PG Music Home Forums General Discussion User Showcase More Than Just A Vase (vocals - Janice)

My last post included help from a forum member (Tommy Cole on guitar).
So, I thought I'd continue that trend.
I wrote this song for a woman that I did a lot of work for.
The original recording had beautiful tracks produced by a Nashville big-name.
It also included a vocal with NO emotion and NO warmth, whatsoever.
I've always wanted to find someone who could provide the warmth and emotion that the song was intended to have.
Who would YOU turn to?
That's what I thought!!!

A HUGE THANK YOU to Janice Merritt for singing this for me - the way I've always heard it myself...


MORE THAN JUST A VASE



my daughter dropped a vase that i adored
bits of colored clay lay across the sun porch floor
i cried like she'd never heard me cry before
she didn't seem to know quite what to do
i told her "please, believe, i'm not upset with you"
then i tried to explain what i was crying for (was..)

    more than just a vase i got in mexico
    i kept it for the memories that it holds
    it was given to me long ago
    by someone special... i loved him so
    sometimes the heart just can't let go
    it was more than just a vase i got in mexico

my daughter was too young to comprehend
the story of a love that ends, but doesn't end
i'm not sure that i understand it all myself
(i said) one day you'll find someone to love so true
he'll become forever ..a little part of you
only then you'll come to see..what was on that shelf (was)

    more than just a vase i got in mexico
    i kept it for the memories that it holds
    it was given to me long ago
    by someone special... i loved him so
    sometimes the heart just can't let go
    it was more than just a vase .i got in mexico

i don't know where he is, so many years have passed
every time that i put flowers in that pot i'd hear his laugh

    it was more than just a vase i got in mexico
    i kept it for the memories that it holds
    it was given to me long ago
    by someone special... i loved him so
    sometimes the heart just can't let go
    it was more than just a vase i got in mexico
    it was more than just a vase i got in mexico


And... here are the RealTracks:
RealTracks in style: ~518:Bass, Electric, Pop HalfNotes Ev 085
RealTracks in style: ~365:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking Ev 085
RealTracks in style: ~362:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Ev 085
RealTracks in song: ~2051:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking CountryBrent Ev 085
RealTracks in song: 1856:Cello, Background PopCountry Ev 085
RealTracks in song: 1760:Fiddle, Background Pop16ths Ev 085
RealTracks in song: 1601:Mandolin, Rhythm Pop16Melodic Ev 065
RealTracks in song: 1875:Mandolin, Soloist CountryAndy Ev 085
RealDrums in Song: NashvilleBrushesEasyBluegrass: a: Sidestick, Brushes b: Brushes, Stick

And... thanks to Bud for engineering the vocal tracks
I added a couple of acoustic guitar tracks.
Harmonies provided by me and the BIABettes.

Comments encouraged.

floyd

Floyd, I really like this song. Great production. Wow what a vocal Janice. I really like the stop before the last chorus. Great job! Can't wait to hear your next one. Thanks for posting. Tom

Hi, Floyd and Janice !
Marvellous in every aspect !
Floyd, you are right about
certain tunes requiring certain
voices and in this case it could
not have been better. Janice
singing and expression was just great !
I know what a vase or urn can mean.
I had the ashes of my wife in
the urn before I let the ashes out
to sea where we used to live according
to her wishes.

Naturally the urn had to be laid
down in her grave, but for a brief
moment I held the most precious thing
I had ever held in my shaking hands.
I know how it can feel what you are
writing about, all the common memories
and life you have shared back in time
just pouring out before you like the
shards of a shattered vase !

Just wonderful, thank you both !


Cheers
Dani

wow... just a few words into this song I knew it would be a new favorite!

Y'all have a real knack for combining words and music to deliver a powerful emotional payload, which is exactly what this was. I can't even imagine this song the way you described the original.. cold an uncommitted vocals... how could any sentient person sing those words without melting into them?

I'm still kind of stunned after listening, and don't really have words yet to comment, except to say Wow over and over

good job. I am ultra impressed. Favorably.

Hi Floyd.

A beautiful and sensitive song which Janice has more than done justice to.

A song with such emotive lyrics really needs someone who can immerse themselves in the role of the subject and sing it from the heart. Janice has done this admirably.

All put together with your usual talent for a smooth and professional production.

Excellent stuff!

ROG.

Tommy - thanks for that!

Dani - appreciate it.

Pat - you at a loss for words??? now I'M stunned!...

ROG - Thanks for the kind comments...

Beautifully done Floyd and Janice.

Hi Floyd and Janice,

Right at this minute, I'm sitting here typing and trying to think of a words and phrases that do justice to just how amazing this song is to listen to. I cannot. Things that come to mind such as "incredible", "awesome", "hypnotising", "wow", "it doesn't get any better than this" understate how wonderful it felt for me to hear this work of art.

