[tboswell]

Hi all,

Wrote this one over Christmas and New Year and have finished mixing it.
Is sung from a female perspective ideally (but you'll have to settle for my voice for now), so interested if you all feel I am putting myself in the place of the character convincingly in the lyrics.

Lots of strings in the latter half of the song and hopefully I have integrated them into the analogue sounds ok.

You be the judge...and watch out for the fade in, starts quiet then kicks in pretty soon.

Tom.

https://soundcloud.com/t-j-boswell/your-name-on-my-tattoo

--------------------------------------

Do you recall the day we met?
You promised me devotion
So why why why am I left so blue,
With nothing but your name on my tattoo?

And did you mean it when you said,
Forever and for always?
Oh why why why am I left so blue,
With nothing but your name on my tattoo?

You said a man must leave his mark
But all you left was, me with a broken heart

Wishing I could start anew
But can i ever really do that?
I tell my friends that we're all thru
But I still got your name on my tattoo

Under the cover of the night
For a moment, I start to feel alright

How can I meet somebody new,
And it really be for ever?
Without them ever asking who...
Who's is that name on my tattoo?

I'll never forget you,
You'll always be the name of my tattoo

© T J Boswell 2016

[shadowfax]

Yeah..this is super..great voice and great singing, expected another instrument to come in at aroud 1.15 but that's by the by,
thought the guitar panned hard to the left was a bit thick frequency wise and a bit low..for me would've been better at around 10.30 rather than 9 o'clock..

fab lyrics for a commercial song and love the title..
character wise sounded convincing enough to me..good job all round mate..

but, hey this is great and I'm talking bollocks..
If a known person sang this they'd have a hit on there hands...

best, Kevin

[Jamie]

Hi, loved the singing and the instrumentation/arrangement.A professional sounding mix. The only nit I had is the metre of the last line of the verse (the tattoo line), it feels out of step with the previous three lines (to me anyway!).
Nice one!
Cheers
Jamie

[adamfarr]

Nice one - very commercial lyrics (perhaps the short verses also help create that feel?)

If you replaced the word "man" ('you said we all must leave our mark' or similar) then there is no reason this needs to be gender or orientation specific, and I think that making it general would work well.

Great stuff!

[Glasgow Moledog]

Like your vocals gravelly sound,  also love the chanks of the guitar and the strings arrangement is great.

[crystalsuzy]

A very catchy song Tom, and the lyrics are perfect for a pop tune
Some of the instrumental bits sounded almost oriental, which is cool  
I like how the intro crescendos 
Your vocals are amazing, and I like the chunky guitar
Great title, for a fantastic song

[Viscount Cramer & His Orchestra]

Good soulful song Tom.....same goes for the vocal. Really like your voice.

The first couple of lines really great sort of classic start for the verses. My fave bit really the verses. I like it all but love those verses and the 'name on your tattoo' hook is a really good one.

Guitar is nice and those little 'duh-duh-du-du-duh' motifs (however they're done) are well done. The string parts are nicely done. Organ makes a nice entrance. Bass is great...love that. Drums great.

All instrumentation tasteful with some nice subtle touches. One of your strengths I think is that you know how to reign things in and don't get tempted (like I do for example) to overplay a nice little flourish that comes to you...all very tasteful and sympathetic to the song.

Some mellow understated Stax horn parts would suit this song but not so easy to do that and it would obviously need to be perfect not to spoil this little gem of a song.

Nice one again. Love your stuff as you know!

[digger72]

Hi Tom,

You really do nail that soulful sound.
Top notch.
Can't really write much - just happy to listen.

How you guys put together such quality songs in a short space of time amazes me.

Digger

[olivergearing]

Hey Tom

Great work as always. Such a different sound to one of my other faves "She comes Alive", so you've got a diverse set of skills mate.

I agree with Kevin, this has the feel of a hit, I could easily imagine turning on 6 music and hearing this one coming out...

Super chord work in the chorus section, although it sounded a touch muddy to me.

Best of luck with it!

[tboswell]

Thanks all for the feedback, much appreciated as always

How you guys put together such quality songs in a short space of time amazes me.

Practice, practice, practice. Write a lot of songs and do a lot of recording and you get a method going. For me arrangement starts with a bassline (that comes from some classical composition training I did). Once the bassline is right what everything else should be doing seems pretty obvious to me and I lay it all down.

All instrumentation tasteful with some nice subtle touches. One of your strengths I think is that you know how to reign things in and don't get tempted (like I do for example) to overplay a nice little flourish that comes to you...all very tasteful and sympathetic to the song.

Some mellow understated Stax horn parts would suit this song but not so easy to do that and it would obviously need to be perfect not to spoil this little gem of a song.

Thanks Viscount, I really try to not over flourish the parts and often remove things. So pleased someone notices
Horns would be wonderful, just have not got a horn sampler worth using as yet. Think I need to talk to Boydie about that, I remember him doing some great work with horn synths. You got any suggestions as to the best products/approach for horns?

If you replaced the word "man" ('you said we all must leave our mark' or similar) then there is no reason this needs to be gender or orientation specific, and I think that making it general would work well.

Indeed, good thinking! I did write it for a female voice but no reason why a man can't sing it to another man of course

Yeah..this is super..great voice and great singing, expected another instrument to come in at aroud 1.15 but that's by the by,
thought the guitar panned hard to the left was a bit thick frequency wise and a bit low..for me would've been better at around 10.30 rather than 9 o'clock..

Thanks Kevin, you are right a new instrument would help. An organ joins in there but it's a bit too subtle.
Also need to watch out for the guitar panning, something I have been playing with in some new tracks after reading you advice. keep it coming mate!

The only nit I had is the metre of the last line of the verse (the tattoo line), it feels out of step with the previous three lines (to me anyway!).

Cheers Jamie, the phrasing is a bit odd I know what you mean. But it is intended. In fact the song started with the title and that melody and that phrasing was the first thing I wrote so it really is the starting point of the song for me.

[pompeyjazz]

Hi Tom. This is great. What I particularly like about this is the dynamics and the stop start stuff
 excellent production. A radio ready song 

[lennystone]

I actually think your voice works perfectly with the song, you got a raspy tone which I feel like suits the whole vibe. It's cool how you got all those different instruments in there, they blend so well.

[PaulAds]

Just great, Tom. That is all 

[seriousfun]

Superb writing man. I just love this song. The lyrics are a winner, and the vocal is a winner all the way as is the melody.

I thought your phasing in the vocal delivery was outstanding, it added some real class to the vox.

Kudos.
Allan.

[mickeytwonames]

As permanent as a tattoo - class act