I knew this guy. Many years ago.
Maybe you knew him, too...


ANY PORT IN A STORM


he's hell-bent on finding
the ghost of garbo
with that golden key to his heart
that lady of ladies
that link to pure love
that line on a heavenly art
but he marks out his watch
in an unlikely place
for the queen of romance to appear
the prey is so easy
in this jukebox saloon
when he wins he's not sure that he cares

  any port in a storm
  a boy must keep himself warm
  any port in a storm

the life of the party
that prince charming smile
the little boy is an easy sell
quick to give in
for the sake of a friend
he knows he plays his modest well
another cinderellla's ready to try
to fill the dream he's hoping to find
and he wouldn't want to miss
that magical kiss
when love takes him from behind

  any port in a storm
  a boy must keep himself warm
  any port in a storm

now, who's to say
who turned out
to be less than the other planned
don't waste time
looking behind
find a woman to lend a hand

  any port in a storm
  a boy must keep himself warm
  any port in a storm




The production here is a "tribute" to one of my all-time favorite songs.
If you know the song, you'll likely recognize the sound/style.
It (the production "model") is not used often - which has always surprised me.

The Band:

RealTracks in song: 908:Bass, Electric, SmoothBallad Ev16 065
MIDI SuperTracks in song: 2066:Piano, Rhythm NewAgeAnswers Ev16 110
MIDI SuperTracks in song: 2100:Piano, Rhythm PopModernGrooveSync4s Ev16 075
RealTracks in song: 1064:Trumpet, Soloist SmoothJazzBallad Ev16 065


Comments always welcomed.
Have at it.

floyd

Beautiful song!!! Beautifully written, arranged, and sung by a man who knows how to do it. I don't think I know the song it's modeled after, but I'd like to hear it. The vocal and melody with the lovely chord changes really bring the melancholy loneliness home. The metaphor (title) works perfectly, and most of us know a character like this. I love the lonely sound of the horn and the rich reverb which makes it sound like a voice calling in the distance. Sometimes the playing is a little busy I feel, but such is the limitations when we can't have these musicians in our living rooms. Wonderful job Floyd!! Take care. Greg

Even before I listen to your work I know Im in for a treat.
Great work all round Floyd.
Rob

Hi Floyd,
Greg is much better than me expressing my thoughts.
I totally agree except that the horn is too busy. I perceive it as perfect. This is another one I can't stop listening to.

Guenter

Wow Floyd! I like this a lot!

The haunting trumpet reminds me of the one in Henley's NEW YORK MINUTE, but that's about the only thing in the song that steers my thinking in that direction.

This is the most reverb I can remember hearing in any of your songs, and I like it. It can be problematic when people use it to disguise a bad mix, but used to produce a mournful mood as you've done here I think it works quite well. But then I like reverb even when it's used too much.

I loved your opening lines:

where do you come up with stuff like that?? That would never cross my mind in a million years!

I also liked the line
Actually, I like every single line, but those two struck me in particular.

The interaction between the piano and the trumpet is just phenomenal! The dynamics in the piano are particularly enviable.

I liked the way you allowed the trumpet to end in its own time. It adds a wistfulness that would have been diminished if you went for the clean ending.

I have more to say, but I'll stop there and wait ti see what others have to say. Congratulations on maintaining your perfect batting record of nothing but home runs for years in a row!

Hi Floyd. Really enjoyed the lyrics (which are not too obvious) and the phrasing which keeps me a little off balance.
Usual great production and vocal.
Not so keen on the trumpet. Cheers.

A very good piece of work Floyd!
Very cool lyrics and once again very well sung.
That trumpet works beautifully.

Rob

Floyd I know I've got to jump in early when you release a song, Otherwise all the great comments have already been said. I could not agree more with all the previous posts. Great song as usual for you.

Beautiful Floyd ! Good balance between the trumpet and the vocal.... Enjoyed my listen....

Floyd,
Really liked the intro and outro a lot - sounded great.
Excellent lyrics, beautifully recorded vocal and great performance.
In two minds about the trumpet where it competes with the vocal in the chorus - but it's growing on me.
A very well written sophisticated song.

Very nice! Great lyrics!!!

Greg - Thanks for all of that... coming from someone who writes the way you do, it's much appreciated...

A bit later, I will link the "model" song I am referring to... it is the production that I am "borrowing", not the song itself (it is a masterpiece of songwriting, so I wouldn't want to be butting up against it..). The amount of trumpet used in this is directly influenced by the "model"..

Love it.

The reverb on the trumpet is PERFECT! Love the way it floats there in the background.

Piano and bass were the only way to go on this.

Good calls on the production. It's easy to add stuff just because you can.... good to see the restraint you used on this.

Cool ending with the trumpet taking it out.....

