Licence to Survive (No Time to Die)

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adamfarr

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« on: March 29, 2020, 01:36:48 PM »
So here we go (at long last). Had some fun with this one... These days Bond is a bit more complex and so I wanted to include a few different sides here - muscular Bond, introspective Bond, world-weary Bond, ironic Bond, and definitely OTT Bond...

I'm assuming you're all film buffs and know the significance of C-beams...

All constructive and specific comments welcome as always!

Keep safe and #quedateencasa

Licence to Survive (No time to die)

V1
Even when there’s no smoke they fire
Rich girls raising their stakes ever higher
Strongmen playing god along the border
It's always me you call
When your world is getting out of order

V2
What used to be a shower is now a storm
Terror in the skies and on the shore
There's time to stop them if we both believe it
You're still young enough to care
And I'm old enough to know what’s needed

CH
It’s time to fight, it’s time to choose a side
Cos no-one’s gonna give you a licence to survive
Let’s roll the dice, we can’t turn a blind eye
This is no time to cry, this is no time to hide
No time to die

M8
More gleaming C-beams to flee,
More things to see that you people wouldn’t believe
Saving our own skins is not how our kind wins
It’s lose-lose game, like life in vain, and tears in rain

CH

V3
Some day I'll hand the gun to someone new
But I've forgotten how to trust or how to choose
So which is stronger in the danger zone?
The risk of killing both of us
Or the fear of living on alone?

FINAL CH


(c) Adam Farr, 2020, all rights reserved

shadowfax

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« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2020, 05:29:33 PM »
Excellent arrangement Adam and much improved singing...super lyrics and a good tune goin on!! :) 8) 8) well done 8)
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from the nightmare!

MichaelA

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« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2020, 06:17:28 PM »
Very epic instrumental opening there Adam, very catchy and different, then the fragile verse vocal melody and your more slightly vulnerable vocal style are cool contradictions to the monster musical backdrop.

Has grown on me a lot after only two listens. A very unique interpretation on the Bond theme, charming yet with an authentic nod to the usual big cinematic production values of 007 songs.

Funnily enough, Bond apart, the chorus lyrics are a good Coronovirus anthem too!  ;)

Nice work. Refreshingly different take on the brief. Thumbs up!  ;D
My latest novel: pls check it out!

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09GZ7C8M7?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860

Jamie

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« Reply #3 on: March 30, 2020, 11:17:55 AM »
@adamfarr
Hi Adam, nope no idea what a c-beam is, I know what a Sea Bream is though ;D. This is a different take on the Bond theme.You are getting more versatile in your arrangements and production. I'm not sure the a capella ending really works, for me it needs a big build and crash at the end, but what do I know? :P ::) ???.
Nice work

Cheers
Jamie

Grubstar

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« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2020, 03:08:54 PM »

Hi Adam
I've listened to this James Bond song a few times now and I've really enjoyed it. The lyrics are first class and the arrangement and backing track grows on you, The chorus is very melodic and powerful and you have a very individual vocal style. However I also think, like Jamie that  the acapella ending doesn't really work.Great effort though.


PaulyX

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« Reply #5 on: March 30, 2020, 06:22:49 PM »
Hey Adam, love this!  A really nice addition to our nascent album, as it approaches the theme in quite a different way.  From the lyrics (which are great....) I was expecting it to be moody and sinister but actually those major chord choices and the melody make it sound quite triumphal.  The opening strings are massive and I enjoyed them throughout - once or twice they went slightly 'Bhangra' (!) which again is a great twist on the theme.  And there was a hint of a northern brass band in there too.  For me the ending worked well as again, it overturned expectations. All in all a smile-inducing melting pot of influences shot through with your own unique voice and style.  I had to look up C-Beams... now I know.
It's all too beautiful.

digger72

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« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2020, 06:42:06 PM »
Hi Adam,

Well, certainly not a cliche Bond theme, or one which borrows too heavily on past songs. Though it is big and bombastic.

I like the lyrical twists; "Licence to survive",
"The risk of killing both of us
Or the fear of living on alone"

It would be interesting to see a Bond movie introduction using the song.

Kind of made me think of the Beatles in places.

Digger


pompeyjazz

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« Reply #7 on: March 30, 2020, 06:49:56 PM »
Hi @adamfarr Love that big orchestral introduction and the strings that underpin it. This is big on drama - Love the timpani as well.

Indie style guitar goes really well and I love the way that you've combined a lot of pretty complicated rhythm elements.

