Kicking off 2015 with a bit of bi-lingual blues. OK, so it's not exactly une chanson en français, but it does have the title in French, plus the odd line. Apologies in advance to "mes amis en france".

Very few tracks running compared to some of my offerings -
Drums are RD Blues BB Even 8s
The rhythm guitar, lead guitar and fretless bass are all played in live.
The brass is a MIDI mix of Forte and Edirol Orchestral.
It's all recorded in Realband and mixed and mastered in Powertracks.

C'EST PAS DIFFICILE

I was sitting all alone in this smokey Paris bar
Watching this young girl play the blues on her guitar
She played it kinda laid back, she played it kinda sweet
But when she played it really hot well it just brought me to my feet
I walked across the room just to see what I could steal
When I asked her "how's it done?" she said
"C'est pas difficile"

She played an old blue Telecaster 1957
It was battered, it was bruised, but she made it sound like heaven
Her Vox AC30 was up at number nine
And stamping on the "Cry Baby" sent shivers down my spine
I'd been playing all my life and never got that feel
When I asked her "how's it done?" she said
"C'est pas difficile"

Well my French was not too good and I found it hard to speak, I said
"Comment vous jouez le blues si manifique?"
I think she understood me but it's very hard to say, though
She put down her guitar and she sort of looked my way
She kinda looked right through me, as though I wasn't real
Then she walked across and laughed and said
"C'est pas difficile".

I said " Pouvez vous m'apprendre à jouer blues comme ça?"
She laughed again and shook her head and then she said "Pourquoi?"
I was reaching for my phrase book but she knocked it from my hand
Then she said in perfect English "Well, I think you understand
That music's not a language, it's more the way you feel
And if you try I think you'll find, c'est pas difficile."
She said " Music's not a language, it's more the way you feel
And if you try I think you'll find
C'est pas difficile".

If you have time to listen, many thanks.

ROG.

hi rog very engaging great tune love the guitar work thanks for sharing eric

Good write, an enjoyable listen.

It's go a very Dire Straits Industrial Disease vibe to it.

Really like the wah effect, works really well. Top lyrics, and great ending.

Like the groove of this one, very good production work and vocal; thanks for sharing!

Bob Dylan meets Hendrix meets Dire Straights meets ROG!! Very cool tune. Everything works. A real treat to listen to!! Take care. Greg

Hi Rog,

Productionwise I don't give any comments, I just bow my head :-)
The song is just great fun! It's a fun story and I enjoyed it all the way trhrough. Loved it, in the spirit of Talking Heads... Great!

Psychokiller! Qu'est que c'est?

Fred

Fun song and enjoyable listen. You made everything work together nicely. I liked the guitar work.


Charlie

Cool tune..... yup...I got some heavy "Dire/Dylan" influence from that excursion into bi-lingual music.....

The bass end seemed fairly heavy and I had to back off the volume to make it sound right. Might just be my system here. Small speakers.... but certainly overloaded.

I don't understand French.... or any other language for that matter...and sometimes have a hard time with English as well.... depends on the accent.

Good song.

Smokin Hot, Hot, Hot! Just a great sound all the way through. The cry- baby is killer. The way the lead and the bass come in together is very well thought out and expertly played. This one just made my current playlist. The dry drum sound works perfectly for this. The lyrics are engaging and it is very well delivered. There isn't a single thing that I don't like about this. Excellent work!!! Tom

Hi Rog,

very witty lyrics. I liked the guitar work, especially the wahwah.
Fun song and enjoyable listen.

Guenter

Holá Rog !:))

Su canción no esta
dificil pero muy
agradable !! (LOL)

Don´t think I know
much Spanish, but I know
French even less !:)) (LOL) !

Maravillioso, Rog y
muy divertido !:))

Gracias ROG & Co

Cheers
Dani

Hi Rog. Monster lead guitar and lively drums.
Enjoy your semi narrative vocal style and cool lyrics.
Cheers.

Well we can't top that but....