Wow, beautiful, I know what it reminds me of. I think it was Randy Brecker's solo on Meeting Across The River. Doesn't matter, your vocal is excellent and choice of chords made me think of J.D. Souther in places, of course these are only my references, you can count on someone disagreeing with that, that doesn't matter either.

Thanks, Rob... nice of you to say...

Thanks, Guenter. Nice to know the trumpet "works" for your ear...

Dang Boy!!! You got Mad Skills!!!! Great Song!!!!!!!!!

Hi Floyd. Any sailing metaphor has me hooked from the start. Really lovely. Love those horns. Would love to know the song it is based on. Reminded me of Joshua Kadison but I don't think that is it 'cause I never heard horns in his stuff.

Floyd,

I really like this one a lot - love how the trumpet follows your vocal throughout the song... Very cool.

Bob

Ok...here is my only complaint...could you please just pick ONE thing to be good at? Is it really necessary to do every aspect of a song right on your own? Rant over.

After reading the comments referring to reverb, I was somewhat expecting not to like it. For me, reverb can be used poorly fast, and ruin a song. Yours however is truly, masterfully done. I have NO idea how you do that!? It's lush, rich, with the exact parameters needed.

I totally get this isn't the song you are referring to, but...the horn, reverb,and atmosphere you created reminds me of "Careless Whisper." I'm not someone that goes around listening to it, but that song also created such an intentional mood using some of your same devices.

I was sort of expecting to hear a mic get dropped at the end of the song. I'm not sure if you will get that reference? Great job my friend!

With an eye and ear on production - you made the mark.

I like this one a lot, superb write, arrangement and performance.

I'll have more to say about this is a separate response - maybe right after this - because I think it might be helpful to some...



The reverb on the trumpet was "copied" from the song that I used as "production template"... just trying to match that...



It's always nice when someone specifically mentions lines that they like... I find it interesting because I (personally) would have picked out the lines that follow this...
"the prey is so easy
in this jukebox saloon
when he wins he's not sure that he cares"




Thanks for picking that one out...


Again... this was all "suggested" by the song production that I "borrowed from"...

About the Production of this....


Everything I did in this (production) was emulating the production in Bruce Springsteen's "Meeting Across The River"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm0v18EzDvQ

Kenny picked up on it. I expected more people would. But I enjoyed the "guesses" - went and listened to them all (and Caaron - I actually sat through the entire Michael George thing... )

If you don't know the song, do yourself a favor and go listen to it - it is a 3 minute movie set to music....


I do this occasionally... pattern a production of one of my songs after something I really like... maybe 20% of the time. In this case, I had been listening to Born To Run (the CD) and when I decided to work on this song, patterning it after "Meeting Across The River" seemed like it would work - AND (the important part)... takes me someplace I hadn't gone before...

Generally when I do this, it will give me flavors I haven't used before. It seldom sounds really close to the song that I am using as a "template"... in this case, I think it does. Not that that is the intention.

I'm throwing this out there as an idea that people might consider (if they have not already). It can help give you new ideas for how to produce your songs. And it helps to keep from having all your songs sound the same because you reach for the same tools all the time. This seems to be particularly true of people who write and sing/produce Country. Use that mandolin, steel, and fiddle all the time and you'll end up with a catalog that could use some "freshening up"...

(I have to be careful NOT to use the cello in every ballad I do because it FITS EVERYTHING!!)

So, pick a favorite song - past or present - and try to find the "pieces" that create its sound... and use them in your next production....

Rip a copy of your template song from a CD or download it from iTunes (or wherever) and include it in your DAW as a track. Keep it muted, of course. Then as your are mixing, listen to what you have, then solo the reference track and see if you are creating "that same sound". Even if you can't match it, it might give you something new in your tool box...

Oh...and... if you are a "Country guy"... I recommend looking to the current crop of Americana artists for new production ideas... New Country won't work for most of the songwriters here - so don't waste your time... that is NOT a cut at "new Country" - just an observation that it will not fit most of the type song that we write. It takes a whole new writer mentality to embrace New Country...

First, thank you for your commentary on the song. It is SO helpful to not only have your thoughts on it, but the suggestions of what to try for ourselves. Awesome!

I was certain the song I referenced was NOT the song but I listened to it in it's entirety when in school. The best way I have been able to state it is, I don't like it, but I really appreciate what they did production wise. I will have to leave it at that.

I'm glad you brought up the idea of finding the pieces and using them. So many times I feel like "someone will know and think less of what I'm doing!" Then I remember, I'm not doing anything TOTALLY original anyway!

Last, I had never heard the song that inspired your production so it's a great day to have been introduced to another great song! All good things my friend!

I like this suggestion of using templates... especially for me, because unlike a lot of the people in this forum who have a very recognizable and signature style, playing cover songs has turned me into a chameleon.