Loved it  :)

MichaelA

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« Reply #8 on: March 31, 2020, 11:03:29 AM »
PS, an add on to my post. I didn't know what C-beams were either. But was too lazy to find out initially. Then it's been bugging me these last couple of days, so I finally did look, and your M8 now takes on a whole new meaning. 'Tears in the rain' indeed! All credit to you Adam for a genius piece of lyric writing!

Here is the clip to the final brilliant scene in 'Bladerunner' that Adam is referencing, for anyone else who like me was a bit slow on the uptake.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JdUq2opPY-Q

Amazing and very moving. Tears in the rain. Encore!
My latest novel: pls check it out!

‘Gavin & The Bodysnatchers’, a quirky comedy crime thriller. Easily found on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09GZ7C8M7?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860

PaulAds

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« Reply #9 on: March 31, 2020, 11:58:08 AM »
Great work, Adam

Full review to follow...but watching the clip from blade runner and the whole "time to die" business has always made me think of this


https://vimeo.com/273776706
heart of stone, feet of clay, knob of butter

nooms

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« Reply #10 on: March 31, 2020, 05:57:37 PM »
lovely 'dummy' intro adam
really enjoyed this
your vocal really is one of your strengths, hope you know that..
could only be you and your quality lyrics make it shine
chorus is a winner and that 'dummy' intro suddenly perfectly suits..
the accapella is really surprising.. mind you id bring the whole band back in after the last line and march off down the street with it..
but im riddled with bad taste so dont listen to me..
great piece of work, can still hear that chorus sung by a vast crowd..
i may not believe this tomorrow...

https://soundcloud.com/nooms-1

PaulAds

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« Reply #11 on: March 31, 2020, 09:31:04 PM »
Fantastic lyrics...the brass is good and creates an unsettling feeling and your vocals are sounding very good these days...

Verses are pretty cool and the chorus is very memorable...i listened when you first posted it...and remembered the tune when just reading the lyrics again...without hearing the music...that's pretty impressive in itself. I think i'd have gone with big heavy drums in the chorus to really seperate it from the verse...in which the drums are perhaps busier...but I'm not sure that would be what was needed...it's quite a complicated piece of music...well done on pulling it all together so well.

I really liked the bit towards the end where it dropped out to vocal and guitar/banjo or something...and the acapella ending i thought captured the idea of him standing alone to face whatever was coming his way nicely.

I've never watched Blade Runner...I rarely watch films, to be honest...or TV for that matter...I generally get the feeling I'm being manipulated. Which of course, I am/we are...

The "choose a side" lyric brings up an interesting point which i often struggle with...whereby it's all too convenient for the powers that be to frame it all in black and white...as if you couldn't love your country and yet appreciate that other people might well love their countries too and want your own to behave a little better every now and again.

I'm rambling and will now shut up.

Great song!
heart of stone, feet of clay, knob of butter

adamfarr

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« Reply #12 on: April 02, 2020, 06:51:21 PM »
Hi everyone - many thanks for listening.

@shadowfax - thanks for that, especially re the vocals, which I am really working on these days (still working though).

@MichaelA - glad you found it a grower (tends to be that way with me) and glad you came back to the C-Beams - possibly needing people to google a lyric to understand isn't the best start, but it seemed just too good a contrast with one saying "time to die" and our guy refusing to let it be time to die. Thanks for appreciating!

@Grubstar - many thanks for the comments - I think the ending was always going to divide opinion. Once I had the idea of Bond being left alone with his thoughts I couldn't shake it...

@PaulyX - thanks indeed and glad you dug. Had a blast with the strings and first time with brass and strings as well. I really wanted that solo instrument to be an "English Horn" but just not right... I wasn't necessarily going for Banghra - but definitely some sort of international flavour.

@digger72 - thanks for that - I was definitely pleased with the lyrics on this one. Big, bombastic, beatles, that's what Bond is for...

@pompeyjazz - thanks a million - shout out to the free timpani - mixture of Sonatina and KettleDrum both on the same track.

@Nooms - thanks for that, you've always been very encouraging about my vocals and I'm not sure I would still be trying things so confidently without that.

@PaulAds - many thanks, could be right about the drums, I like them in the verses and in the chorus they're more vanilla. Also love that Dads Army joke. Of course, not choosing a side is also a choice with consequences (can't remember the classic book on that theme - French author I think?) 

Cheers everyone, great fun challenge.

IronKnee

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« Reply #13 on: April 04, 2020, 03:48:43 AM »
Hi Adam.....an Epic, and valiant effort. Love the big sound around this Pretty cool.....love the, "no time to die line".....pretty awesome!!!!
                                               -Tom
"I know the truth, by my struggle against it"
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