Title: Not Drinking Neither

Link: Not Drinking Neither

The title and chorus of this song is basically a good ol' German saying that I've always liked because it's short, to the point, and mostly wrong.
This is my first drinking song (ever), so I hope you pros (cheers) are good for some constructive feedback.

I'm pretty sure "Not drinking neither" is not the best possible English (I guess "neither is not drinking" would be correct),
but it has a nice flow, gets the message across well, and although it's not 100% correct, it's a great and unique song title.

Anyway, the song is about someone who drinks away her sorrows and rationalizes that. Or something like that...

Feedback (the good, the bad and the ugly) as always highly appreciated.

Some background information that no one asked for:

• Prosody for spoken words is MUCH harder than singing, especially if the girls were never meant to do it.
  It's (minus an accent, which we all have) kind of acceptable, even if I'm not 100% happy with it.
  But I wanted the contrast between spoken words and the catchy chorus.
  Edit: heard a song by Olivia Rodrigo the other day where she speaks. No more worries from my side
• I've never used so few guitars (or instruments in general), but it works and makes mixing a breeze.

As always, a BIG "THANK YOU" to Marty for linguistic and drinkuistic advice.

Some technical information:
Style: TINES.STY

The band:
Bass: 4363
Drums: PraiseWorshipUptempo16
Guitars: 4387, 4388, 3931

Vocals: Solaria + BG vocals Natalie and Weina

You can find the lyrics in the next post.

Title: Not Drinking Neither

(Intro)
Hello?
You think?
Hmh, no
You say I'm wrong?
Well, f*ck it!

(Verse 1)
All the time you complain
Tell me what to do you're such a pain
Listen:
My boyfriend is cheating on me
And my parents kicked me out
My job interview was canceled
And you tell me drinking is not a solution?

(Chorus 1)
Not drinking neither
Not drinking neither
Just gimme my booze, my whiskey in the jar
And leave me alone
You're not my ma
You say you see me drowning in a bitter brew
But the answer from the bottle helps me through

(Verse 2)
They call me "the genie with the bottle"
But it's the bottle that makes me free
They also so "Hey, you got a problem"
They are wrong
If anything, the problem is me

(Chorus 2)
Not drinking neither
Not drinking neither
Just gimme my booze, my whiskey in the jar
And leave me alone
You're not my ma
You say you see me drowning in a bitter brew
But the answer from the bottle helps me through

(Verse 3)
When I gaze into the mirror through my weary eyes
The demon in the bottle demands a heavy price
Maybe, maybe I am wrong
And drinking is indeed no solution?

(Chorus 3)
But not drinking neither
Just gimme my booze, my whiskey in the jar
And leave me alone
You're not my ma
You say you see me drowning in a bitter brew
But the answer from the bottle helps me through

(Chorus 4)
Not drinking neither
Not drinking neither
Just gimme my booze, my whiskey in the jar
And leave me alone
You're not my ma
You say you see me drowning in a bitter brew
But the answer from the bottle helps me through

It is a very unusual use of neither where it ought to be "... use it to say ‘not either’ in relation to two things."
But it does have a ring to it and fits in with the plethora of idioms in language today that are ironic, (not many though & even then the continued usage is usually oblivious), or based on mishearing or misunderstanding.
The "double negative" aspect of it works.
There are some phrasing things that struck me but that's me not your writing.
Nice uncomplicated arrangement and mix.
Well done B.D.

Overall, I thought it was really good! My only constructive criticism is the word "Neither" is not sung as it would be spoken (accent is on the second syllable here, not the first).

A BIG thank you for your feedback, Ray
Your critical ears and linguistic knowledge and feel always help me a lot.

Really nice! The accents are actually quite charming (to me) and the voices sound very natural and startling in their inflection detail. Stylistically, this took me somewhere the Pretenders and Nena. That's a good spot for me. Well done!

Brian,

This sounds great to me. Love the arrangement and production.

Bob

The song is well done. The voice with solaria, I'm amazed, it's more than realistic. I stopped drinking but now French winegrowers no longer speak to me.
Laurent

Hi B.D.

