The Songwriter Forum - songwriting reviews, tips and chat
Songwriter Forum => The Bar => Open Mic! => Topic started by: PaulAds on December 02, 2018, 04:15:29 PM
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Hello
I brought some stage lights home for my daughter...who's doing photography and video at college...and as I was bashing about on my 12-string...I thought I'd yank the sofa out of the way and record a few songs as I went...
there are 10 in total this afternoon...some old, some new(ish) and even a couple of covers...I'll upload them all gradually (Vimeo has weekly limits)
maybe someone will find them interesting...I need to practice a bit more anyway...filming yourself is a little excruciating...but it really helps to show what you're doing wrong and what needs improving upon...quite a lot, as it turns out!
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First one is an old song I wrote around 1987...when I was about 19 or so...it's about my hometown...a mining village in north-east England...Chopwell...or "Little Moscow" as it was dubbed for 'twas a hotbed of communism back in the day...
Abandon Ship
https://vimeo.com/303998585
Every day's different...but largely the same
This village is walking the plank
It's destined to drop off the roadmaps
And no-one will know where it sank
Abandon the ship 'cos there's nothing left here
The past's dead and gone and the future's not clear
And the old man he coughs and he splutters
And he brings up the fruits of his toil
As he drags on the woodbines that one day
Gonna drag him down into the soil
He's always intended to die here
Perhaps that explains why he laughed
Cos he knows he won't find the direction in life
That he lost when he fell up that shaft
So they landscape the slag-heaps around us
And leave us to rot in the streets
Of a village that once got knocked flat on its arse
And just couldn't get back on its feet
I'm gonna drown in a wave of nostalgia
Bringing turnips back home from the tip
You can go jump in a lifeboat
I wanna go down with my ship
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This second one I wrote earlier this year...
Six Ways From Sunday
https://vimeo.com/303999149
So are you sitting comfortably and are you finally getting warm?
Did you get your shit together in the calm before the storm?
Or did you get so full of hate?
That you couldn’t see it straight?
And has insanity become the norm?
Are you all stocked up with popcorn to see the tragedy unfold?
Are you thinking for yourself or are you doing what you’re told?
Is it ever gonna stop?
Will the penny ever drop?
Has it already been bought and sold?
We got Six Ways from Sunday for exacting retribution
We got Six Ways from Sunday to erode the constitution
We got Six Ways from Sunday…will we even get to Monday?
We got Six Ways to throw it all away...
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Yo Paaaaul!
Smashing it mate, love 'em.
Really dig your strumming and was nice too see you get into it and move around some. Lights setup looking nice leaving those mesmerising shadows on the wall - well worth getting some recording in!
Didn't catch much of the words but only used laptop speakers so will revisit when better equipped.
Looking forward to the other instalments :)
Cheers,
Scott.
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Really impressive guitar playing and you looked totally comfortable. The pink was a great idea. It added a dynamic visual to your dynamic performance.
Cheers,
Lynn
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Well, I enjoyed those a lot. And I love the 12-string. I'm biased. All I had for years was a 12-string (a long time ago). I have a different one now. So I need to see if I can learn to strum like that. !! Fun to watch you "in person". :)
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Thanks for the nice comments!
Number 3 is Stand Down...which I think has the most Soundcloud plays of any of my efforts...
Stand Down
https://vimeo.com/305202036
Those who met me
They won't forget me
But you’ve got to let me go
Understand
I've done all I can
I'm winding up the show
Stand down...
Don't be sorry
There’s a bigger story
And now we know their game
I don't feel danger
Got one in the chamber
They can't even say my name
Stand down, it's true
Stand down, I'm gonna stand down too
Leave it all behind me
Let the sheriff find me
And don't touch a single thing
There'll be some crying
And rumours flying
And then the birds can sing
In memory of Michael C Ruppert
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Another oldie...this is from the late 1980's
Disaster Strikes
https://vimeo.com/305202563
There’s a light…which might go out
I’ve got to try…and make it count
I spend so much time sitting on my arse
And I watch the days drift by
Then there’s an urge to go and get something done
That gets lost in reasons why
And though I need to make it happen
I just can’t seem to get at them
I’ll be alright…I’ll do what I like
Before Disaster Strikes
There’s a chance…perhaps just one
I’ve got to take…before it’s gone
I can’t pretend that all is wonderful
When it’s obviously not
Or say that I don’t even want
The things I haven’t got
And watch the fat-assed calf get fatter
And pretend it doesn’t matter
I’ll be alright…I’ll take a hike
Before Disaster Strikes
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What a great project @PaulAds (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20253) . It works so well with just you and the 12 string. There's a wonderful full sound emitted from a 12 string that can't be described. I had a lovely 12 string stolen when I was working in France using it to supplement my income many years ago. Bastards :) Keep them coming Paul as they are immensely enjoyable and Stand Down is one of my favourites of yours. You do still look a bit pink though ;D :o
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Ha ha...thanks, John. Yeah...pink's not dead ::)
I need to differentiate between doing a "performance" properly and just goofing around playing songs at random!
