The Songwriter Forum - songwriting reviews, tips and chat
Songwriter Forum => Feedback on Finished songs => Topic started by: Wicked Deeds on February 13, 2018, 06:27:53 PM
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**Edited by Boydie to use the SOUNDCLOUD embedding feature**
A few short weeks ago, myself and Adam decided to engage in a forum collaboration. Adam graciously accepted my offer adding that we both seem to “get’ each other musically. It appealed to me because our approaches to writing and production contrast a little but not extremely so. I wanted to produce something quite polished but also embrace that wonderfully quirky flavour that Adam brings to all of his work.
I immediately set about writing a new song and called it ‘Rock “n” Roll’. It was really a song that celebrated love and also about getting lost on the way to Tesco. There was a line that read “We took the short cut into France.” I recall visiting Southport for the first time and a journey where my partner took a wrong turning. Suddenly we found ourselves in a beautiful rural setting and I commented how we both could have been in the French countryside. Adam picked up on the line “We were worlds apart. Still we made a start” and then fired across a rewrite that embraced the French idea further. Mine however, was a true story and I couldn’t quite relate to the rewrite. I loved the idea of depicting a french romance so I recalled a holiday in Northern France and a car journey to "Rouen by the Seine." Several emails later, we had a solid plan to embrace the French theme. There was a line about French impressionism in the song “Impressionistic so replete” but Adam had a great idea, comparing the two lovers to Serge Gainsbourg and Bridget Bardot “I was Serge and you Brigitte." Lyrically, the song was born. Adam sent across some wonderful backing vocals and a fine bass line. We had some discussion about the use of space and I then wrote a new bass line that allowed all of the parts to fit together instrumentally: accordion harp and piano were essential to evoke the French feel that was demanded by the lyrics, We went with Adam’s excellent title “Le Rock ’n’ Roll” and I think a fine song developed.
We do work differently and I work at high speed whilst Adam was a little tied up with work commitments. He was a gentleman throughout the exchange of ideas and I have to say that he caused me to consider many aspects of the writing, arrangement and also production that teased the true potential out of the music and lyrics.
Adam, I’ve incorporated your cleaned up vocal. I’ve worked away from home to complete this so may eq your parts again when I’m settled in a recording/mixing space.
I'm ging to catch up on some reviewing this evening and over the next few days.
Anyway, here it is, “Le Rock ’n’ Roll by Paul Vasey and Adam Farrister.
Le Rock 'n' Roll
I remember how we used to be,
Back in the spring we played a game.
Dancing late and drinking wine
I couldn't wait to call your name.
We were worlds apart
Still we made a start
We danced to Rock 'n' Roll.
Rock ’n’ roll.
We took the ferry crossing into France,
drove to Rouen by The Seine
Laughing as we lost our way,
We were born perchance, again.
We were worlds apart,
Still we made a start.
We danced le Rock 'n' Roll.
Hey, nothing ever stays the same;
the movies and the picture frames.
Lovers walking hand in hand,
are blown upon the wind like sand.
They dance le Rock 'n' Roll.
Rock ’n’ roll
Traffic jammed the city streets.
beneath Cathedral Notre Dame.
I was Serge and You Brigitte
We were so in love’, je t’aime.
We were worlds apart.
Still, we made a start.
We danced le Rock ’n’ roll.
Rock ’n’ roll.
We danced le Rock ’n’ roll.
Rock ’n’ roll
Written by Paul Vasey and Adam Farr
https://soundcloud.com/wicked-deeds/le-rock-n-roll-paul-vaseyadam-farrister
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I have no nits with the words or how they fit the melody. And I don't really understand mixing and all that, but in my head phones it kinda sounded, not sure how to explain it...maybe "loose"? The sounds not merged together tightly. I don't know. It seemed to be mostly in the vocals. They were very suitable, sounded good, nice sound, but they didn't sound mixed together or something. It could easily just be my ears; they're pretty much shot, so don't put too much importance on how I hear it.
I really like the song as a whole. And I know I said no nits with the words or melody, but I just remembered the one section, the four lines starting with "Hey, nothing ever stays the same"...I sorta felt like the last line, or maybe even the whole second half, was going to build up a little somehow instead of just being exactly the same melodically as the first two lines. Again, probably just me.
