounded like - would be a good experiment no? Three versions of the same song but all deferent takes! Nice one x
Thanks for putting up the chords. I like to see how other people construct things. This has a such a happy-melancholic feel. Those repeated words are really effective, especially the way they're sung here. The chorus has a real nice lift to it. This is a simple recording, but everything is in place here, ready to head to the studio with your band
Very nicely put together. I think you conveyed the lyrics wonderfully. "If I had a chance, if I had a choice, if I had a plan, I`d repeat all the mistakes with you again," Great Lyric!!!! and one I believe in every day.
Super nice lyrics and I like the chords and arrangement. It feels like a song that could be in a movie.
My first arthur song and my first ductapeguy tune too! I always enjoy arthur's lyrics, they flow so nicely. and you did a fine job putting it to music. A very enjoyable early morning listen in florida. I'll visit a couple more when I get back to virginia in a few days. carry on!
Wow! Great vocals on this - very heartfelt delivery and the arrangement is really great. I love the vibe. The echo lines in the lyrics work really well. Fantastic collab!
Nice work here, I also love working with @arthurrossi 's lyrics, they are always structured so well.
Good call on making this a piano song. "I'd give you my heart, I'd give you my soul, they're already yours anyway" is a solid memorable line. You brought this lyric to life, Sean.
2017-02-11 @ 03:33am
tags: folk fuc ukulele acoustic-one-take
I had the music written and posted less than an hour after @visiblydistorted posted the lyrics for this one. http://fawm.org/songs/69673/
Small Talk
Lyrics by visiblydistorted music (c) Sean McGaughey
for FAWM 2017
Feb 10. 2017
Album: A Fine Line
Track: 021
Am x2
It's so weathery outside,
G x2
I had such a day today,
Am x2
I watched another episode,
G x2
And that game that sports team played,
C Em
Small talk,
F G
It gets on my nerves
C Em
Nothing to say, Nothing to add
F G
The same conversation
C Em
Over and over
F G
No need to think that thought you
F X 2 G
had.
Am X2
Around the water cooler,
G x2
Or on the bus ride South,
Am X2
And sometimes on the sidewalk,
G x2
People run their boring mouths,
Chorus
Am X2
Oh work is such a job,
G x2
I just got myself a thing,
Am X2
Did you hear about that person?
G x2
Or look at any funny memes?
I love the incomplete thoughts in the verses. Great examples of daily banter. The mellow performance matches the lyric well. "Oh work is such a job," is classic. Nice collaboration.
Perfect presentation of the subject at hand. Always love a good FUC tune. Very inspiring. I'm going to get myself a thing now.
Sean, i hope visiblydistorted likes what you've done with her lyrics as much as I do, so there will be more collabs.
Nice performance; it has an edgy feel that conveys the lyrics' sentiment and agitation concerning the uselessness of small talk. There's a bluntness both to the lyrics and the vocals that's quite amusing and quite effectively captures a crotchety, misanthropic vibe.
Wow, that's pretty quick work Sean. Pretty cool to take some lyrics and create landscape with the music, the progression is fresh to me and the lyrics are outstanding.
Oh, boy, do I relate. I didn't think an entire song could be built out of phatic phrases, but here we have it. 'I had such a day today' is about the most useless thing anyone has ever said, but in this song, it's the jewel in a sparklingly facile crown. Great job.
The generalizations ("that sports team") crack me up! Fun musical treatment - I feel like I'm sitting on a porch listening to you play and sing. Well-done collab - sounds like it was meant to be.
I feel like this music and these lyrics were meant to be together. The chorus, which has something to say lyrically, has music which feels like it goes somewhere. Meanwhile, the empty phrases in the verse are paired with a much simpler chord progression.
Love the idea. I'm thrown a wee bit by the occasional but inconsistent rhyme. I like it one way or the other, rhyme or don't. I love the specificity in each line, but how they end in bland genericness.
2017-02-11 @ 10:28pm
tags: ss11i superskirmish skirmish chiptune ascension toy-piano toy tispeakandmusic
This skirmish was a good enough excuse to noodle with my 1985 Texas Instruments Speak and Music I have just started to learn to play keyboard so this is very rudimentary, but I like some of the interplay between the 2 lines.(The rhythm is from my casio ctk2300) The skirmish title was Ascension, so mine is called: The Noodles Ascend.
Of course they do!
Oh, I like this. DTMF as a musical form? (I used to work for a phone company; some things stay with you...)
Very creative!! Look at you go! This is great. I may have to break out some of my son's toys and have a go! Great skirmish!
Sounds great! It has a bit of retro video game quality to it, from what I remember back in the day. I like your take on the skirmish!
At first I wasn't sure if this would be instrumental or if at any moment there would be some screaming lyrics. (Because if you're breaking from the folk mold, screaming might happen!) It's a fun little noodle. :)
Very cool retro keyboard sounds, I love the creativity of this one.
I enjoyed the layering of the old and new. Made me think of walking down a street and admiring buildings of various ages sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, or perhaps a little behind each other. Sometimes it looks incongruous, but sometimes you can step back and admire how the old and the new bring out the best in each other, and that all that has transpired in history is evident in certain remnants that one can see and touch - or, in this case, hear. Also, it just sounds cool.
Parts of this remind me of some German techno I have heard (maybe Kraftwerk even.) I think it's how simple and minimalist the bass line sounds along with the minimal percussion. Very interesting sound.
I can totally picture an old school NES game with scary noodles wiggling up a spoon and slowly across the side-scrolling level to push the hero of the game into a soup or something. I enjoyed this.
This is cool, and it is definitely safe to play at work! Thanks for sharing!
This is an 80s symphony played on landline phones.