Janice, your singing is nothing short of aural elegance at it's ultimate. I cannot think of a better voice nor a better singer to present these exceptionally well crafted words.

Floyd, you sent the songwriting bar into the stratosphere with this song! You impressed me so much that I had to sit down and try and work out exactly what you did. I still don't think that I fully appreciate what you've done.

To my ears it sounded like your work was written in one of the minor modes and travelled here and there through the relative major in the chorus. (My guess is that it's the Aeolian mode and its relative major. Some people call the Aeolian mode the natural minor scale.)

The Aeolian mode is such a great scale because it allows minor and major keys to co-exist so very easily. For example: F Aeolian is akin to F minor and has the same key signature as Ab major (which I suspect are the keys used in this song). This, in turn, makes it very easy to drive between an F minor sound and an Ab major sound. The net result of mixing major and minor modes is that it's hard for a listener to identify a rock-solid tonal centre. From a listener's perspective, this causes the sound of the backing to have a degree of 'floating' associated with it and, as a consequence, provides a perfect musical setting for enhancing the emotional content of lyrics; in other words, prosody at it's absolute, very best!

But you didn't stop there! You gave extra emotional oomph to your lyrics by throwing us listeners out of kilter with a 2/4 bar before the chorus. Wow!!!!! That was a master brushstroke by a Rembrandt of songwriting.

Right at this moment, all I can think about is how much I admire what you and Janice have accomplished. It's wonderful.

Best wishes to you both,
Noel

P.S. the arrangement is flawless

Floyd / Janice,

This is really beautiful... Excellent all around.

Bob

Hi Floyd and Janice
Wow! Absolutely wonderful. A real lesson in song writing, mixing and singing. I can only aspire to write and perform like this.

Hi Floyd and Janice,

a beautiful, touching song.
One more of your lyrical stories packed in a great
arrangement with Janice's beautiful voice on top.
Thanks for that.

Guenter

Tom, thanks a bunch for your comments and taking the time to listen to us.


Dani, I'm so sorry to learn about your loss. I'm very moved that my singing of Floyd's song could touch you in that way. Thank you very much,


Pat, Floyd had told us about the first version but we weren't prepared for how removed it was from the lyrics. And Floyd did a tremendous version of this song and all my inspiration for this came from his vocal. Thank you for your kind and thoughtful remarks. It means a lot.


ROG, Floyd's lyrics and melody were so strong that it was easy for me to fall into the story. Thank you so much for noting this.


Josie, thank you! Floyd is a pleasure to work with.


Noel, I can't thank you enough for what you wrote. I have to admit to being apprehensive about stepping so far out of my bluegrass/blues comfort zone. But with Floyd and Bud's encouragement I gave it my best effort. I'm so glad that you liked it. Hey, I'll leave it to you and Floyd to comment on your structural analysis of the tune


Bob, thanks for listening and for the kind comment!


Joanne, thank you. Being handed a tune like this helps so much. Without the stellar lyrics/melody I just don't know if I could have sung it from the heart.


Guenter, Floyd can write them, can't he? I appreciate you listening and taking the time to respond. BTW Bud has played your compositions for me and I really enjoy what you do!

Janice

hi Floyd and Janice totally engageing all the way great production the bar keeps going up well done thanks for sharing eric

Floyd and Janice,

What can I say that hasn't been said before?
except I would never have thought of writing a song about a broken vase. The song, in my opinion, wouldn't have worked with my pronunciation of vase being British!....(rhymes with cars rather rhyming with haze}

Beautiful imagery, beautiful.
Production, vocals all TOP class.
Well done


Alyn

Nice work.

Totally enjoyable.

Good job on the writing and the recording. Everything sounds good.... nice vocal work.

Josie - thanks.

Bob - appreciate that.

Joanne - thanks a bunch for that.

Guenter - glad you enjoyed it. That girl can sing, can't see!

eric - thanks.

Alyn - always good to have you drop in for a listen. Appreciate the comments...

Herb - appreciate that.

Noel,

For a guy who claims to not be able to "find the words", I'd say you did a mighty fine job. Like I told Pat before, I enjoy reading your evaluation of a song almost as much as writing it in the first place. I'm please to capture your imagination with this one - it's one of my favorite writes. And now I get to hear it sung the way it was meant to be....

Thanks again, floyd

One heck of a song and no doubt you found that emotion and warmth that sells it!

Big song BIGGER performance!

Later,

Floyd & Janice,

What a great team. First of all, this is a really nice, well crafted song. The arrangement is very nice. And Janice, you really nailed the vocals, and the expression of the song.

I really like it!

Steve