[montydog]

Hi Guys,

This is a re-written, re-arranged and re-recorded version of a song I put on here a few years ago. I think it's better but I may be wrong:-( I would love to hear your feedback.

https://soundcloud.com/alan-walker-4/the-road-2018-revised-version

Do you wake to find your life unwind
Same picture every day
There must be more on a far off shore
Why would you want to stay?
But the road is cold, dark and old
So this is what I say
Listen hard 'cause yard by yard
It took my life away

Trucker's stops and coffee pots
A waitress trapped in time
Years of dust and old red rust
Another glass of wine
Gunmetal days, forgotten ways
To lose this soul of mine
Red leather booths and country tunes
I can't get off my mind

Fields of grain and summer rain
To wash away the dirt
But a hundred miles of frozen smiles
Can't take away the hurt
Country lanes and weather vanes
Faded in the sun
Empty barns, abandoned farms
Where wild horses run

Angry skies and false goodbyes
That leave me with a lie
Leaning poles on country roads
As the trucks go rolling by
Old cars in yards, a wind so hard
It will take your breath away
Rotting dreams and headlight beams
That turn the night to day

The cold green eyes and soft warm thighs
Of the girl that I've just paid
To keep me warm and calm the storm
From the mistakes that I've made
Motel rooms, the truth that looms
This is not the way to live
Lessons learned, bridges burned
I can't take more than I give

Soft leatherette, another cigarette
The last one in the pack
I can't restore what I had before
I can never bring it back
Neon bars a Dome of stars
But drink can't kill the ache
Stood outside as worlds collide
And the mist rolls off the lake

A sea of graves, Jesus saves
But he looked the other way
But just the same I called his name
Helped keep the ghosts at bay
So if you see me passing by
A cold light in my eyes
Please toss a coin into my cup
To pay for my sunrise

(If you want to hear the original it's here :https://soundcloud.com/alan-walker-4/the-road)

Thank you

M

[Cawproductions]

Hi Monty.

Lovely acoustic sound on this, and that upright bass is cool. When that banjo dropped, ...yeh nice

The whole track has a really nice country feel...

Gotta say that chorus/phasing on your vocal was troubling me bit..and your vocal is really good so IMHO doesn't need much processing...

Great work, I love this style.

This mix sounds great here..

[LostBoy]

Hi Alan, I like the lyrics a lot mate. I also loved the banjo although on my Apple pods it seemed a bit loud in the mix. The whole thing has a nice feel...like your driving along that road.
Only other thing I noticed was the line with "mistakes" is a bit busy. I can hear you trying to cram the line into the melody. other than that. Nice work mate...As usual. 😁🎶👊🏻🎶

[SlavaB]

Hi Alan,

Good country sound, love the banjos the only thing I would possibly change ( purely my opinion ) is I would remove the phaser effect from the vocal, the rest is very cool man!

[Paulski]

Hi Alan

What a great lyric - paints picture after picture from a road-weary traveler.
I'm with those who found the phasing on the lead vox a bit out-of-genre but what do I know?
Good mix - the lead vocals (which are great) right up front where they should be. Banjo was refreshing, but a bit too loud on my gear.

Enjoyed it!
Paul

[hardtwistmusic]

Don't know a thing about "production" and "mixes" etc.  But I know what I like.  I know if this was available on Karaoke, I'd sing it in a heartbeat. 

Long story short, I loved every second of it.

[cowparsleyman]

Whato @montydog - Nice song, super prod, I like the way you swap the focus of cameo intruments, one time it's a banjo, then a harmonica. If you could get a female vocalist to dual the Chorus, it might work, and bring something different to the texture of the song?

Oh yes and as others have said, you don't need the phase on the LVOx.

rich

[redrhodie]

The production and playing all sounds really good to me. Love the banjo. Really cool. I don't mean to sound negative, but I think your voice is just too pretty for the gritty lyrics. It would make more sense to my ear to be sung with a darker, less soothing sound. I think you should try to get into the character more. You're a truck driver, singing in the first person. Imagine what he'd sound like after all those miles on the road, smoking cigarettes and sleeping with hookers in truck stops. Don't get me wrong, your voice is lovely. But I think that's wrong for the song. Sorry.

Lynn

[cowparsleyman]

@redrhodie - Yip you're bang on, that's what was missing, I guess he has to try a re take
with a cold,
or smoke 50 fags
or stay up all night, be a great excuse...

Rich

[fischermans]

Hello Alan, very cool to hear a confident sound. Very nice Banjo playing, may a bit loud in the mix but may it is only me. As I listened the first time I thought it sounds familiar to me. I would be very happy with the result if it was my song.

[pompeyjazz]

It's sometimes really worth while re-recording something that you did a while ago.

