Thanks everyone for the great comments.I really will have to re-do this one properly at some point soon.
It was a interesting challenge.
I tend to have the musical idea first and the lyrics develop along with the tune. Lyrics first has, until now, been an alien concept. To be fair this is the second time I've paired up with STC's lyrics (The pairs comp earlier in the year) and I seem to be getting the hang of it.
@habiTatCrowded House!! Wow dude.
If I could get anywhere near that standard I'd be on cloud 9. But Mr Finn is definitely one of my influences.
Also thanks for running the Comp.
@MichaelYeah the bass line is one of those bits that suffered most due to time constraints. I don't have a Bass guitar (an instrument I can play) to hand at the moment so I was reduced to playing the bass-line on the keyboard (an instrument I can't play). The actual basic idea I think is correct but the feel just isn't quite right.
@andy5544Cliff....?
Yeah while I was mixing down I had the same thought. That's OK. I quite like Cliff's voice and I could do much worse.
The ending really had to be there. The song was already 4:30 and I didn't have the time to come up with anything better than to trundle it to a halt.
@songsthatcryThanks for the "blueprint". I spent quite a few hours cursing initially. It wasn't until I stopped trying to rearrange the lyrics into what I would have done and just tried fitting music to them as they were, that things started coming together. Fascinating is the right word. It's opened up another avenue of song-writing for me to explore.
@digger72Once again Crowded House mentioned. High praise indeed but add that to the Proclaimers! Excellent! They come from just down the road from me so despite 30 years in England my accent still sneaks through.
The harmonica is only there because I didn't have time to come up with a decent solo. It's a one take deal and I'm glad I got away with it.
My thanks to Mrs D for listening.
@man of simple pleasuresI'm glad you like the sound. I've been trying to get my production skills better, but I think that most of this is down to the mic. A Samson C01 condenser mic. Best £60 I ever spent. The guitar is only a £300 Tanglewood round back and there is no EQing just a little delay effect.
@PaulCrowded House, Cliff, Proclaimers and now Squeeze. Excellent!
I'm really glad you like the melody and harmonies. (which need work. Again first take) As I'm not really an instrumentalist I always hope people will see through my poor technique to the song's soul.
You've made me a happy man.
As for the guitar tone as I said earlier, I thank the mic. Though I used a much lighter pick on this track. A 0.38mm. I wonder how much of a difference it made?
Finally. Once again thank you all for giving it a listen and overlooking the flaws. Cheers all.