I do think that songs can take on an extra dimension or have greater resonance with a simpler treatment.
I've been a mug in the past, playing everything fast and loud all the time...when there were better ways to do it...i might even mellow out a little one day...But I just start playing and get a bit carried away :)
I'll post a couple more next weekend...unless someone talks me out of it.
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Ploughing on doggedly...here's "Same Circus, Different Clown"...
https://vimeo.com/306544010
We don't get involved
in our own affairs
We're like lions...
frightened of chairs
And we all wear a frown
when they roll into town
It's the Same Circus, Different Clown
CH
And they twist and turn
like acrobats
But there's no one pulling
rabbits out of hats
They feed us with lies and then custard pies
It's the Same Circus, Different Clown
And we must perform
Or they might forget
to spoil us with
some kind of safety net
And we all wear a frown
when they roll into town
It's the Same Circus, Different Clown
CH
We don't hold out breath
and we bite our lip
and we dance when
the man cracks the whip
And we all wear a frown
when they roll into town
It's the Same Circus, Different Clown
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And I thought I'd have a tootle through "Busman's Holiday" as well
https://vimeo.com/306544302
You can telephone the helpline
where no-one takes your call
make a generous donation
if you have the wherewithal
The legal team is all tooled up
the PR firm engages
in another fight for hearts and minds
and the sympathy of strangers
Out of season...early May
On a Busman's Holiday
You're just helping with enquiries
above investigation
but reasons why and alibis
get lost in the translation
Sirens started screaming
cameras started flashing
statements being taken
and faces turning ashen
Out of season...early May
On a Busman's Holiday
But they'll never close the case
until someone can explain
the feeling something's missing
and the empty seat on the plane
Out of season...early May
On a Busman's Holiday
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A little relief from my own songs...here's one of my favourite Beatles songs...
https://vimeo.com/307842919
Pesky 12-string was drifting out of tune...serves me right for re-stringing just before a "performance"
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This is "Say Something Happened" which won song of the month, believe it or not...it's a tricky little thing to play with my somewhat arthritic and double-jointed fingers...but I had a crack at it and just left the blunders in...it was just one-take...like all the others I did...life's too short to pretend you're better than you really are.
https://vimeo.com/307843385
Fingertips on photographs like floodgates
Reverse-engineering broken dreams
Nightmares are much easier to live with
Cos everything’s exactly as it seems
What are you going to do...say something happened?
When everything you have just slips away
What are you going to do...say something happened?
Something happens every single day...
Memories are slipped back into shadows
Throats are cleared and tears are quickly dried
It’s a long way from the moment that it kills you
To the moment that the headstone says you died
What are you going to do...say something happened?
When everything you have just slips away
What are you going to do...say something happened?
Something happens every single day...
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That's one of my fave Beatles songs Paul. I had a go at recording it a while ago as an exercise.
Keep em coming :)
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I've been doing a little browsing through these videos - they're great! Love the 12-string .. You're so brave - I wouldn't post raw recordings of my playing against a wall in pink hue in a fit (well I wouldn't post raw recordings of me in any setting!!)! But it works beautifully - very engaging stuff. Keep posting - I certainly will keep watching :)!
K
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Ta very much for the encouragement!
For the last one, I thought I'd have a stab at 10cc's I'm Not In Love.
https://vimeo.com/308689881
I've always really liked the song since hearing it when I was a kid.
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It's been fascinating watching your series of vids Paul and a huge hats off to you for getting up there and doing it :) Tbh this is one of the most unexpected songs I would have expected from you as a cover but the beauty is to keep em guessing ;) It's a friggin great song. I watched a BBC music thang about 10cc a few weeks ago. Man, did they knock out some hits between them and although they were never super trendy they kept on surprising us. You must have had a marathon recording session that day Paul unless you arranged the lights in the same position the next week and carefully selected last weeks clothes. I must go and do something like this myself although not possible atm. Keep it up man as it's infectious :)
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Thanks John...
I just knocked off ten songs once I'd got the lights set up. Not much of it worked out the way I'd have liked, and I just made it up as I went along...I didn't even have any idea what songs I'd play...but it was interesting to do. I've learned quite a lot from doing them and will might even try harder next time :-[
My plan had been to do a whole album or two of songs like this (probably slower (!)) but I just can't seem to find the time to get anything done these days...
Thanks to anyone who took an interest...I appreciate it.
It mostly serves to show that you should probably
A) Plan what you're going to do
B) Do it properly and try your best
Two things I rarely manage.