Anyway, as I said, I do like it. It has a nice smooth sound to it and I do really like it.
Vicki
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Yo Paul and Adam.
I love the happy Summer vibe from this piece. Your two vocals gel really well,Adam's BVs compliment your lead perfectly.
I'm hearing a real Deacon Blue influence here,not totally unconnected to the similarity between your voice Paul and Ricky Ross.
It's a quality,classy song. Well done lads. :)
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Loved this guy's. When I heard that you were going to do a collab I looked forward to it with anticipation and it doesn't fail to impress. The lyrics are clever and tell a great story. It's a great bouncy pop song and love Adams clever bvs especially the whoo oohs. Loved it :)
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Thanks everyone so far - this one went on quite a journey (and I don't just mean to France, or to Tescos). It's an amazing experience to work with someone who knows how to do things you can't (or wouldn't think of doing). I think this would have come out so differently if either of us had had their heads, and love the result. Thanks to Paul for his drive, imagination, patience, skills and taste - all the best things here are from him.
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Nice collaboration. Your voices work really well together. The background vocals were fun. Made me think of the Beach Boys. Story was very romantic, as is the lead vocal.
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Clever collab guys..particularly liked the lyrics, some nice stuff in there :) :)
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I can safely say this is the best song I've ever heard that was inspired by Tesco.
In all seriousness, it's a class piece of work. Really impressed by the vocals , the harmonies and the interpolate. The song is catchy.
It's great to see so many great collaborations on the forum. Be great to get some insights into how you do it, do you share everything via the Cloud? Or is it backwards and forwards? Any apps that work well for this kind of thing?
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fine surprise this
your vocals really good paul & adams voice contrasts ..love the 'notre dame' background phrase
nice feel and bounce bassline works
and the velvet sweeps into the chorus.. gives it a constant lift really hooky
radio drivetime
great song
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Reminds me of the Lightening Seeds, cool poppy rocker!
Would like to hear the backing pumped up a little higher to give it more power, but it's a great listen.
Kevin
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Yeah - Kevin said it - summer!
My gawd I miss summer what with our never-ending winter here in Canucksville.
Anyway, it's a lovely song - I love the chorus especially.
Quirky meets quality - good stuff ;D ;D
Paul
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Thank you for the reviews. I look upon this as a very enjoyable collaboration. The subject matter was light hearted and the collaboration process enjoyable. No dark underling theme, just a celebration of love and music.
Paul
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Yeah - Kevin said it - summer!
My gawd I miss summer what with our never-ending winter here in Canucksville.
Paul
No sympathy. You colonials didn't have to leave. You could be here back in the old country being intermittently blasted by horizontal then vertical rain in a country where 65 million people cling onto a cocktail stick floating around an ever-brown North Sea.
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Lovely collab - I feel so inadequate these days. Like a caveman who thinks his "Hand On a Cave Wall in Ocre" is good until he sees Leonardo's sketchbook.
Seriously, this a lovely thing. So polished, sophisticated, intricate, clever and beautiful to listen to.
M
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Just a final thanks for all the great comments. Paul has such a way with melody and phrasing and arrangement that this was a really easy colab to do and everything came together really easily.
@mickyplankton we did this by sharing the mixed tracks (stems) online - this works well as long as they are all the same length and line up in the DAW. Paul had the master mix but I could upload the basic tracks, overdub my parts and then render them and send just those parts back to Paul.
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Fantabulous collaboration, fellas. Well, you'll find me in Tesco tomorrow looking for some creative inspiration.. Or maybe just loitering in the bakery, drooling by the fresh cheese twists... (On a diet.. arrrgghhhh)
What a fabulously imaginitive song and such a brilliant get-together. Everything working together really nicely here. Clever, catchy, interesting throughout. A wonderful song and excellent forum collab. Fab stuff. cx
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Guys,
Nice nostalgic comforting tune here.
Liking the intelligent lyrics too.
Enjoying the ambition with the backing vocals too
Bon travail
:)
neil