This is really clever song creating. You've done a super job. As you know, I've just started playing around with Synth V and I had no idea that Solaria could 'speak' as well as sing. I'm impressed. It's a really clever hook.

You got my round of applause!
--Noel

Thanks, Dewey, for listening and for your feedback.
You're right, of course, the accent should be on the first syllable, the problem is if you hold a word a little longer to have the right flow for the song, the accent automatically shifts to the last syllable.
I think that's inevitable.

HI, Brain. Have I ever mentioned that I love the song. We mostly talked about lyrics and Taylor Swift. hehe
But, yes, this is a treat. First I must say how good you are with those voices. Very cool lyrics and the melody you created to present them is pefectly perky just the way someone who would be singing them would be. Does that make sense?

This is catchy. When I looked at the lyrics without hearing the song I was thinking "rap".
You did good on this one B.D.

Vic

Brain you did one hell of a job on this one.
IMHO those vocal synths sound real!
Singing and spoken parts - brilliant.
Great groove, instrumentation, and mix.

It works for me!

The spoken bit is fine, and the vocal are good, especially the chorus. Good arrangement, too!

Nice work.

Thank you, Ron, for your feedback, especially on the accent of the spoken parts.
That's good to know and very helpful

Thanks Bob for listening and taking the time to comment

Thank you for your nice comment, Laurent.
I rarely drink, but when I do, it's usually a good French wine

Brian,

WOW.

The Mix on this is Incredible. I cranked it AS LOUD as my system could handle (quite loud) and the mix held together. perfectly.
Killer Pop Sound. Drums! Bass! Guitars! - excellent.
Great job with the Girls. The spoken word thing is impressive. Nice processing on the vocals, too.

MUCH enjoyed.

fj

I think this song and production, plus the video, is totally brilliant! It sounds 100% professional to me, plus I was stunned when I discovered Solaria isn't, yet is, real!
Which prgram do you use for videos?

Thanks Noel for your feedback and applause
But be warned: letting the girls speak is twice as much work as letting them sing.

I had to draw a flowchart to understand your words
Thanks Marty!

Thanks so much for listening and your comment, Vic.
Much appreciated!

Thanks Mario for listening and your positive comment

Brian,

This is cute, catchy, quirky pop.

Liked it.

Very enjoyable punk feel, reminds me of Avril Lavigne both musically and vocally, I don't remember whether she has made any drinking song, but your song has the right spirit
I got the title, or I think so, clever handling of the double negative. Reminds me of the fact I don't drink for religious reasons, I drink for other reasons
Catchy chorus and powerful band, well mixed and enough guitars for the sound.
Excellent work with Solaria, especially those spoken parts sound very natural.

Janne

Man, This is fantastic! The mix and production is as good as it gets. The girls sound good. I really liked it a lot, Tom

AI will be harvesting our organs soon.

And I thought the synth singing sounds so real, but the speaking sounds so unbelievably authentic.

Darn good song, whether you have a human or synth! Love the instrumentation too, Just right, like baby bear porridge.

B.D.:

Wonderful done . . . great 80’s vibe to this . . . but beyond that, I’m really impressed by the quality of the production here. The difference in vocal quality between the chorus and verse, the positioning . . . yeah, great mix, with some pretty flowers sprinkled throughout. LIke those fade outs on the “Not Drinking Either” . . . great use of reverb and delay throughout on the vocal. Killer stuff!

All my best to you,

Deej

How cool! Solaria sounds like a cross between Imelda May and Chrissie Hynde and that is a good thing.

“Just gimme my booze, my whiskey in the jar
And leave me alone
You're not my ma”

That gave us a laugh.

The sparse band sounds great and the mix does too.

Good pop production and video!

J&B

What a cool intro. Loved the mix on this. Had my speakers thumping. Super vocal. Drums and bass lines gave the song such a cool groove. Well done

B.D.Thomas,

It's scary how real those synth voices sound! You've put together a tight sounding well constructed track! I certainly have no advice to offer as it sounds as though you know as well as I about what you're doing!

Thanks, T

Thank you so much, David!
It's always good to get your feedback, especially because the spoken (non-rap) words are new territory for me AND I'm not a native speaker.

It's supposed be listened to loud
Thank you for listening and for your positive feedback, Floyd.
Much appreciated (as always).