The longest phone number in the universe. Have you been dialing it SINCE 1985? Witty. Musical enough that I listened all the way through.
2017-02-13 @ 01:30am
tags: indie-pop crapapella needs-collab dreams
So I've been sick in bed most of the day with the dreaded FAWMcold, sleeping, and listening to tons of great FAWM music. This jangly indie pop rocker popped into my head almost complete. I can't play that kind of stuff (yet) But I knew I should do a crapapella sketch to document it, so here it is.
And when I think of it, this is the one to tag for the week one challenge: dreams.
Next Year's Album
(c) Sean McGaughey Feb 12, 2017 FAWM2017 #9
Lyrical idea
indie pop riff rolling around in my head-- Jangly guitars- melodic bass, tight-bright drums
Intro-- main guitar-bass riff
Verse I bring it down to Bass, drums and 1 distorted guitar chord per bar.
I've been practicing all my instruments
Playing until my fingers throb,
I wanna do even more
But you know: life, kids, wife, job
Chorus
Next year's album will be great
Next years record will meet the mark
Next year this tired- old singer
Will knock one right out of the park
Next year's tracks will be so cool
Next year's vibe will hit the charts
Next time I'll write one to dance to,
Make you think and break your heart
Repeat intro, -- main guitar-bass riff
I'm gonna find a bunch of guys
practice every Tuesday night
We'll polish till it's perfect
I can hear it man, well be tight
Chorus:
Bridge
We all know those big time dreams,
never really go away
But it don't really matter
if you hit the big time as long
as you have a place to play
Chorus: Bring the band right down
Loud drum hits 2 bars- Repeat intro, -- main guitar-bass riff (loud)
Chorus (loud)
(Rock out to fade. )
Sounds interesting! I'm looking forward to hearing the whole song.
Oh, this is spectacular. I like the whole vibe of the *okay, I'm gonna sketch out the song in my head* thing you're doing. And there's always next year for all of us, isn't there?
Love the meta-fiction, the catchy long chorus, and your narration of it all really well portrays your vision!
Heh, I listened and didn't comment. What the hell is wrong with me? I love this. like, I love that you narrate it. i think it should stay that way forever. But I also like your lyric, the hook and your overall plan for the song. Like it would be a downright decent pop song. I was serious when I suggested you make a challenge and a tag for voice only pop song like this. With narration.
This was not at all what I expected when you said you'd done an indie crapcapella pop song... It's sooo much better! I agree, I love the narrations, which to me are reminiscent of something from Lou Reed's "Take a Walk on the Wild Side" (in my head at least) and hope some of them stay in the final song
This sounds like a great tune... and I think it's hilarious how you've done the instrumentation ;)
Even as-is, this is quite fun, like a behind-the-scenes view of the artist at work (and play). The "bunch of guys" verse is quite sweet, but the bridge especially is affecting ("...as long as you have a place to play.") And your nearly acappella performance is so full of enthusiasm, it's absolutely infectious (unlike your cold at this point, I hope!).
The first thing that popped into my head was this Michael Jackson's similar demo: https://youtu.be/eZeYw1bm53Y This was really fun and the song is also a good one! Hope we get to hear it polished on next year's album!
I hear the main riff played by a brass section. If I wasn't just being crushed by my own ambitons (basically what you write about), I'd be getting right to it. Next year maybe.
I know people who could have been singing this for the last dozen years!
Hey, thanks for the kind comments. This was a cool recording not only for the tune, which is catchy and almost has a Billy Joel x Neil Diamond hybrid vibe, but also because it gives a great window into your process. I like the sketch it out demo style - bridge!
This song is pretty epic! Thank you so much for this!!!
Okay, everyone in agreement, raise your hand ... (looks like a zillion hands going up in the air). What a great song!!!
Man, when I did crapcapella, I didn't manage any vocal riffs. More advanced stuff than I ever did. The closest I got to that was using "He-yeah! Cowboy!" as a western sound-effect.
Heard on the FAWMcast.... * round of applause * We all decided this is our new theme song.
"But it don't really matter if you hit the big time as long as you have a place to play" Love it! true too. It's only taken me since 2001 to hit one out of the park and it's yet to land or be seen and could yet crash and burn. In the meantime, I still run occasional popup band gigs. This is a great song, why all those bitter complaints on the forum?!!! And...anthem for all of us.
I love how creative this all is, that you're on your sick bed but come up with this amazing music and arrangement. I love this!
I dream of being able to play what's in my head when I write a song. Love love love what you did here, Sean. THIS is FAWMing. Get the song out of your head, whatever it takes. Make it a goal to eventually pull this one together. You can play all this, it'll just take time. This is a super song, really it is.
2017-02-16 @ 12:37am
tags: folk week2 classical
I went deep into a rabbit hole on this one. Many mistakes retakes and days into this. The individual parts are all there but rough and with lots of clicks and bangs.
The conceit: Transcribe the chords for Fur Elise and reset as a blues-folk song. Problem 1-- chords are published all over the place for the first section, but I had to use music memo on ipad to find approximate chords for the other sections.
Problem 2: The changes are strange and arbitrary. Thanks Ludwig.
I kept the structure and the chords as close to the original as I could. (I think a piano player could overlay the original to it).
Then I got a fierce cold and both my voice and motivation left for a few days.
It was fun looking at the writing style of Beethoven in this depth, and I think it works as a folk song.
Elise?
