Force 10 From Fair Isle

The Shipping Forecast is a daily radio report for British mariners which has become a favourite with other folks ( like myself) who have hardly been to sea, but just like the mystery and strangeness of the names and images conjured up by the ocean weather terms.
Joanne Cooper kindly agreed to sing this cautionary tale and helped to come up with the backtrack.

RealTracks in style: 2457:Strings, Rhythm CelticAir Ev 085
2489 Bass Acoustic
1814 Guitar Acoustic Celtic Air
1604 Fiddle Background Pop


Force 10 From Fair Isle

a boy threw a pebble
changed his mind about letting go
mother let me dive into the ocean
bring it back for you to hold

my boy the sea`s bright shimmers
are the skin of a beast
don`t be a fool like your brothers
no selkie waits to save you in the deep

come away now I tell you true
come away for the shipping news

force 10 from Fair Isle
veers east to Viking
cyclonic winds expected low
I am held by
sons I cannot hold
held by their saviour on the radio

Fitzroy Tyne and Trafalgar
mother I see galleons
in the storms off Lundy Island
u-boats and Napoleon

boy I see my dreams a-drowning
in these pictures you make
drowning in the tears
our lord will cry for my sake

come away now I tell you true
come away from the shipping news

force 10 from Fair Isle
veers east to Viking
cyclonic winds expected low
I am held by
sons I cannot hold
held by their saviour on the radio
held by their saviour on the radio

© Robert Cordrey May 2017

selkie = mythological creature, part seal part human

Wonderful, thank you.

Haunting and beautiful. Love the lyrics and production. Joanne's vocal is stunning. Excellent all around.

Bob

Beautifull imagery and a vocal that's perfect for it.a well crafted song with great production
thank you robert

Man, so good!!

Great writing, and that vocal is about as good as it gets. Love those harmonies! And mix is perfect too.

Excellent collaboration!

Wow! This is so danged good! everything is placed and performed perfectly. Joanne's voice is a n excellent fit - and she's such a terrific singer. Haunting and captivating. That was a marvelous listen! Kudos to all concerned.

The simulated broadcast at the end is a perfect outro. All of you were at the top of your game with this one.


Alan

What a tune! Very, very pretty I don't think there is a thing I would change. The arrangement, and Joanne's vocals are absolutely on point.

Wonderful job on this - thanks for sharing!

Hi, Robert and Joanne !:))


What a superb co-op ! a hauntingly
beautiful tune so sweetly sung !
Absolutely super !


Cheers
Dani

Glad you liked this, thanks Marty!



Bob,
I appreciate your listen and kind comments.
Since collaborating with Joanne before and listening to many of her songs, I`d wanted to hear her since something with a Celtic flavour as her voice has the crystal clear quality of some of my favourite female folk singers.Boy, did she deliver!

Robert

I enjoyed writing this - been wanting to write a song of the sea with the radio theme but couldn`t get started til I found the first line hiding in some old notes.
Thank you for listening and commenting.

Robert



Dave,
Thank you!
Because we exchanged Real Band files this time I was able to get a sneak peak at the way Joanne builds her great harmonies- very cool. There`s also a double tracked acoustic guitar ( panned l&r) Joanne added in some parts which was a new idea to me.

Robert

Stunning all round song, vocals Joanne are simply magic. This is ONE song I'd love to use for my internet AND hospital radio shows if you wouldn't mind ?

Graham

What a great listen!

I really enjoyed this haunting and beautiful melody

great collaboration, beautiful vocals

loved the ending


Kenny

Jeez Robert and Joanne this song was stunning. The emotion in the lyric and back track set me back. I don't very often get affect by a lyric but this one did. Joanne's vocal just fit the song so perfectly. I would love to here this one the radio

That's why I played it on local hospital radio this evening

Graham,
I`m fine with you playing this on your shows... so you just link from Sound Cloud? I can send the WAV if you pm me.
Cool... a song about your part of the world by a Canadian, sung by a South African, on Scottish radio!

Robert

Robert and Joanne,

This is a fine listen.

The production sounds excellent and Joanne, your singing is absolutely superb. So much attention has been paid to detail in the creation of this song and its presentation! The final product is a terrific collaboration. I also found myself captivated by the chord progression... the sequence had a very haunting and mysterious sound; it was an excellent backdrop for Robert's imagery.

All the best,
Noel

I have to agree with Alan. Nicely done by you both. Tom

Robert/Joanne,

A very nice listen. As others have noted.."haunting".

Good vocal, excellent production and mix.

Enjoyed it.

fj

Alan,
Many thanks for that- I`m happy you were captivated.
Apart from that great vocal, Joanne also set the instrument levels and panning.
The radio clip is from the only time the Forecast was broadcast on tv - I just added some background squelch.