"Music's not a language, it's more the way you feel
And if you try I think you'll find
C'est pas difficile"

That is such a cool line and, yes, Dylan/Hendrix/Knopfler indeed
and square in the middle of our wheelhouse. We're not about to try
and parse this song out. We'd rather just listen again.

Loving that vocal, guitar and the whole arrangement.

This one is already added to the playlist and has got
to be one of the top rockers we've heard here.

Yeah, we enjoyed it.

J&B

Hi Eric. Many thanks for the listen and the nice comments about the guitar work.

ROG

Hi David. I'm always pleased to get a comparison to Dire Straits. Well, who wouldn't?
Many thanks for that and for looking in.

ROG

Hi Trevor. Many thanks.

I love playing wah guitar, but you really have to have the "Cry Baby" - nothing else comes close.
There's even a bit of slide with wah on this track!

ROG

Hi Robert, many thanks for the nice comments.
The "groove" is what matters. I remember Ry Cooder saying he'd spent 40 years looking for the groove!

ROG

Hey Greg.
What can I say? You've mentioned my name alongside three of my heroes. That made my day.
Many thanks.

ROG

Oh I really enjoyed this song!

a bit of Dylan and a bit of Talking Heads to my ears

sweet!

Many thanks, Fred.
Talking Heads - another band with whom I'm honoured to be mentioned in the same sentence.

ROG

Thanks for the comments, Charlie.
I put a lot of time into trying to get the guitars to work together and it's nice to get positive feedback.

ROG.

Hi Herb and thanks for the listen.
That fretless bass of mine is lovely to play, but it can cause structural damage. Hope your cones survived!

ROG

I actually got a Glenn Frey - Smuggles Blues kind of vibe from that one.

It was a really fun listen. Enjoyed the wah like the others.

Tom, you're too kind.

If you're gonna play wah then you've gotta have a genuine Cry Baby. They're a bit on the expensive side, at least they are over here, but nothing else sounds quite the same. I love mine.

I was pleased with the RD track. I just gave it a bit of compression and left it dry as you noticed. In fact, there's very few effects, other than compression, used at all. The guitars and bass are just played through an old 70s Carlboro amp with a line out to the computer. Sometimes a dry track can have more punch, don't you think?

Thanks again for the listen.

ROG

Hi Rog,

Loved the song, Dylanesque vocals and fun lyrics. Great guitar playing too and the wah! - it can be overused all too easily, but you've got it spot on! Thanks for sharing.

Rec

C'est magnifique, ROG!!!

Love the opening... the drum and then that catchy little guitar phrase...

One of your best vocals (and I always like them).

An excellent write. An interesting story line, well told from start to finish with your hook fitting nicely each time... nicely crafted.

Love the wah!

Super. On my 4th listen - it gets better each time...

floyd

Very, very well done tune. I like the lack of "stuff" that you did here. Everything that is there is well placed and easy to hear. Great mix and the lyrics were fun, too.
Faites-en plus comme ça!

Oh Roger. I really enjoyed that one. What fun!

Boehm,
Dani,
Richmac.

Hi Guys. Many thanks for listening and for all the nice comments. I had a lot of fun doing this one and I'm glad you all liked it.

ROG.

Hi Janice & Bud.

It's always nice to get feedback on a song and especially when it's from someone who's music you admire.

All the lyrics for this one just evolved from the title and the fact that I'd just dusted off the Cry Baby. I love playing wah, but sometimes it get's overlooked for too long.

Anyway, glad you liked it. Many thanks.

ROG

Once again, you mention people that I'm honoured to be mentioned alongside in the same sentence.
Many thanks.

ROG

I learned it as "ce n'est pas difficile" ...
apparently colloquial french omits the "ne" part of the negative?


Rog, this is really enjoyable to me for a bunch of different reasons. As already stated, the groove is really captivating

I like the implementation of horns without making it sound like most other songs that use horns

The mixed language adds some curiosity points and interesting rhyming opportunities

I also really like your voice.. it is very stylized and cool sounding


I liked the brief drum intro

Your guitar motif was also very cool

More importantly all of the elements really work well together... they're all doing the right different things at the same time

Selechta
Receder

Thanks, Guys. The wah is starting to look like it was a good call. Glad you both approved.
Many thanks for the listen and comments.

