[Bill Saunders]

Hi all

A friend of mine wrote these lyrics and invited me to write the music. Alan originally wrote several more verses, but I have cut it down, so my apologies to said lyricist! Everything you here is played/sung/recorded/mixed/produced by me, so there's no blaming anyone else...

As ever, thanks for listening:

(Updated version @ 15 Jan 17)

https://soundcloud.com/bill-saunders/tigers


Tigers

I don’t know how it started
I guess it had to come
Our kisses turned to shouting
We’d hidden it so long
When all I saw was anger
I should have held your hand
You tried to tell me how it felt
I failed to understand.
 
We fight like tigers
Just to feel each other’s pain
We fight like tigers
Dancing circles in the rain.
But if there was a way
I'd give you roses every day
Just to watch you trample them
And throw them all away.  
 
These Saturdays in silence
From Fridays when we fought
We can’t pretend that little things
Don’t mean a thing at all
When we both wake up on Sunday
To see we both are wrong
Stop these tuneless mutterings
And sing a different song.
 
 
The little things will break us
If we let them pass us by
We need to keep on talking
Or all we’ll do is cry.
  
We fight like tigers
But we feel each other’s pain
We fight like tigers
Till we’re kissing in the rain.
I know there is a way
To give you roses every day
Just to watch you smile at them
And heal the hurt away.

[pompeyjazz]

Hi Bill. I really liked this. Thought it had a late seventies sort of vibe. The psychedelic furs came to mind. I think your vocals are excellent and well balanced in the mix. You've got some interesting stop / starts and I think the organ sound you've got really fits in well with the song. Actually this could be late sixties not seventies. Anyway, enjoyed the listen 

Cheers John

[adamfarr]

Bill - really nice listen. The backing is all really well chosen and performed. Good decision to start with high energy. I like the keyboards but I also like it when the drop away for contrast.

I can't imagine what extra lyrics there might have been - it tells an effective story and generally avoids cheese! (perhaps the middle 8 was on the edge? )

Good work!

[TimCurtis]

Comes in with a blast! Straight in there with no messing about! Initially sounded quite 60s but reading John's comment, I can hear The Furs in your voice too.

Nice arrangement - I like the piano bit during the fade out and the way the organ sits with the guitar.

Such a sad song lyric wise - I can completely relate to the subject matter.   But thankfully we're past that stage now. 

[Steng]

I couldn't put my finger on what it reminded me of until I read pompeyjazz's ref to The Furs - yeah deffo a feel of late 70s post punk for me. I wanted the guitar slightly louder in the mix. My Mrs came into the room and started dancing to it, so I guess that's a thumbs up from her too! Nice work.

Steng

[Skub]

Hey Bill.

The chorus is a belter man. 

Lots of influences..Split Endz and a Coldplay kinda feel. I love it.

Unfashionably short too! 

The only minor points are,timing..the guitar is rushing ahead of the drums at times and the drums get lost in the mix in places too.

A magic song.

[shadowfax]

Great that you've taken the trouble to arrange the song to make it more interesting to listen to...some timing issues with the rhythm guitar though..
organ could've been louder for me..good work and good song though!!

[Bill Saunders]

Thanks all...

As both Shadowfax and Skub pointed out timing issues with the guitar, I rerecorded and hopefully fixed. Also, organ now louder and drums I hope clearer in the mix (and guitar - thanks Steng) - thank you for your invaluable feedback - this is how I can improve!

Link to updated version in the original post above.

It's amazing - I have never consciously listened to any of the influences mentioned - Split Endz, Coldplay (although hard to not have heard their stuff of course), Psychedelic Furs...However, I am of a certain vintage and if people hear late 70s or early 80s then I'm not surprised!

Also thanks so much to Tim, Adam and and John for commenting and being so encouraging, it means a lot - being hear is growing me as both a writer and a producer.

[Morefrog Jones]

good lyrics that fit well with the music that you have put with it....enjoyable listen.

[Skub]

Much improved Bill,the organ raised gives it a touch of Arthur Brown. BILL the GOD OF HELLFIRE.  

Great choon man.

[TimCurtis]

No problem!!  Have to say that I'm quite enjoying listening to all this stuff and giving my tuppence worth (if it's even worth that much).  There's a lot of good songs on this forum and so much variety at the same time.  Everyone seems to have their own sound, unlike the charty/commercial radio where every track sounds the same to my old codger ears. 

Look forward to hearing the next one!

[jamesh]

What a cracking song! I think verse and chorus work really well together. And the keyboard solo, though not what I was expecting on first listen takes it back to the 70s/80s. I'm not so sure about the Cold Play reference though..

On the chorus, I think I can hear some backing vocals on "Just to feel each other's pain" Or I'm imagining them. Real or not, I think they could be louder just to add more impact to the chorus.

One other thing I noticed is the bass note at 2mins 37secs doesn't feel right to me, but then as nobody else has mentioned it, then please ignore!

Overall a well structured song with plenty of variety throughout.


James

[Jambrains]

Yeah, this I like, good verses and strong chorus!
Good arrangement with variation and the different instruments works well togehter,
Mix sound fine but still a few minor things:
I'd suggest bringing the guitars up a bit in the chorus get give it a little more drive.
I think the cymbals are a bit overused at places and they tend to "wash" around, they also seem to be loacking a little bit to make them really effective. There are also a couple of snare rolls that is a bit machine gun-ish.
Think the vocals could come up a bit as well, or perhaps back of the reverb a bit?
Anyway, no big things, fab as is, keep or sweap.
Well done!

[Wildkitty]

Nice song Bill!
I really like how you change the dynamics in the second verse, that way it stays interesting for the listener.
and the chorus is great, very high energy.

[Bill Saunders]

Wildkitty

Thanks for listening - yes originally it had two more verses (I think) before that break in what is now the second verse - it's definitely better this way.

Jambrains I agree the cymbals need attention, although the snares were deliberate. I also went with a bit more reverb on the vocals than "normal" through choice, I just thought it suited this particular song. Comments much appreciated.

James Thanks for the positive comments and encouragement! I chose to mix the backing vocals so that they are "felt" more than actually heard if that makes sense. Just to give body and weight to the vocals rather than anything else.Sounds like I achieved that, but maybe they should come up in the mix...

Tim Again, thanks for listening - I am loving your stuff too.

Skub I'll take that nickname kindly Sir!! Thanks for the encouragement, it means a lot.

Morefrog Yes, I like the lyrics - normally not my strong suit and it is liberating to have someone else do what I regard as the hard work so I can just do the fun part of writing and recording the music!

Bill