Sean McGaughey FAWM 2017 #7
Week 2 Challenge-- Classical From Beethoven: Fur Elise
3/4 110
Section A
E7 Am E7 Am
E7 Am E7 Am (Intro-- Noodle on organ
E7 Am E7 Am
She packed a suitcase and a kitten
E7 Am E7 Am
Into an old Chevrolet
C G Am E7
tattered jeans, hopes and dreams
E7 Am E7 Am
To seek a new life far away
E7 Am E7 Am (20 or 28)
It'd all stay the same if if she stayed
B
E7 Am F F
You gotta take a chance
Bb Bb E E7
Play the cards in your hand
Am C C C
Let the Chips fall where they may
E E7 Am Am
the odds may be in your favour one day
Section A
2
E7 Am E7 Am
You're easily lost in the city
E7 Am E7 Am
Nobody knows your name
C G Am E7
Alone in a crowd, you're crying aloud
E7 Am E7 Am
Nobody knows your name, NO
E7 Am E7 Am
Nobody knows your name,
Section C: (Instrumental)
E7
A A Dm Dm
Am Dm Am Dm
A A Dm Dm
Bb Bb Dm Am
E7 E7 Am Am
Am Am Am (24)
Section A
E7 Am E7 Am
Days become weeks then months and years
E7 Am E7 Am
Hopes fade, dreams disappear
C G Am E7
Still Alone in a crowd, she's crying aloud
E7 Am E7 Am
In sadness she prays for release.
E7 Am E7 Am (20)
Will anyone care for Elise?
(END) E7 AM
Nice lyrics. Nice interpretation! I like the haunting quality.
Omg, I can totally hear Tom Waits singing this in my mind's ear!
Great job on such a challenging challenge. I think the story fits well with the music, it's almost as though there's a dark carnival going on in the protagonist's fate.
You deserve a commendation for even attempting such a challenge in the first place. I think the lyrics are a good fit. They take themselves seriously enough to be at home with the sombreness of the backing track, and are thoughtful enough that the layering doesn't seem over-indulgent. This is a good answer to the challenge.
this is awesome! loved learning your process. might be the inspo i need to give this challenge a shot. it's obvious you took care with this, very purposeful tone...your voice has a bit of a Serge Gainsbourg in it
Bold and brave.. Turned out pretty dang cool
I like your eclectic, experimental sound. There's a haunted sound.
dark and durgy. nice. like how you go up high in section A2 and the question at the end. Nice work Sean
This is fun to hear how you approached this challenge, I really like it Sean.
I like the rhythm of this, a plodding waltz-like feel that works well with the fatigue and despair that you convey with your vocals.
This is a superior lyric. Superior. You're right about it working, translated to this folk dirge sound. The hitches aren't nearly as obvious as you probably think. This is well worth mucking with to tighten it up. Could totally see this done as a guitar and voice thing at an open mic, though in that context, perhaps a wee bit faster. Excellent entry for the challenge. You went way more complex than I dared.
Oh. and the final rhyme is priceless.
2017-02-19 @ 01:18am
tags: folk swing fuc skirmish ss18e
I was inspired to write this song from a meme showed to me by a grade 5 student: So I had the song written by 5:21. Then fell in the production hole. Then dinner, then fawmcast, then production hole again, then keys and kazoos. Ergo: 3.25 hour skirmish. Enjoy.
Bacon
(c) Sean McGaughey February 18, 2017
Superskirmish 18e
C
Money cant't buy everything
C7
but it can buy bacon
F C
I guess that will do
C
I love to awaken to the
A7 A7
smell of fresh cooked bacon
D7 G7
How about you?
C
breakfast eggs and bacon
C7
For lunch a B L T,
F D7
bacon bits on caesar salad with the evening meal
C A7
Everything's better with bacon
D7 G C
Wouldn't you all agree?
Hahaha this is fun. That lofi style adds to the character. This may be the first time I've heard kazoos on FAWM, congrats
Fun tune. Worth waiting for! Kazoo is a noble instrument (says the dad of kazoo-playing kids).
Love the awaken bacon rhyme! Great easy jazzy happy feel that sizzles with a love for bacon! Very enjoyable!
OMG the kazoos give it a total Sesame Street feel. (In a good way - an Excellent way, even) You know, I read the liner notes that mentioned kazoos and I was still very much surprised when I heard them start up. It was a great giggle moment (and as you are already aware, my giggles are my awesomeometer) Bacon. What a worthy food for such a fun piece of music.
Ha! Truth! Everything IS better with bacon, this song included!
So this was a skirmish prompt? Wish I had known. Fun and well-performed song. I feel like I'm sitting in a kitchen around a pot-belly stove listening to folks playing this.
Jamming along with this on my uke... Thanks for the chords.. This is great..love your creatively and bravery ... How'd you get the tuba in there
Light, funny, harmonious! And a kazoo. Surely, this song has it all. Very very fun listen here.
What a fun song. I think I know what I'm going to do for lunch.
Nice '20s feel, very clever and a pretty universal appeal. Fun!
I am wearing my Mr. McGaughey hat with a grade 4/5 class. I bravely asked them for their comments. TT: I liked the song because I like bacon just like you. TA: I loved the different instruments you put into the song. TC: I really like the song because it is talking about bacon.
Ode to love. Bacon is the only thing I love more than my kids. Excellent lyrics.
I love food songs. You hit the money with this one. Now I'm hungry. And "awaken" as a rhyme is groovy. I wrote the first bacon song this year. Thought you'd want to know.
2017-02-19 @ 01:05pm
tags: poetry skirmish ss19d songskirmish superskirmish needs-collab needs-music abecedary
The skirmish prompt was Over the Edge. I spend the whole hour writing an overclever, overwrought over-alphabetical poem. FAWMit and move on.
Overmuch
(c) Sean McGaughey FAWM2017 #12 Superskirmish 19D (Over the Edge).
Overawed at first sight
Her in her overalls and overbite
I was overcautious but I overcame
Heart in overdrive, I called her name
A little overexcited, overeager
Couldn't come across overfamiliar (Awkward spaces overfilled)
Her hair was overgrown
Whispered, so none would overhear
Her Overimaginative tales,
I was overjoyed, It was overkill
Our hands overlaid as we overlooked the view
But it might have been overmuch
Hearts cooled overnight.