I think once I get a few animated projects that are already in process out of the way, I'm going to take this idea and run with it... recording songs "in the style of" my favorite artists. In this case, the template won't be a single song, but rather it will be patterned after the artist's style.

Great idea, Floyd! Thanks for sharing your technique... and especially, thanks for making it interesting by turning it into a puzzle we had to think about before you revealed your answer. Seems like something a song writer might do... ;-)

Thanks, Richard. I'm a bit surprised that anyone would not care for the trumpet....

Pattern Productions (In the style of) has pretty much become my BIAB hobby and daily use of BIAB/RB. As you point out, I import a commercial release into my project and attempt to recreate it within BIAB/RB.

When I'm not doing Pattern Productions I download good acoustic covers of commercial releases (guitar and singer or piano and singer) from YouTube and Facebook and use BIAB/RB to turn them into full blown productions.

Former The Voice contestant James David Carter has a pretty extensive library of modern country. Joe Var Veri has a lot of Elvis covers and some other good covers as well. Mike Masse and Jeff Hall have a lot of high quality covers. You can have a lot of fun with the Jazz of Gina Cicilia.

Unique arrangements and varying tempo maps can be quite challenging and these are excellent learning tools for the day your cousin sends you an MP3 of his original hit he wrote and wants you to do a quality, free backing track for his demo.

Thanks, Rob.... yeah, that trumpet did exactly what I needed it to do. It's amazing how good it is. I can't imagine that I will ever use it again - because I don't generally write songs that it would fit in - which seems a shame that such a great track is out there not getting the recognition it deserves... (I'm sure there are others like that, too)

Thanks, David - I appreciate you stopping by...

The trumpet intro & 1st few words made me think of vintage Springsteen - from the gentler tracks on The Wild The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle.
Very cool song and had the trumpet been a sax I'd have been convinced it was Bruce.
Nuff said.

Thanks, Trygve...

Thanks, Peter. Appreciate all of that. RE: The Trumpet - I was surprised by how much it played throughout "Meeting Across The River" when I listened closely - so I decided to let it be a similar thing... and as you say, after a while it does "grow on ya"...

Thanks, David.

Thanks, Herb...

Beautiful production. The trumpet was an unexpected treat. I will say, the lyric, perfectly matched with the melody, and the timbre of your voice, made me incredibly sad. That said, is exactly what the blues, jazz torch, and country songs are suppose to do, evoke emotion; this one certainly does. Great song.
Peace,
-Carolyne

Super job all around. It's nice to listen to a sparsely arranged song. I like your chord progression here. It takes the melody to places my ear can't anticipate and that keeps me engaged.

Great write!

Good ear, Kenny. I thought that trumpet was obvious ("lifted" from "Meeting.."). J.D. is a nice reference. Thanks for the kind words... Always looking forward to your next song...

Thanks, Tommy!

Hi Floyd.

Not had chance to listen to the forum songs this week, so arriving a bit late to this one.

I listened to the Springsteen song, though the linked version appears to have been taken down. If that was the model, then you've achieved it one hundred percent.

This is a super production and SO well performed. Superb and very clever lyrics, apart from one line.

Going back to listen again.

ROG.

Hi, Floyd !:))

Your best !
Simply outstanding
seen from any aspect !:))

I dig your vocal and you
know it, here the trumpets
and the piano sounded also
pretty mighty !:))

Cheers
Dani

"ghost of garbo"

That's all it took right from the get go to know that this
was a terrific write. The fj clinic in how to write a lyric
continues and this time we also get some cool insight as to
how the production came about. Somebody, perhaps
Peter, used the word sophisticated. Yep, it is - but
in a manner that also offers the listener easy entry into
the story. That is a great balance and one that I can
appreciate the finesse required to pull it off.

Super write, vocal and production by as Greg said
"a man who knows how to do it."

Thanks for the ride.

J&B

Thanks, Joanne. I had never heard Josua.... cool stuff...





Appreciate that, Bob... (where's your next one?)

Floyd

Another piece of genius. No surprise coming for you.

You have a sensational ability to make your songs sound effortless, when indeed they are the product of great thought, creativeness and always provided with technically challenging delivery.

Your phrasing is just perfect, your have enhanced the instrumentalist backing beyond where it could ever got on its own, and projected your songwriting skills to a new dimension (again).

Always enjoy your music.

Trevor

Caaron...

I miss your forum posts. I wish you would come around more often.

I did not know "Careless Whisper" - but it did take me back to the '80's... it's always nice to remember...

Thanks for your nice post.

(Drops mic.... walks off stage...)

Thanks, Charlie. Always like seeing you drop by...

I consider "Born To Run" one of the greatest records ever made. If I could have written "Thunder Road" and no other song the rest of my life, I could die happy...