Robert



Thank you, Deryk!

Dani,

Thanks for your listen and kind comments.

Robert



Kenny,
I still listen to traditional British folk music, so no doubt the melody was influenced by some of my favourite ballads.
I like the radio announcer`s voice - delivering dire warnings
as if its a bedtime story!
Thanks for your comments.

Robert



Scott,
You made my day with that!
For the lyrics, it was fun to try to get into the very different ways a boy and his mother might feel about the sea.
Thanks for your support and reposting the song.

Robert

Just linked from soundcloud Robert, quality's excellent

Robert,

Such a beautiful write with some very surprising chord changes.
Top notch really!
Joanne: this definitely must be your best vocal ever!

Rob and Anne-Marie

Robert & Joanne

Simply beautiful stunning vocal - and what they all said before me.

Peter

Hello all
Sorry I have been a little absent on this thread. I have been up in Zimbabwe visiting my mother with very little internet access. I am now feeling well rested and tearing to go!

Thanks for the great comments on this song and thank you to Robert for giving me the opportunity to record these vocals. I throughly enjoyed it and am glad the song turned out well.

Fabulous the way the melody has propelled the lyrics into such a beautiful song. The harmonies are simply astounding. Actually, the whole song is beautiful. Great production too.

A song in the best of the story folk tradition told with an excellent lyric/melody, and vocal.

And added to that is an arrangement and RT choice that is enough to carry the song (and needing nothing more).

The lyric is a story of wonder. One of the most poetic and literate sea stories we’ve read or heard.

Parenthetically, I’ve enjoyed the “sea shanties” posted here over the years. I realize that this is not at all of that genre; however, the scope of the genre has widened over the years to include really interesting material. Pardon, the song couldn’t help but send the old guy on a digression

Well done you collaborators!

J&B

Noel,

Thank you I`m glad you enjoyed our efforts. As said before, most of the fine tuning on the mix was done by Joanne and I`ve learnt a lot from being able to see what was done in RB.
I appreciate your mentioning of the chords - I tried to go somewhere different in the chorus to add some drama.

Robert



Thank you, Tom!



Floyd,
Happy to hear you enjoyed this- that`s two "haunting" songs in a row - gonna change tack for the next one!

Robert

Rob & Anne-Marie,

Thank you for that... Joanne has recorded many very fine vocals; of course I`m biased, but I`d have to agree with you this is right up there!

Robert



I appreciate your listen and endorsement.

Robert

Thank you for your very kind comments.
Re: harmonies, Joanne has a very informative article on how she goes about recording them on her website:

https://www.joannecooper.co.za/blog/blog/5-steps-to-recording-harmonies-using-band-in-a-box-and-real-band



J&B,
Thank you!
I`ll have to search through the back catalogue for those sea shanties - the acapella ones are often really powerful.
I`m happy you enjoyed the story here, sketch as it is.
Funny you should say " needing nothing more" on the track choices - I spent several days trying to integrate some uillean pipe loops into the song, being very partial to the celtic sound. Having a second opinion is a good way to get some distance on things you feel stuck on with these collaborations!

Robert

Wonderful! I love the feel of this. To me, the way a song feels is paramount. Awesome vocal.

Robert, what a beautiful song! I especially was drawn to that powerful chorus with such a great lyric and chord structure! You never disappoint with the material you present to us! Thanks, Torrey

I`m happy you liked this- thanks for listening.

Torrey,
The weather terminology sounds so dramatic I changed the chorus to a minor key to emphasise that.
Many thanks for your kind comments!

Robert

Hello, Robert

Very nice collaboration!
Joanne's voice is really fitted to this tune.
Simple but very strong melody!
I like the chord progression at "come away now I tell you true".
It accentuates this song very well.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Hi Shigeki,
Thank you!
Yes, Joanne has such a great voice for folk songs so I thought of her right away when this was written.
I`m always interested to hear the things you notice about song structure and really appreciate your comments.

Robert

This is beautiful. Excellent playing, singing, voice of tracks and lyrics.

Joanne's voice is beautiful on this.

David,

Thank you for the listen and kind comments!

Robert

hi guys this was stunning everthing about this song was engageing well done thanks for sharing eric

Very pretty song!! The arrangement is perfect. I have never heard Joanne sound better! Wonderful collab!! Take care. Greg

Thanks Eric!



Greg,
I`m happy you enjoyed our work.
There was very little to do once Joanne sent me her beautiful vocal - as said before, I did try to complicate the arrangement before the penny dropped.
Cheers,
Robert