ROG.

Cool tune. Loved the lyrics. Excellent guitar work..

Hi Floyd.

Thanks for taking the time to listen, and again, and again, and again. That's always a good sign and it often says more than words can. But thanks for the comments about the vocals - I'm always riddled with self-doubt about my singing, so it's great to get positive feedback, particularly from someone who sings as well as you.

ROG.

Kevin. Really good to see you looking in on one of mine. Yeah, I enjoyed doing a song with fewer tracks this time - it certainly makes the mixing process quicker! There's always that temptation to add another track, but I managed to resist this time. Plus de la meme bientôt, mon ami.

ROG

Hi Scott.

Nearly missed you out, there!

Many thanks for tuning in and the kind remarks.

ROG.

Hi Josie. Always a pleasure to see your name turn up on here. So pleased you got some fun out of it - I certainly had lots of fun putting it together. Thanks for the listen.

ROG

Hi Pat. I always look forward to your comments - lots of insight and depth.

You're exactly right about the "ne...pas". The "ne" is generally only dropped in certain speech, not when writing. It's sort of a matter of emphasis, like the difference between "do not" and "don't"
Not that my French is too good at the best of times! It was a challenge to get the rhyming scheme working.

Many thanks for the listen and taking the time to comment.

ROG

Hey ROG,

I was just scouting through past pages in the forum when I discovered that I'd missed this song! Apologies for that. These pages seem to zoom through very quickly these days.

What additives do you have in your water supply in York? You always manage to create songs that excel in creativity and your vision for writing, performing, mix and arrangement always has a touch of the enjoyably mischievous about it. I don't know how you manage to maintain such consistency.

I found this very entertaining indeed.

All the best,
Noel

• latest song: Just A Little After Midnight (Happy Birthday)

Noel, my friend, good to hear from you.

I always value your opinion and I'm really pleased that you liked this one.

It always surprises me that the Blues has such a following in France and this idea actually came to me whilst I was listening to some John Lee Hooker in a bar, though not in Paris I'm afraid, but in St.Lo - not quite as romantic so I relocated it!

Thanks for the kind words.

Regards, ROG.

I listened to this the other day and again today. It's just a wonderful song, performance and production.

Unique, refreshing, comical, serious, and best of all original.

Hi olemon.

Many thanks for listening and for the positive review.

After years of being forced to do things for commercial reasons, I enjoy being able to try something original, so your comments are greatly appreciated.

ROG.

tres bon "lyrics" avec a mix of french and english language très amusant j'aime beaucoup l'ambiance de cette chanson

....et votre accent anglais est très bon

Salut Cavalier.

Merci bien. Je suis heureux que vous l'aimez.

Et Merci aussi pour les mots amiable à propos de mon accent - j'essaie...

Cordialement, ROG.

Hi ROG,

Great tune and vocals.
Excellent lyrics too.
Somehow this song made us think of Bob Dylan's Homesick Subterranean Blues (meant as a compliment :D)

Rob and Anne-Marie

Hi Rob and Anne-Marie,

Hey, many thanks for the listen.

Subterranean Homesick Blues? Yeah, I can live with that! Dylan has been one of my favourites since the Highway 61 Revisited album which I bought on vinyl and wore out. (I now have the CD)

Thanks for the kind review.

ROG.

Hey Rog, almost missed this one. Je l'aime beaucoup!

Mike B.

Almost missed this one - glad I heard it!

This is just great all around. One of your best. Loved it.

Josie

Hi Mike.
I thought this one had run it's course, but glad you picked it up.
Merci beaucoup for the listen and pleased vous l'aimez.


Hello Josie.
Pleased that you found this one as well. I'm always pleased to get your opinion, especially when it's positive! Thanks for listening and the kind words. Take care.

ROG.