This is song number two of my series of stories from South Africa and other places. This song was inspired by a novel I was reading on my trip. It was called “Joonie” and is by the South African author Rayda Jacobs. In fact my previous song was also inspired by the same novel.

The story of District Six is a sad one. There used to be a vibrant coloured community living in the heart of Cape Town’s inner city in the shadow of Table Mountain. In the bad old days of apartheid days District Six was bulldozed and the residents kicked out to make room for an upmarket white suburb. The residents ended up scattered all over other areas of Cape Town and the lively community was no more.

This is a simple story of an abused girl who breaks the pattern and leaves. I think one reason women stay in abusive relationships is that they think they have no other options. This song tries to say that there is always an option and you can always find it.

Tracks are:

RealTracks in song: ~518:Bass, Electric, Pop HalfNotes Ev 085
RealTracks in song: 2045:Piano, Acoustic, Solo-Accompaniment CountryPopJohn Ev 085
MIDI SuperTracks in song: 2062:Strings, Rhythm PopCountryWaltz Sw 140
RealTracks in song: 2334:String Quartet, Rhythm PopChamber Ev 085
RealDrums in Song: NashvilleEven8^1-a:Sidestick, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride

Harmonies are a mixture of the BIABettes and me,

Lyrics are on Sound cloud

All comments are welcomed

District Six

I'm happy for the girl in the song. Such a tough, sad circumstance to be put through.

I really like your use of the strings. I've been looking for a song to use them in myself.

much enjoyed

Another keeper, Jo. Thanks for sharing. It's interesting to watch your progress with BIAB. You have obviously mastered it. Your work is always enjoyable to hear.

An excellent write Joanne! More stories like that need to be told and what a wonderful way to do it. Ditto on the strings -- nice. You are going to have a wonderful compendium of your journeys. Thanks for sharing them.

Hi, Joanne !:))

What a beautiful song
on such a delicate matter !
And you have such a beautiful
voice to bring the message out !
I liked it very much !:))


Cheers
Dani

Hi Joanne,

really good story. Great vocals and harmonies.
And a good use of the strings.
An enjoyable listen.

Guenter

Josie

Very nicely presented. Quite special lyrics, and I thought the "BIABettes" did a great job with the vocals

Thanks for sharing

Sweet story for this folk song. Like how you picked the granddaughter's pov. Really nice piano and arrangement. Always enjoy your vocals. I might have used fewer biabettes for a more intimate sound - but that's just me.

Mix sounds great here.

Josie

Joanne,

Nicely put together. A good story song. The ending strings sound great!
You have a real knack for writing melodies that stick in my head for a long time... almost haunting at times.

floyd

Joanne,good arrangement and very well sung. Nicely written and recorded. I enjoyed it. Tom

Joanne...

Very, very nice! Loved the story in the song, although sad. You did a wonderful job on the vocals and the BIAB tracks. Very nice, indeed!

Al & Di

Hi Lawrence – The strings really add something don’t they? When I first got BIAB I was very surprised that there wasn’t any orchestral realtracks so this realtrack is real gift.

Don – Thanks so much. And thanks for all your support, especially on the Jelly. Glad you enjoyed Kate Wolfs “Green Eyes”

Janice and Bud – Thanks so much. I appreciate it.

Dani – Delicate matter indeed and I am glad you think I handled it sensitively.

Guenter – Thanks. Glad you enjoyed the strings. I am expecting to see a veritable flood of songs with realtrack strings after the 2014 BIAB release.

Videotack – Thanks for the nice comments

Josie – Thanks for your suggestion. I will try a version with less of the BIABettes and see how it sounds. BWT we are missing you on the jelly

Floyd – Thanks for your comments about the melodies. Sometimes it seems to come easy and other times I fight with a song for what seems like forever. I have got a nice set of lyrics called “South African Idol” that just don’t seem to be able to find chords or melody!!

Tommy – Thanks for commenting.

Al and Di – Compliments from you on the vocals mean a lot to me since you guys always do such a good job on that front.

Joanne,
Excellent work. Thanks for sharing this poingant story.
SD

Hi Josie,

You've successfully managed to tug at the heart strings with this one. Very nice! The story flows well and the point of view you've used enhances the lyrics' emotionality wonderfully well.

It's two thumbs up from me!

All the best,
Noel

Hi spacedog and Noel. Thanks so much for your kind comments.

hi Josie great lyrics and vocal well dona thanks for sharing eric

Jo, so happy to hear you covering Kate, you only enhance her stuff.

You know that I'll be the happy Irishman in the audience tomorrow. Noon Central is about 6 pm in London and I think that the guitarist who backed me many moons ago will be in your audience tomorrow. His name is Alan Simm (aka Guitarman) so as the pros say: "Compound fracture a tibia!", my friend. You are so loved on here as well as SJ. That goes triple for me.

JosieC.

A sad story made a beautiful song. Well done.

Alyn

Hi Eric and Alyn - Thanks for the kind words.

Don. Thanks for listening to the Kate Wolf songs. Some of them are proving a bit of a challenge!

I have total confidence in you, Jo. Is there something specific that has you high-centered? Maybe open it for discussion here.

I'm hoping that a "Whole guitarist" will step up to the plate (baseball expression) and teach you ascending and descending runs between chords.

Also arpeggios. That would really give you Kate and Nina's vibe.

Let finger-picking evolve in it's own time while keeping that carrot within plain view.

I'd recommend both Country and Bluegrass as starting points because they are generally easier to learn.

Knock 'em dead, m'lady!