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Post by fatfingerjohn on Jul 14, 2018 16:52:23 GMT
Hi,
This is the third song I've written being pretty new to the game, recorded just on my phone so apologies for the lack of professionalism here. The song theme came when we started a recent holiday and our rep said when we arrived that we could all 'sit and watch the world go by' as we were going on a small boat cruise around the Croatian coast. My wife immediately said that would be a good title for a song. I think she expected a 'jolly holidays song' but you'd think she know me by now ; this is how it ended up, largely written on deck over the next few days.
soundcloud.com/fatfingerjohn/watching-the-world-go-by
Regards
John
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Post by oustudent on Jul 14, 2018 20:43:45 GMT
Very good, BTW is it about a previous relationship and what does the current Mrs Fatfingerjohn think about it? J
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Jul 14, 2018 23:05:23 GMT
Wow - what a song! I suspect you might have found the lyric uncomfortable at times to write, but hopefully ultimately helpful. Your singing is so confident and the guitar sounded great - the phone gave it a unique tonaliity I think. "...lack of professionalism..."? Not an issue - this is a very personal song, written and sung with integrity, and very listenable. Great job, John! here's to number four! Keith
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Riverman
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Post by Riverman on Jul 14, 2018 23:58:22 GMT
Superb! Personal, reflective, melancholy and very human. A lovely song John.
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Post by oustudent on Jul 15, 2018 8:06:38 GMT
Very good, BTW is it about a previous relationship and what does the current Mrs Fatfingerjohn think about it? J I have listened again this morning and just realized that you mention that you are "imagining someone". This is a great approach to lyric writing that I have never thought about before, I suppose its a bit like Non-Fiction in the songwriting world but still allows for the opportunity to reflect on personal experiences. The sound is very good, if you hadn't mentioned it I would not have guessed it was recorded on your phone.
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Jul 15, 2018 8:57:58 GMT
That really is a good song John. It has a lovely melody and the lyrics evoked feelings of nostalgia in me which I consider to be a good sign. I didn't give the recording a thought whilst listening because the musical content is good so don't worry about it. Phil
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Post by vikingblues on Jul 15, 2018 9:40:27 GMT
Like Phil said when we as listeners get caught up in the story, the melody and the mood, the fact that it's recorded on a phone doesn't register at all. As it happens the sound is very good anyway. Excellent song! Mark
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Post by leoroberts on Jul 15, 2018 11:28:41 GMT
Wow. It might 'only' be your 3rd song, John, but they've all been absolute corkers. This is no different.
Quality not quantity is the thing.
I look forward to watching you perform a couple of these in Halifax.
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Post by fatfingerjohn on Jul 15, 2018 18:36:57 GMT
Hi all and thanks for your kind comments. Also interesting that a few have picked up on the theme and its possible personal nature.
In fact this particular scenario is not one of me reliving a similar event based on being away and coming back. It developed more from the belief that nearly everyone has had situations (often within a relationship, but not necessarily) where they have to take a big decision as to whether to just pretend it didn't happen and fail to address it by returning to it, or taking the plunge and seeing if it can be made better. The fact that the chap in this song was in a situation where he could easily just 'Watch the world go by' was to a degree just the mechanism for the more general situations we've all been in.
So, no problem with Mrs FFJ (although had to be explained!!). Sorry if this is trying to read too much into it but that's where it ended up for me!
Thanks again.
John
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Post by bleatoid on Jul 15, 2018 22:26:28 GMT
That's an impressive, powerful song, strongly delivered, fatfingerjohn - thank you for sharing it.
Interested in which way around you wrote it ....... the "spark" was the title, but did you then pick out fragments of a melody or fingerstyle pattern among some chord sequences you noodled about with, then build lyrics into the mood afterwards, or did you start with the lyrics and noodle a tune around them?
Peter
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Post by fatfingerjohn on Jul 16, 2018 9:57:53 GMT
That's an impressive, powerful song, strongly delivered, fatfingerjohn - thank you for sharing it. Interested in which way around you wrote it ....... the "spark" was the title, but did you then pick out fragments of a melody or fingerstyle pattern among some chord sequences you noodled about with, then build lyrics into the mood afterwards, or did you start with the lyrics and noodle a tune around them? Peter Hi Peter,
Thanks for your interest and I'll try to keep it short! So far in my babyhood of songwriting I've felt I needed a 'theme' before I could start anything. Then possibly a few chords and a rhythm to fit the theme, a bit of melody and then a few lyrics. After that it sort of goes where it goes. But for ages I've had a bit of a fascination with some songs where the melody is very, very basic and largely repetitive. Example; ABBA The winner takes it all; Example, even more so, Pink Floyd Another brick in the Wall. So I'd been mulling this over for a while and came up with a very simple repetitive 'riff' which was going round in my head. But it needed the right theme. This was supplied by the comment from the holiday rep 'Watching the World Go By and the thought that it could be a song about unfinished business and potential regret. After that the lyric and chorus fell into place (with a lot of tweaking!).
I guess as I become more experienced the 'method' will change although I don't really want a 'method'. At the moment I've got a few themes in my head and will see how they develop.
Hope this answers your question a bit without going on....
Regards
John
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Post by David Hutton on Jul 16, 2018 11:07:09 GMT
Really like this John, Your guitar and vocals are lovely and really impressive lyrics. A little sad that I will not be there to listen to you playing this live at Halifax, its a cracker!
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Post by lavaman on Jul 16, 2018 14:54:48 GMT
Nice song John. You paint a picture with your words.
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