I was overoptimistic, and overpowered
I over questioned what I felt.
We overreached and over-reacted
Oversexed, we overstayed
We were overtaken, overtired
Poets themes are overused
Looking for the one is overvalued,
Overwilling and overwhelmed
We overemphasize our exes.
But we were overyoung
and overzealous.
I think it's clever, though a little overdone ;-) Seriously, I think it's quite good, and maybe omitting some "overs" would make it better.
I might have over-read this one but I had to look more than once to find the cleverness of it as clever as it needed to be found. Very cool!
Love love love how over the top this is and all the great word play! Overly creative! Many great lines. Well done!
I enjoyed reading through, it has a rhythm or an "edge" to it with the use of shorter lines and the word play. It's almost a gentle nudge forward every time you use "over" throughout. Maybe YOU should do a garageband electronic piece and effect up the vox with this?
Wow, this is so good! Clever you say? Yes, but wonderfully so! Beautiful word play!
Um. Wow. As a fellow master of the alphabet, I doff my cap to you good sir.
Pretty amazing document of overages here, hats off to you. I like the girl in the overalls with the overbite, lol!
How did you do that? This works as a poem, but the right music is going to lift this, sling it in a big loop, and tie it in a bow. Well done.
2017-02-19 @ 03:21pm
tags: folk-blues fuc gospel songskirmish superskirmish ss19e firstfruits
This being a Sunday morning skirmish, I finally wrote my #firstfruits gospel song for this year.
I used my 5 string baritone uke with slide in open G for this one.
I tried to reflect on two very different creeds-- That of my Catholic Faith, and those in John Lennon's Imagine.
Just as I was posting, my computer crashed, I had saved the recording but not the lyrics so I will retype lyrics shortly.
I Believe
(c) Sean McGaughey Feb 19, 2017 Superskirmish 19E
baritone uke open G
I believe in God the Father
I believe in His only Son
I believe in the Holy Sprit
Somehow three, yet are One
I believe, I believe
Please Sweet Lord teach me how to believe (Repeat)
I believe even when I don't feel it.
I believe even though I can't see
I believe you help me believe in you
Cause I know you believe in me.
I believe there is a heaven
I believe in a brotherhood of man
I believe if we share our possessions
We can feed everyone in every land.
What beautiful tone from your baritone uke Sounds great! Very inspirational heartfelt lyrics. Well constructed, well performed. Thank you!
This brought back memories of childhood and home and Sundays with friends and family, and dinner on the ground after church. The uke almost sounds like a banjo, and it sounds really nice. The slide just brings it all home for me. Thank you for sharing this.
My 5 year old son requested I play the song again because, his HedgeWars teams are "addicted to it. -- Even the bad ones." I really enjoy the sound you're getting from your uke. It's lovely.
Lovely and folky. <3
Hey Sean - sweet and heartfelt. Nice take on the skirmish and don't worry I only just posted mine up so you weren't the last!
Yes!!! So happy to see a Sunday morning gospel song from this skirmish!!!! I was hoping there would be at least one! This is absolutely gorgeous in the sincerity and heartfelt honesty that comes through in the lyrics as beautifully and tenderly delivered. And the music is really fine! Thanks for sharing this!
And now you've got another cool song that you can use in a worship service. I love that you took Lennon and Catholicism and combined them in a way that's harmonious. :) Well done.
What instrument are you playing here?
People have been asking about the instrument on this. It's a custom 5 string baritone uke built by my friend Peter Cox. http://ductapeguy.net/FAWM2017/IMG_20170219_130835.jpg
This is wonderful, Sean! Great gospelish feel, awesome melody and you can really be proud of your singing... So enjoyable!
That uke sounds pretty cool. I relate to those lines about believing even when you don't feel it. It's hard to unpack these Trinitarian mysteries sometimes. Nice work here
Love Lennon and the Catholic Church!! How do you do a open tuning ? This is so old timey and cool ...beautiful job
This sounds like a genuine Gospel song, because it is! Great lyrics and feel, I love sound of the instrument too, I'm glad you posted a pic, its very cool.
Very singalongable gospel tune!
2017-02-20 @ 08:05pm
tags: folk-rock
This was actually the first song I started on February 1 and about the 3rd I finished writing. But I really, really wanted to execute the fullest production I could on it. Technically it's a bit of a mess but I played all the instruments and sang all the parts I wanted to. So my first FAWM song of the year became my 14th. I'm going to sit and stare at that little pixelated trophy on my profile now.
Here are some of the prompts and brainstorming I used Feb 1 to get me started:
They are marching at the airports
and outside government halls
With signs that say build bridges,
We don't need mote walls.
But here its just me, a cup of tea
an old guitar, and a song.
Plot spline suggestion: write a song in first person ("i/we") in which the main character is thinking out loud. the story takes place in the future, and the scene is an abstract, undefined place.
Update February 22: I was dissatisfied with my initial mix at http://ductapeguy.net/FAWM2017/SeanMcGaughey-FAWM2017-14-Walls.mp3 so I tried again.
. Took out the distracting drum samples completely, nixed one of the twin guitar tracks, and doubled vocals, cleared up some of the bass and guitar flubs by patching in alternate takes and monkeying with track faders. I think it is getting closer to how I envisioned it. The updated version is now in the download link.