Always keep in mind... the objective is NOT to make your song sound like whatever song you are using as a template, but for that template to take your song to a place you might not have otherwise gone... it helps to keep your productions "fresh"...

That's a clever idea, Charlie....Great way to get good at the production end. I wish that we could here some of what you've done in that manner...

Thanks, Ray... actually, the trumpet was "ripped off" from the Born To Run era (Meeting Across The River).

Thanks, Carolyne - nice things to say...

are you suggesting there's only one objective in song writing? I accept that as YOUR objective... but I won't know what my objective is until I start on the song. (Not trying to be a wise guy, but that observation surprised me more than a little) ;-)

Hi floyd.

The first time I listened to this was almost immediately after you posted it.

You see, my alarm clock rings at 5:45 am and the first thing I do when I get up is to turn the computer on and find out who's posted songs overnight (I set my alarm to awaken a little earlier than I need to so that I have a bit of pre-workday PG Music forum time ). As you can see from the below time and date stamp in Australian Time East Standard time, you posted this song on Wednesday April 13 at 5:26 am (Australia and the US are a bit topsy-turvy when it comes to time difference). I listened to it around 5:50 am - just after Greg had commented.



My response at that time was (a) to double-check that the song was posted by you because it took me by surprise and (b) to realise that I would need a lot more time than 10 minutes to write about my listening experience.

It's now 10 days later and early in the evening of April 23.

The song is fantastic. Your arrangement is daring and very creative. By 'daring', I mean that it challenges what one has come to expect that a mainstream arrangement should sound like. In this regard, though, it is worth noting that all new developments in music began as something that someone dared to do that was different from what preceded. It was after these thoughts that the word “experimental” came to mind. A trumpet, piano and vocal trio that's held intact by a bass line gave me the impression of a musical tapestry. As I listened with eyes closed, it was like I could see threads of sound weaving a picture.

Your composing, performing, arranging and producing all work together to build a very emotive musical journey. For me, a feeling of loneliness and/or sadness or emptiness, pathos(?), were the emotions that underscored the lyrics and their accompaniment. To my way of thinking, the most important line in the song is “the little boy is an easy sell”. This line makes sense of the chorus. It also colours the rest of the song and paints a picture of a man who, in reality, is more boy than man. This is outstanding lyric development. In verse one, I met the man. In verse two, I stepped inside his head and I could see that while the mirror shows him to be a man, he is just a little boy who is floundering and trying to make sense of Life but he cannot let go of his world of dreams and wishes and fairytales. For him, Life is a storm from which he is continually seeking refuge. Once these images appeared to me, the lyrics became about the journey of wanting to grow up but not quite working out how to get there. These words strike me as being from the Impressionistic wing of the lyric-writing gallery. They are skilfully painted with a poignancy that resonates with craftsmanship. While I have zero ability when it comes to writing impressionistic lyrics, I admire the talent on show here. If you were born in Spain and it was 1900, your name would probably have been Pablo Picasso (I've most likely mixed metaphors here given that Picasso was post-impressionism... oh well, the comparison sounds valid and justified to me). You've done an absolutely incredible job.

My favourite... I love the flow of the rhymes time/behind/find in the bridge. They must feel really good to sing!

Well, floyd, you've given me yet another song-creation template but this one I have no idea how to use! (Well not yet at least.)

Thank you for the journey and for yet another dose of inspiration!
Noel

No...I was talking about production (or arrangement and instrumentation) ...not songwriting.

Thanks, Lawrence. An interesting observation (a good one, I think...)

Thanks, ROG. I am wondering what the one line that didn't work for you was...

Thanks you, Norman...

Y'all are so kind...

Thanks, Trevor. I always enjoy your reviews. Hoping to see more songs from you, more often...

Noel - It is always such a joy to read your thoughts on a song. Songwriting is a very important thing to me - a very important part of my life - how I define myself - and I have "invested" many hours (many years) in perfecting the craft as best I can. The fact that you "get it" and understand so much of what goes into every word choice I make means SO much to me. I want you to know I TRULY appreciate it. One of the things that make it all worthwhile. Icing on the cake.

Floyd, I think we all know where your REAL trumpet inspiration came from...

Floyd's Inspiration

I guess it's true, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.


(ok, before everyone gets me kicked from the forums, realize this...I had to hear the song in the vehicle with my kids...THEN make the effort to remember the name of the song...which my brain suppressed for obvious reasons...THEN do a search and listen to a few of his songs to find the one with the trumpet part. I think what I have done to myself FAR exceeds any punishment coming forth. Sentence served? )

An absolutely beautiful track...and yes, I ought to have picked up on the BTR reference...silly me.
I REALLY enjoyed revisiting this stone cold classic.