[MichaelA]

A song about breaking through life's adversities together with someone special. Trying to achieve that balance of a hopeful message set in melancholy music that I seem to be stuck with!

Would be interested in comments on whether the vocal level is too loud still, or OK - can't hear it anymore after too much tinkering! ...plus I know my vocal technical ability is not the best, but it's all I can do - sorry! 

https://soundcloud.com/michael-a-duffy/wild-waters

Lyrics

Wild Waters

Beat of a heart
Blink of an eye
Looked at your face
Then I knew you and I
Were
Yearning for the same thing

Snared in a trap
Jailed in a cell
Tried to escape
Never went well
There’s
Burning for that one thing

CHORUS:
We begin
At once feel the ice on our skin
Through wild, wild waters
We must swim

We begin
And steel every bone, every limb
Through wild, wild waters
We must swim

Felt your resolve
Iron in your glove
Barriers dissolve
Smashed down by love
Then
Headed for the new light

Mountain snow shivers
Forests so dim
Dark swirling rivers
None dare to swim
When
Will we beat this long night?

CHORUS

And we’re breaking out beyond the cloud
And we’re calling out our hopes so loud
And we put our trust in something true
Just you in me
And me in you

CHORUS

[Oldbutyet]

Hey Man love it, but if you ever sing this in a bar cut out the reverb the walls will do their job.

Wheres your vocals from 

[crystalsuzy]

This is gorgeous Micheal The lyrics and vocals are excellent Really lovely backing track 
Love the held word in the verses...beautiful melody throughout
I might try adding some harmonies in the choruses, but then I'm a harmony junkie
No nits from me on this one...I'll be back for many more listens

[mickyplankton]

Very accomplished song Michael. Beautifully executed too. You've done a great job with the backing guitar and strings. Great balance there in the mixing. There's quite a lot of reverb in the vocals but that works for me. Cheers Micky

[MichaelA]

Thanks Oldbutyet, well reverb is my big sin, so I will watch that. If you mean how do I record my vocals, well all my songs are done on my ipad, that's all, with GB, a condenser mic and a couple of apps. Nothing fancy, but it might be time I upscaled!

Thanks Suzy too. It just shows how subjective our songwriting decisions are, as I was going to cut back on the harmonies, but see you want more, ha ha!

Cheers also for the encouragement mickyplankton - if you ever checked my songs from over a year ago you will see I have pulled back big time on the old reverb. But it has been a painful process! 

[Jamie]

Hi, nice strings,vocals and the acoustic guitar sounded good too. I felt the verses were more hooky than the chorus, but I don't suppose that matters! I enjoyed the lyric it worked well with the arrangement and instrumentation.
Nice one!
Cheers
Jamie

[Skub]

Yo Michael,welcome to the forum. 

I love the song. The vocals make a lovely contrasting dynamic with the plush music track.

It all highlights human frailties in a very listenable package.

Believe in yourself and others will too.

Liked and reposted on soundcloud.

[pompeyjazz]

This is great Michael.  I love the vocals.  Very distinctive and reminded me a bit of The Verve. Great accompaniment. In fact everything about it is so well done. Often there is criticism about vocals but that's the one unique instrument we all own and it makes each song your song. Go for it man 

[kevysc]

Very nice production, well balanced backing, supporting the vocals .

 Good melody and strong chorus, well done!

Kevin

[MichaelA]

Thanks to each of you Jamie, Skub, pompeyjazz and kevysc. These kind of encouraging comments are quite motivational. Much appreciated! 

[cowparsleyman]

Lovely production on the Acoustic guitar, great job.

CPM

[Bill Saunders]

WOW, I love this - the vocals grab your attention from the off. I heard Dave Cousins of The Strawbs in there...that'll be my age, but it is a compliment! The vocal saturation effect really works for me.

Beautiful laid back instrumentation contrasts nicely with the edgy lyrics and generally foreboding tone.

Classy.

[Bankie]

Very nice song, Michael. The instrumentation is very good, as is the overall arrangement. I do think you're right to question the levels on the vocals though - apart from the reverb being too obvious, it's just too loud and distracts from an otherwise great listen. Regarding your voice, although not great, it's not bad, and I think there's a lot more potential in it than you might believe. I think you just need to learn to get a little more control - if you're motivated to do so, you could work on it with a vocal coach or self-study to improve.

[MichaelA]

Thanks CPM, still learning on the production front, very much so!

Hey Bill Saunders - I will look up that Dave Cousins guy, although vaguely recall The Strawbs! Thanks for the encouragement.

Cheers Bankie. I keep taking the tablets re the vocals, and yes your advice is good! But I am a songwriter with an ambition to one day place one or two of my hobbyist songs with other more successful artists, so it is all about making the best demo for me. Although I don't expect to hear my singing on the radio any time soon! Cheers! 

[redrhodie]

Really pretty melody. I don't have anything constructive to say, just that I liked it.

Lynn