Walls
FAWM 2017 Sean McGaughey (number 1 and 14)
(c) Feb 1, 2017
Bm x 2 GMaj7 x2
You carefully gather every rock thrown
Bm x 2 GMaj7 x2
Constructing around your heart a fortress of stone
Bm x 2 GMaj7 x2
A refuge of safety a place all your own
Em Em7 F# F#7
But you've left no door, you're trapped, alone
Chorus
G A BmX2
Let your walls fall down
G A Bm F#
Watch as little pieces shatter all around
G A Bm Em
Your boundaries guard a oneman ghost town
G A F#x2
Let the walls down
Alt tag for end of Chorus
G A Bm Em (or A)
G A BmX2
Bm x 2 GMaj7 x2
There are walls built for fear, others made for spite
Bm x 2 GMaj7 x2
Those are black inside, to keep out the night
Bm x 2 GMaj7 x2
Someday all walls crack, it lets in the light
Em Em7 F# F#7
Glimmers of hope, joy and delight
Chorus
G A BmX2
Let your walls fall down
G A Bm F#
Watch as little pieces shatter all around
G A Bm Em
Your boundaries guard a oneman ghost town
G A F#x2
Let the walls down
Bridge
Bm A GX2 (or Em)
Spread dreams of hope
Bm A GX2
Light a candle for peace
Bm A G Em
Share a moment of joy
G A Bmx2
May the walled find release
Chorus
G A BmX2
Let your walls fall down
G A Bm F#
Watch as little pieces shatter all around
G A Bm Em
Your boundaries guard a oneman ghost town
G A F#x2 Final Chorus G A B B
Let the walls down
This is a very powerful song. I know you're not completely satisfied with it, but I can hear what you intend. My arms lifted up and I found comfort in this song. The lyric is very well written and the presentation was just right for me :) Great work.
Wow, this is a lovely song! And I really love how it was your first song of FAWM 2017 but ended up being your 14th! Some kind of magic going on there! The melody is quite intriguing with great potential! The lyrics are so powerful! That first verse, You carefully gather every rock thrown Constructing around your heart a fortress of stone A refuge of safety a place all your own But you've left no door, you're trapped, alone is killer brilliant! This line is quite awesome too, "oneman ghost town"! I can see why you are proud of this one! It is really wonderful!!!
I think this might be the first song of yours I've heard where there are numerous instruments being used. So cool! And you also know as well as anyone that FAWM isn't about technical perfection but getting your ideas down on paper (or recorded, as in this case). Great lyrics too! And congrats on your FAWM win!
Very appropriatek sentiments and I like how you are challenging yourself with more complex arrangements. Now that you have them sorted, you might try a bit faster tempo.
It starts out rough, almost like the instruments are fighting with each other, but once the vocals come in it evens out. A very intriguing arrangement. I like the chorus words, especially the oneman ghost town imagery. Good job!
You sound great in this one, the music is strong, your voice is strong, the lyrics are strong.... altogether a solid piece, but don't let it's walls fall down. I like it intact. (Maybe highlight this stone tower amongst songs with a skylight or some throw pillows in bold, contrasting accent colours. lol.)
Pretty great to have the first song you started writing end up as your 14th, congratulations on hitting 14! I like that you took your time to complete, the lyrics are very good and important, it's a great song.
Like the one man ghost town especially. Good lesson Sean!
I enjoy that you sing about walls with a pronounced vibrato on your voice. Rigidity vs suppleness, nice, and a very committed tone you have. Well done.
The lyrics here are really good. The theme and mood they embody works really well.
I like that concept --- "one man ghost town" --- and how it's time to let in some light. I love the sound of the Gmaj7 and Bm. Thanks for sharing!
"your boundaries guard a oneman ghost town" is yet another excellent line. I'm curious how it would sound if you moved it up a full key or key-and-a-half to force yourself to sing it higher? I think the stretch and higher melody would give it a hopeful feel, which is what I get from the lyric.
Nice chord progression and melody in this one, and wow! What great lyrics. Feels like you gave them a lot of thought and time. Great song! Glad I stopped by to listen.
2017-02-20 @ 09:59pm
tags: surf songskirmish 20a fuc
2 of my FAWM goals including writing a song that was bass first and ukulele surf rock. Challenge met.
I love the sound of the uke! really has that surf guitar sound! Great work!!
Oh real surf rock :) A taste of the 60s and 70s surf culture in this :) The bass was shaking my walls with my speakers up !! Wooee :)
Is this a ukulele I'm hearing? Nice work transforming it into a rock instrument. Sounds very surfy indeed
Catchy and creative use of uke. Nice!
I think your instrumental would go nice with Aerlyn's song about sons and daughters playing with the otters
I think the uke works great as a lead instrument. I'd like to hear it a little bigger in the mix. Cool song.
You've definitely captured the surf sound here. The sparklers of just the bass and the ukulele works well and I find myself alternately focusing on each part - it's more like counterpoint than melody + accompaniment. I really like the sound you were able to coax out if the uke.
You gave yourself an interesting challenge here! It seems natural that a ukulele would be used for surf rock, but I can't say I've ever heard it before. Neato!
Wow, I love surf rock and I love ukuleles, never thought I'd hear the 2 together but it's like peanut butter and chocolate, they go good together. The tone of the uke actually sounds very much like a surf guitar, surprising and cool, classic sounding composition and that bass rocks!
I really like the vibe here, uke surf rock totally works. I'd like to hear a mix with the bass down quite a bit to let the uke and drums come through better... but this works. This is inspiring, I need to do some more surfy music.
Why did I not do a surf song this year? Thanks for filling a hole. This works way good. Love the wandering freeness of the lead. That's one solid bass line as well.
2017-02-22 @ 10:51pm
tags: acoustic-one-take cowboy country country-folk collab
@popmythology posted these amazing lyrics last week.
http://fawm.org/songs/70363/
As I saw one person after the other set it to music, I wanted to play too. I set this as an episode of an imaginary radio program, The Lonesome Cowboy. The musicological history of the song is similarly imaginary but could have happened.