Thank you, Waoband, for listening and for your feedback, which I greatly appreciate.
As for the singer, well, as they say, reality is just an illusion, albeit a very persistent one

I use different programs depending on the video, but the main control program is always Magic Music Visuals

Fun and creative song!!! I'm guessing those are AI singers? They sound great!!! Enjoyed this a lot!! Take care. Greg

Thank you, David, for listening and I'm glad you like it
Mucho appreciated!

BD,

I missed commenting on this one . . . though I think I had given a listen some time earlier. Regardless a wonder to hear again. Really well done tune, but no surprise as your productions are always clean and compelling. Once again, great use of vocaloids. Really nice drive to this, catchy chorus, with a slick 80’s like sound. Nice use of sound effects to boot. Cool tune!

All my best to you,

Deej

Love you quote above, Janne
Thank you very much for listening and your detailed feedback.
I can live well with the fact that the song reminds you of Avril Lavigne!

B.D.
Trying to picture drunk Solaria...
Fun tune. Well composed and produced. Neat spoken parts. I guess my critical comment would be... that spoken verses have good amount of raspiness and punkyness to connect to narrative, but choruses are too sweet for someone with such bottle issues. In any case, easy going cool tune. Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Thank you very much, Tom.
Knowing how good your own productions are, that means a lot to me.

B.D.

That was beyond cool! Your use of the Synth voices is marvelous. The voices sound as live - perhaps better - than some live-singer recordings that get airplay. Everything is crisp but not abrasive or scratchy - perfect tone and timbre. Your music is always some of the best on the forum - and your command of the English language is impressive. I speak a fair amount of German (lived there almost 12 years), but not nearly as good as your English.

Your music always entertains and puts a smile on my face. There are times I need that, so thanks! What a great listen!

Alan

Thank you very much, E.S., especially for commenting on the song itself independently of the singer.
Mucho appreciated!

I've never heard this quote, but I like it

Hello Brain, I have to compliment you on this masterpiece!
And I can say "again" too, because I think all of your songs are very impressive.
The way you handle these AI-vocals... Great!
Although David and Jannesan are getting close, as you might have noticed.
Maybe a song together???

Yes I enjoyed this song a lot. In a cynical way funny, but actually it's a sad story
And I too was thinking about the title and what Ray wrote about it.
To me the title is correct because it also implies two things; the drink and her miserable life. So she has to deal with both. Ray already referred to this.
Whatever, A great song!

Hans

Thank you Deej for listening and for your detailed and positive feedback.
I really appreciate it

Thanks J&B for your nice feedback.
Lyrics like the chorus above happen when the kids are in the room and Thin Lizzy is playing on the radio

I always love to hear Solaria! Is that talking part her voice as well?

Man, do those voice synths get better.

You packed it up in a thorough and professional rock arrangement.

Well done (as always) :-).

Rob

Fun, quirky song!!! Really impressive how those vocal synths work!! Arrangement and mix are GREAT!!! Well done!!! Take care. Greg

Thank you Scott for listening and your positive comment.
Much appreciated

Knowing how good YOUR stuff is, that means a lot to me.
Thank you, Torrey

Yep, it's all Synthesizer V vocals.
Thanks a lot for listening and commenting, Greg

No quibbles from me, I loved everything you did with this.

Excellent!

Thanks for taking the time to listen (twice, I guess) and comment on my song, Deej.
I really appreciate it!

"Drunk Solaria" ... good title for a future song
Thanks for listening and for your suggestions, Misha.
I actually thought about it too, but decided to have the clean chorus as a contrast, like a dialog between the (drunk) girl and her (irrational) conscience.
But you have a good point

Thank you so much for your really kind words, Alan.
Highly appreciated!

Where did you live in Germany?

Thank you very much for listening and your nice feedback, Hans, especially about the lyrics.
Much appreciated

Hi Rob (and Anne-Marie of course),
thanks for listening and your nice comment.

And, yep, the talking part is also by Solaria, but with a different vocal processing.

Thank you, Greg.
Glad you enjoyed it

Thank you so much, Dave, for listening and your kind feedback here and on YouTube.
I really appreciate it