[tokenangmoh]

Hello all!

About 20 minutes ago, Arkwright won the August Lyrics of the Month competition with this, and - spookily on cue - here's some music for it.

The song used to be called Hate to Love to Hate, but it has now morphed into Love to Hate Me.

It was great fun adding my musical ravings to these cool lyrics. Everything you hear in the track is my voice - plus the entire contents of my VST FX folder, plus some clapping. My neighbours hate me now.

All comments welcome, as usual.

Here's the link:

https://soundcloud.com/tokenangmoh/love-to-hate-me

And here are the lyrics:

***

Love to Hate Me

   Verse 1
A tongue so sharp
You cut a smile,
But all the while
There's hatred in your eyes.
I'm seduced by the hint of truth
That you hide behind your lies.

Eyes cold as steel,
Lips hot as hell...
The tales they tell
Are bait to trap your prey -
They're convinced by the promises
That you swear you won't betray.

   Chorus
Played every card,
Tried every trick,
Worked hard to guard my heart
But you're just... too slick.
Release your grip
And let me be,
'Cos I hate to love you
And you love to hate me.

   Verse 2
An angel's face
With looks to kill,
You get a thrill
From freezing me with fear,
And you laugh and you lick your lips
When I shed a single tear.

From blood-red claws;
My wounds are deep.
I need to sleep
And rest my broken soul.
Don't know if I can sleep in peace
Till you return the love you stole.

   Chorus

   Bridge
When you wrap your hand around my heart,
It skips a beat
But then it's back to racing when you start
To squeeze it!

   Chorus

[Sunfighter]

I'm afraid if you're looking for constructive criticism I don't have any!

That really is excellent.  I am so envious that you were able to think of all those parts.

Great job!

[tone]

Holy shit bro those production skillz....

Great modern feel to this, yet somehow a cool retro vibe too. Can't fault this, it's simply got massive balls. Thought the vocal melody was cool, loads going on yet never gets overwhelming.

Anyone who tries to produce their own stuff will know how hard it is to get quality like this. Something to be proud of right here Matt

[Jamie]

Hi Matt, the production is amazing, I wouldn't know where to start. It's so slick I can't begin to be critical. How much vocal /production trickery was going on there?makes me a Neanderthal.
So much to learn!
Jamie

[Alan Starkie]

HAHA! LOve it.

[jamesh]

Hi Matt

I love this! It sounds so current. I was expecting theatre (nothing wrong with that) and got something I could have heard on the radio! I love the way the vocal samples make up so much of the arrangement. This makes it so interesting. Great production too, as others have said.


James

[Paulski]

Gaaaaahhhd !!! That is awesome!
Who says vocal harmonies died in the 70's ?
Loved the percussiveness you've put in this with your voice - who needs drums?. To me it's like Michael Jackson on steroids.
No crits here - wicked track! Any producer that takes this on is a lucky duck.
Paul

[Viscount Cramer & His Orchestra]

Wow, a masterpiece of invention!

You've demonstrated your vocal virtuosity once again here Matt. The verse melody is catchy as hell but it gets better as the chorus comes in with a great lift which reminded me of something, maybe just because it was just so right!

As Tone said, a modern sound, but with an 80s throwback for me in that chorus lift....puts me in mind of somebody....

Needless to say that the production is fantastic, with a touch of the theatrical in there!

Arkwright's lyrics are great and you've shaped them to fit here with customary aplomb.

A solid collaboration that works in spades (to continue the card theme).

Astounding work!

[Arkwright]

I guess I could be accused as being slightly biased on this one, but I don't care 

I can only echo everyone elses sentiments. It's a fabulous composition that hooks you in right from the beginning.

Because I'm musically challenged, I can only guess at the amount of skill and time involved in producing such a piece but I'm pretty sure it wasn't knocked together in an afternoon.

Well done Matt, you should be very proud...

[digger72]

Hi Matt,

So there's no instruments in this? Unreal. To have that much control over your voice... wow.
Sounds awesome. Not just the technical things but the imagination and creativity that went in to it.
Production is first class.

Were you in the Flying Pickets?

Great stuff.

Digger

[Dutchbeat]

this is Amazing 

STUNNING!!!!!! awesome, just awesome!!!!


RESPECT!

what a production, could be a hit this!

I wonder whether Arkright feels like he can cross an item from his bucket list???

congratulations you both!

[Arkwright]

this is Amazing 

STUNNING!!!!!! awesome, just awesome!!!!


RESPECT!

what a production, could be a hit this!

I wonder whether Arkright feels like he can cross an item from his bucket list???

congratulations you both!

Thanks Dutch, but all credit really does need to go to Matt on this one.

Knocking up a bunch of lyrics is easy, what Matt produced was just sublime. I can't even begin to imagine the complexities of putting something like this together.

Hope he continues to get all the recognition he deserves.

[benjo]

 HEY YOU GUYS WHAT A COLLAB

 can i pick a lyric out or what
 i knew i'd nominated a cracker for the lyric of the month comp
 
 now to be able to hear it is fantastic
 MATT you really have done a top notch job on the song
 it's so today sound

              i loved it WELL DONE YOU GUYS YOU DESERVE ALL THE CREDIT YOU GET

                                           tony

[tokenangmoh]

Hello all.

Thanks so much for these comments! This was a bit of a departure for me, so it's great to get all this positive feedback.

I never really know how to reply to positive comments; I find criticism much easier to engage with. So apologies that I'm not going to reply to everyone personally below... But thanks to everyone for commenting nonetheless - it's greatly appreciated.

@tone

Great modern feel to this, yet somehow a cool retro vibe too.

That is exactly what I was aiming for, so I'm very happy to hear this!

@Jamie

How much vocal /production trickery was going on there?

All of it. In fact, if you want any vocal or production trickery for yourself, you'll have to wait for the delivery to come in next Tuesday.

@Paulski

Who says vocal harmonies died in the 70's ?
Loved the percussiveness you've put in this with your voice - who needs drums?. To me it's like Michael Jackson on steroids.

70s and MJ were also things I had in my mind, so I'm very happy with this comment, thanks!

@cramer

the chorus comes in with a great lift which reminded me of something

Yeah, it reminds me of something too, but I've spent about a fortnight unable to think of what exactly, so I'm hoping it's not that obvious, whatever it is...

A solid collaboration that works in spades (to continue the card theme).

Groan....

@digger

Were you in the Flying Pickets?

Wow, that takes me back to my Gran's living room on Saturday afternoons when I was little. I am downloading their "Best Of" album as I type...

Thanks again, everyone!

Matt

[Gary_W]

Brilliant.

Nothing was out of place.  I thought the mix was perfect and, whilst I enjoyed the verse a great deal, the chorus did what it's supposed to and kicked it to an even better place.  The interpretation of the lyrics just worked.

Suitably impressed