Crickets, campfire and coyote sound effects are public domain sounds that came from soundbible.com, formerly pdsounds.org.
A thousand miles
A hundred nights
Iāve been walking
North star in my sight
Wondering when
Iāll reach the end
Of this road
This long and lonely road
The road is so long, Lord
The road is so long
The night is so dark, Lord
The night is so dark
Please lead me home, Lord
One way or the other
Please lead me home
I tell myself
That Iāll soon be free
In the Promised Land
That you promised to me
But Iām so tired, Lord
That I only want
To come home to you
Y-e-e-e-s, to you
The road is so long, Lord
The road is so long
The ground is so cold, Lord
The ground is so cold
Please lead me home, Lord
One way or the other
Please lead me home
Last night I dreamt
Of a ladder so high
Olā Jacobās Ladder
Leading up to the sky
I tried to climb it
You pulled it away
My heart was broken, Lord
Yes, so broken
The road is so long, Lord
The road is so long
My feet are so tired, Lord
My feet are so tired
Please lead me home, Lord
One way or the other
Please lead me home
If I lied down now
In this cold deep river
Would you let me in
into heaven forever
Or would you make my soul
Wander forever
On this road
This long and lonely road
The road is so long, Lord
The road is so long
When will I be free, Lord
When will I be free
Please lead me home, Lord
One way or the other
Please lead me home
Comments
I like the setting of the song. The nod to Manitoba in the intro was awesome ;) Again, another very likely and likeable tune for an amazingly flexible lyric.
I dug the intro with the crickets and the campfire, and the history lesson. What a wonderful western cowboy take on it, like an old country ballad. Also enjoyed the outro. Truly amazing.
Great production value! Love the sound effects.
Lovely interpretation of these lyrics! I like the "radio show" part of it, too. :)
Ooo, the sound effects create such a cool setting! The melody feels really natural and singable, you've done a great job! :)
Hey, Sean, you should play *your* version for the 8th grade English class ! :D
What a perfect match of lyrics and music. I know this is an awful comparison because there must be loads of traditional artists to compare this too but it reminds me of Cerys Matthew's Cockahoop album (but I won't apologise cos Cerys is amazing!). It reminds me of that kind of vibe.
Great fit of music to lyrics. Love how you set the whole outdoor campfire scene. Very fitting an the cricket sounds add to it. Very nice!
The sounds set it up nicely....as well as the spoken It sounds so authentic. Like a scratchy 78 almost. Love the idea of radio show. The music and lyrics are perfect. Enjoyed a lot
What a clever idea to present this as an old radio show, complete with sound effects. The lyrics are very classic sounding and beautiful. The guitar is gorgeous and fits perfectly. Nice collab!
Again, another great version. What is your English class' opinion of your version? Mine, I enjoyed this a lot. Makes me want to go camping. I can almost smell the wood smoke listening to this one. See You In The Shadowsā¦ p.s. I also like the Manitoba reference :)
I don't know why your intro story makes me laugh, but it's definitely with you, not at you. Clever setup, sir. A solid lyric, obviously, and you do it justice with some nice picking and a sweet melody that fits the setup story you told for it.
2017-02-26 @ 07:34pm
tags: alt-country tex-mex ss26g superskirmish songskirmish
The lyrics took about 45, the recording about 45, so this is a 90 min skirmish. All the bits are there, including, bass, harmonies, and guitar solo, but it rough off the floor like a garage band.
You Snooze, You Lose
(c) Sean McGaughey February 26 FAWM2017 #17, #ss26g,
F
I'm winding up my courage
Bb
Your patience has already wound down
C
A halting move in your direction
Bb C
I'm finally ready to come on
C ` Bb C
But You've already moved on
C F
You Snooze, you lose
F
Again
F Bb
She wanted a lover-- Not just friends.
C
A woman won't wait for months on end
C Bb- C
You Snooze, You Lose
F
Again
F
Came on too strong, Caught on too late
Bb
She may be willing, but I always hesitate
C
Days and months are too long to wait.
Bb C
I don't make my move till too late
I hate when that happens!! Love the title, and the whole premise you developed here. Really nicely done!
Well, that was 90 minutes well spent! You have a sweet tex-mex groove going on here! I really enjoyed your vocals and harmonies as well as the guitar solo! Really impressive what a complete tune you put together in this limited time! And the title/hook "You Snooze, You Lose"...well, that is pure gold! Nice take on the skirmish!!
Yep! True! Lesson learned, right? Always a next timeš! Love the groove to this and the catchy melody! Nice instrumentation!!! Love the harmonies on the chorus!
Ha ha! Is this song for me??? 'I'm finally ready to come on/But You've already moved on' very clever. Love, love the chorus! This awesome song was well deserved of the extra time. Really nice! Thanks!
Oh, I really like this tex-mex feel here! Great title and tune and so tastefully presented, absolutely entertaining!
This has a decidedly Tex-Mex feel to me. Especially the chorus. Good catchy tune and you make a good point!
Nice feel to the song. A fun tex-mex style. I liked the "you snooze you lose". Good chorus. Good job!
Really fun feel to this song and love the cha-cha-cha ending at the end! Some great lyrical gems in here - "A halting move in your direction" and "I'm finally ready to come on/But You've already moved on" are particular favourites. I love hearing you sing harmony too - I feel like I haven't heard you do a lot of that but it's great! :)
Pretty amazing work for 45 minutes x 2. I love the Tex-mex feel and the vocal harmonies are beautiful, really adds to the style of the tune. Nice title too!
Catchy, yes!