Great driving feel to this @montydog and clever use of instrument interludes to break up the song into sections. I think I'm probably with some of the other posters here to say that you're voice is maybe a little too nice but I see that @cowparsleyman has some great tips to overcome this 

Overall, a quality piece of work 

[Wicked Deeds]

Hi Alan,

I listened three times.  Love the percussive rhythm and also the harmonica in the early stages.  There's a quick fire barage of lyrics that I like and the addition of banjo is welcome. I love the introduction of several instruments but also think there's a better way to introduce and blend them into the mix. A little more variation in the melody will lift this further. Coming to the end of my third listen, it gets better and better each time.

Paul

[Neil C]

Alan,
Remember it well. This version all sound much more professional in terms of instrumentation, arrangement and production. Love the acoustics, double bass and banjo especially.

Two small nits from me regards the phasing on your vocals, not sure you need it, and perhaps the level of the banjo compared to the rest of the track.

classy
 
neil 

[montydog]

Hi everyone and thanks for all the feedback.

Alan,
Remember it well. This version all sound much more professional in terms of instrumentation, arrangement and production. Love the acoustics, double bass and banjo especially.

Two small nits from me regards the phasing on your vocals, not sure you need it, and perhaps the level of the banjo compared to the rest of the track.

classy
 
neil 

Hi Neil,

I'm pleased you can hear an improvement in the arrangement and production - that's the idea of revisiting this old stuff. Others have mentioned the vocal effect I have used and it's a fair point if you don't like it but I did have my reasons.

Thanks for listening

Hi Alan,

I listened three times.  Love the percussive rhythm and also the harmonica in the early stages.  There's a quick fire barage of lyrics that I like and the addition of banjo is welcome. I love the introduction of several instruments but also think there's a better way to introduce and blend them into the mix. A little more variation in the melody will lift this further. Coming to the end of my third listen, it gets better and better each time.

Paul

Thank you Paul. I have re-written the melody to introduce more variation but the point of the song is about the boredom and repetitiveness of being on the road and I was trying to reflect this in the melody (or lack of it!)

It's sometimes really worth while re-recording something that you did a while ago.

Great driving feel to this @montydog and clever use of instrument interludes to break up the song into sections. I think I'm probably with some of the other posters here to say that you're voice is maybe a little too nice but I see that @cowparsleyman has some great tips to overcome this 

Overall, a quality piece of work 

Thanks Pompey. The voice thing is kind of difficult - that's my voice and that's how it sounds. I used the phasing effect to try and make it sound a little less "sweet" and I thought it worked quite well by giving a sense of distance and distortion from reality but nobody seems to think it worked :-(

Hello Alan, very cool to hear a confident sound. Very nice Banjo playing, may a bit loud in the mix but may it is only me. As I listened the first time I thought it sounds familiar to me. I would be very happy with the result if it was my song.

Hi fischermans - so good to hear from you again and thanks for your kind words.

The production and playing all sounds really good to me. Love the banjo. Really cool. I don't mean to sound negative, but I think your voice is just too pretty for the gritty lyrics. It would make more sense to my ear to be sung with a darker, less soothing sound. I think you should try to get into the character more. You're a truck driver, singing in the first person. Imagine what he'd sound like after all those miles on the road, smoking cigarettes and sleeping with hookers in truck stops. Don't get me wrong, your voice is lovely. But I think that's wrong for the song. Sorry.

Lynn

Hi Lynn,

No need to be sorry - I understand where you're coming from but their ain't much I can do about the way I sound :-(

Don't know a thing about "production" and "mixes" etc.  But I know what I like.  I know if this was available on Karaoke, I'd sing it in a heartbeat. 

Long story short, I loved every second of it.

Aw, shucks - thanks. That makes me feel a whole lot better.

Hi Alan

What a great lyric - paints picture after picture from a road-weary traveler.
I'm with those who found the phasing on the lead vox a bit out-of-genre but what do I know?
Good mix - the lead vocals (which are great) right up front where they should be. Banjo was refreshing, but a bit too loud on my gear.

Enjoyed it!
Paul

Thank you Paul - I've covered the voice thing already but glad you liked the track.

Hi Alan,

Good country sound, love the banjos the only thing I would possibly change ( purely my opinion ) is I would remove the phaser effect from the vocal, the rest is very cool man!

Hi,
Well the phaser effect was put on there to get round the problem that my voice is too pure for the song. I tried.

Hi Alan, I like the lyrics a lot mate. I also loved the banjo although on my Apple pods it seemed a bit loud in the mix. The whole thing has a nice feel...like your driving along that road.
Only other thing I noticed was the line with "mistakes" is a bit busy. I can hear you trying to cram the line into the melody. other than that. Nice work mate...As usual. 😁🎶👊🏻🎶

Thanks LostBoy - that line is a bit tricky. You should have heard the previous 15 attempts!

Hi Monty.

Lovely acoustic sound on this, and that upright bass is cool. When that banjo dropped, ...yeh nice

The whole track has a really nice country feel...

Gotta say that chorus/phasing on your vocal was troubling me bit..and your vocal is really good so IMHO doesn't need much processing...

Great work, I love this style.

This mix sounds great here..

Hi,

I hear your comments on the vocal effects which I've covered already. Thanks for your kind words on the song.