I like that you are ince again challenging yourself with variations in musical style
I can hear a pair of trumpets behind you on this one. Dat dat dat! Simple straightforward lyric matched with the right music. Good good piece here, Sean.
Cute little song, and ain't it da truth. You snooze, you lose. I like the upbeat feel of this great melody. Good song
Welcome back! Happy Happy FAWMing :)
Nice Sean, love the bio, Yousician sounds awesome. Welcome back!
Great bio and Huronia represent! This "kid from Port McNicoll" wishes you a great FAWM as you work toward the album. Make tracks that the Dock 104 will play! :)
ššŗšøš!!!
Time to go a-FAWMing. Have a good one!
Hey! Looking forward to your new songs! :-)
Thank you for your kind words! :) Have a happy FAWM!
Cheers! Yep, there's a harmony on the chorus - might need turning up a bit, I was too excited to spend too long on the mix, wanted to get it posted! :)
I appreciate your offer and might just take you up on it...! Thanks for listening to Alphabetical.
Thanks for listening, Sean! If you felt a slap it was intentional but not directed at you. So that's a good thing!
thank you for listening sean! :) i sure was short of breath trying to sing this so that probably scuppered some phrasing
Wow, a uke license! Thanks!
Sean! Thanks for the listen - good to see you back on here. I've got some listening of yours to catch up on...:)
Thank you. :-)
Hey, thanks for the comments, man. :) What WAS the first FAWM where you encountered my stuff? :D Pretty much nobody heard the songs I wrote in 2011 (AND LET'S LEAVE IT THAT WAY). Just curious. :) The drums are Addictive Drums. They sound just amazing and can do anything I want. Can't recommend enough.
Ah, right that time. 2013 was the crazy year when I did the full 50/90... and one of those songs were actually a 47min long symphony. I don't even know how I managed to do that cos nowdays I can barely stay focused for 20 minutes. š I actually haven't listened to much any bebop at all. Some jazz cos my dad listens to that stuff. But yeah... equated to second-hand smoking.
Re: guitar tone; I have an X-Y setup using a matched stereo pair of small diaphragm condensers @ the 12th fret. Nylon acoustic, hard panned the tracks L&R, then ran the stereo signal through a mild chorus plugin from Cubase 8.5
I would like to thank you very much for your lovely and supportive comments!
Love for you to perform anything of mine, sir. Also love to see video, even a clip, especially the big finale where everyone cheers ;)
Thanks for your comments on "Jimmy's Back In Town". Much appreciated.
Congratulations on hitting the Century Club!
Thanks for the positive comment!
Thanks for the comment on "It's Not Enough." So glad you liked it :-)
Thanks for all the comments and taking the time to listen :) We will definitely have to collab at some point! If you want dibs on Songs That Pay, let's go for it!
'self-rescuing princesses': is that a 'thing'? it's new to me, but I like the notion! thanks very much for the positive feedback.
Wow! I like all the specific goals you have set for yourself and your motivation to reach them. Good luck!!
Thanks for commenting on my one chord song. Yeah, someone once told me that every song should have some bass, so I've been mindful of adding some low notes here and there in my pieces if possible. :) What really stood out to me in your bio was the fact that you practiced daily for over 7 months - that's some dedication! You're going to have a fantastic album (and release party too)!
I hope your comfortable with how things are going with your work towards your finished album. I'm afraid I hardly practice my skills at all outside of FAWM, 50/90 and the like. Your stuff this year has been sounding great!
Thank you for stopping by and commenting on my song!! Grim is definitely a very accurate word to describe the Grimm Brothers stories with :P
Thanks for listening to and commenting on Mama Never Saw..and even more for recommending it! Your comments were very encouraging. They made my day.
Good luck on the 50th birthday album! I did a birthday gig on my 50th, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
Just realized nobody sees my replies on my songs. Re: the guitar on Faster Faster Faster, in the past I've always had too much guitar, hardly any vocal, so I try to prevent it and this happens ;)
Thanks for the encouragement :) This challenge really is a blast!
Thanks for stopping by on "And So I Joined"! Sorry for the atonal vocals, I kind of lost myself in singing passionately, I will do a better job at singing next time. :) I'm glad you thought that adding the bars to the sections would let the vocal melody flow better. I agreed as well.
Don't mind the trophy, I just needed something to put my drink in :P I'm not done quite yet! hehe. Still have some collabs and challenges to finish and who knows what else will happen.
Thanks for checking out "Pendulum", and thanks for putting it on the "Recommneded" thread! Much appreciated. I loved being able to rhyme stoic/mesozoic. I'm always striving for awkward but workable things like that!
Thank you for your kind compliments on Fawm song number 2 Sweet Memories ( Pillow Planet) It was fun to write with my grandkids in mind!
Thank you so much for your feedback on my songs, lol it definitely made me blush. This is my first time and have been having a blast.
Thanks for your comment on "Unia"! There's a translation of the lyrics in the lyrics section, in case you didn't notice.
I'll take the compliment on "Into Town" my good man ;) And on "The Note" as well. Have you heard my nonFAWM song "Old Men"?
Thanks a lot for the comment on "IĀ“d repeat all mistakes again"! I would look very forward to it... :-)
Old Men https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n36EZErT0VI
Thanks for the suggestions, I will definitely click around and listen up :)
Hey! I would like to thank you very, very much for the beautiful song that you created for "All the mistakes... again". The melody is amazing and I really enjoyed your performance... Very good singing that suits the song so nicely... Thanks so much, Sean!
Hi, Sean! Thank you so much for your input. Just one question, though: What do you mean by "too drawer?" Thank you for letting me know.
Thanks for another awesome collab :D
So cool to read in your bio that you're working on mastering so many instruments! I'm still trying to find that motivation to practice regularly in order to improve...
Thanks for taking the time to listen to my songs.
Oh it's very possible, they may be distant cousins! Haha. I was going to go with Jack in honour of Fight Club's trope with saying stuff like "I am Jack's complete lack of surprise" but ended up thinking a big lighter is more likely to be literally labelled with MAX for it's size. Thanks for listening to "MAX" with an open mind!
Thanks for listening in to my songs! Well, since you enjoyed the solo acoustic guitar work of Morning Meadow, and the creative process behind the Manhattan Sessions, you should totally go and listen to my latest song, the Spicy Burrito Saga, which is a 3in10 on the acoustic guitar! (http://fawm.org/songs/70415/) Now if you excuse me, I've heard some good things about this song called "Jam in Dm" that I have to go investigate...
You are very kind, sir. Thanks for listening to "The Road is Long" and liking it. :)
Thanks for commenting on 'Lie Down'. Trying to write from that perspective somehow made the whole exercise easier. Should I be worried about that?... :)
Thanks for listening and commenting on "Ain't Got Time". I'm really glad you liked it. I haven't done much in the punk vein so I'm happy I could pull it off.
Hey! Thanks for keeping track... pun intended.
Thanks for listening to and commenting on Dammit! Isle! Yes, Mr. Stephen hit it out of the park again with those lyrics. The song really wrote itself from there!
I heart your relentless commenting. Thank you.
Thank you for those awesome comments on "Storytime Again". Glad you liked listening to it!
Well, I figured i could stop writing them and start developing them... OR... if I keep going, maybe by the time February is over, I'll have 14 really really worthy FAWM songs to develop. :) So the end is not yet in sight.
Did you notice the 5/4 verses with the singing still in 4/4? I tried... but I guess it didn't work? Or it worked too well?
Haha, Yeah... I don't work today, so I figured why not skirmish the night away.
Thanks for the comment on Departure! :)
Hey Sean thanks for listening to my skirmish I Do Believe In You - comment much appreciated!
That is the coolest sounding baritone uke I've ever heard. Is it a resonator? Almost sounds like it could be one.
Well, I am honored and humbled by your praise for my song Emilia Larsson and your recommendation on the "best song" forum post. That is a strong endorsement and it means a lot to me. Thanks so much.
That was a blessing of a compliment. I like things that one can listen to for years, and I feel like that's a rare trait in a song.
Thanks for commenting on Never Had It So Good! And how dare you make me blush like that!
BGVs are all me for "Diluvian Dreams". I would have added the footlings as collaborators had F#1 sung on the track. :)
Congratulations on reaching 14 :)
Thanks for the comment on my "Surf Rules" track. :) The surf sounds was the word "Woosh" said four times to the beats of the metronome, I then used EQ to pull 2.5 kHz to -12 dB and 2.0 kHz to -8.8 dB. (This keeps the "Sh" from being sharp.) I used a multiband compressor to pull most of it way down, with the third band (900-4,000Hz) pulled down a lot, but only about half as much as the other bands. (This was to generally muddy and mute the sound, but to keep it recognizable.) I then used reverb with some odd settings that were tweaked by hand, some things set for a big cathedral space, but then with a room size of zero. Once the settings were right, I duplicated and shifted it by hand so that the other track started half way through the sound, allowing one side to be falling while the other is coming up. I have no clue how to make something recognizable as "surf rock", but I almost immediately knew how to make the surf sound. :)
Thanks for listening and commenting on "Surf Sailor". Glad you liked it. That guitar and I played a lot of surf music in our younger days. Have a great week.
Haha, thanks for that nomination on "Inner Critic" ... That was a fun comment to wake up to today.
Thanks for sharing my version of The Road Is So Long, Lord with your grade 8 class. What an honour! I'm glad they enjoyed it. See You In The Shadowsā¦
Sean! Oh, wow, I just heard your version of "The Road Is So Long" and I love it! It's so melodic and instantly addictive. And just like you say at the end of the song, it really does provide comfort on my long and lonely road. I'm happy to have gotten the chance to collab with you again.
Haha, thank you, my kind friend. But, no, I don't think it counts as separate songs when people do multiple versions of my lyrics. It wouldn't be fair, after all - too easy!
Hey, thaks for the great comments on No Chicks allowed. I actually wrote the first comment for someone else and now I gotta fix it. I'm just so excited about my song! LOL
Thx for comments on "Who will" I am a big fan of Pink Floyd you know. But I didnĀ“t think I sounded like that. But maybe something unconsciously.... Much appreciated comments.
Aw, thank you for the awesome comment on "House." It was so much fun to collab with Jacob on that!
Thanks for your input regarding 'dumped at the discount store'
Thanks for "listening"
Hey Sean, Thanks for the comment on "The Place That I Call Home"! Cheers!
Hiii Sean thank you for your words :)
Thanks @ductapeguy !!! I'm racing to the end! ahhh :)
Thanks for commenting on my song, "No Choice!" Congratulations on reaching and surpassing 14 this year!! I'm hoping to reach at least 10, which I'll be happy with.
Thanks for the comments of my songs. Congrats as well on the win
Thanks for the pep talk :) I am trying to upload #14 as we speak, but the FAWM hosting site is wonky at the moment :( REALLY looking forward to listening to your and many other songs one the dust settles a bit :)
Geez Sean, thanks for all the great comments. They made my FAWM. Congratulations on 17 tunes!
Thanks for listening to "you can't stay here" I agree that would have been an elegant way to wrap up FAWM. But I had ONE MORE in me, apparently. http://fawm.org/songs/76941/
Thanks for the positive comments on 2 Faced! Congrats to you for surpassing the goal!!
Thanks very much for the comments from your students, very cool that you're exposing them to the idea of FAWM, and hopefully they'll be inspired to make their own unique music.