Hi, all:

Here’s a tune I had around for a while and was finally able to finish writing and put together. While intended to convey faith in finding love—that one soul mate who’s out there somewhere—I realized along the way it also had a spiritual element to it and potentially could be read and played as a Christian rock song. Totally not my genre, but nevertheless I continued to foster that more spiritual element of the write and feel as I went along. This is the outcome, for better or worse.

On the production side, I usually stay away from playing guitar myself on a track—just because I’m less than stellar and the Real Tracks are so solid. But I needed to play on this one for the fills/licks, principally in the beginning of the tune and before the second verse. So if something sounds off there, well . . . that’s why.

Anyway, as always, thanks for the listen and feedback. It’s much appreciated.

Deej

Here’s the song:

I CAN'T WAIT

Here are the lyrics:

Shape the light so I can see
And find my way to where you’ll be
Fill the air so I can breathe
Lead me there upon the breeze
All the mystery that’s surrounded you
Now it’s never seemed so clear to me

I can feel you there
In the world somewhere
Now I can’t wait, I can’t wait
For your love to come to me
I can feel you there
And now that I’m aware
I can’t wait, I can’t wait
Long enough for love to come to me

Paint my dreams and when they’re through
Let me wake and know the reality of you
To give me strength to leave behind
The endless doubts that have forever weighed my mind
All the depths of my imaginings
Were never deep enough to see

All along alone and oh so lost
near destroyed
But now I know, I know you’re there
and I hope you can hear me calling out
Can you feel me reaching out
across the void

And here’s the band:

RealTracks 2877: Bass, Acoustic, AmericanaSlow16thsByron Ev16 060
RealTracks 1004: Guitar, 12-String Acoustic, Rhythm ClassicRockStrumming Ev16 065
RealTracks 1828: Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm PopModernGroove Ev16 075
RealTracks 892: Piano, Acoustic, Solo-Accompaniment PopLiverpool Ev 065 (A-simple)
RealTracks 631: Guitar, Electric, Rhythm PopAmericanDirty Ev 120 (B:power)
Rhythm Guitar: Dj Lekich
RealDrums: PopRock16ths^01-a:Snare, HiHat, b:Snare, Ride

Woo hoo! I'm first.

I always look forward to a new Deej song. Not only because I know you will write a good song and deliver a solid vocal, but also because you don't repeat yourself. There is a definite distinction in each piece of your work.

This is a great song. Powerful and emotive vocal. Magnetic chorus.

I don't play guitar on my songs either for the same reasons you mention.

Hi Deej,

I liked your song and the vocals show good emotion.

Well done.

Best Regards
Nigel

Deej,
good chorus lots of emotion and a hook.
the guitar wrangling you did worked well..another hook...could be brought a little more forward in the mix before the 2nd verse though.
Personally I'd like the click reduced in the kick - but that's me, (I do wonder why BIAB chose to record the kicks so clicky - it's not as though they get lost in the stereo drum mix).
Cool song, cool performance.

Hi Deej,

This is stellar songwriting along with an equally stellar presentation.

Your chorus is really, really strong. I finished listening around 10 minutes ago and even now, the chorus is spiralling around inside my mind. I love the way you perform it with those octave jumps into head-voice. I'm envious because I'd be over the moon to be able to do that!

Everything about this rings with the clarity of musical competence. You're an exceptional songwriting force!

All the best,
Noel

So, so, so beautiful. Dark, brooding, brilliant. Everything Noel96 and the others above have said, and more. That B minor to A major to E minor modulation, just before the chorus ... wonderful. Love every note of this. Serious congratulations to you.

What a great chorus --love the melody you developed for the whole song, but that chorus that touches falsetto so well is something special that brings this song to a very high level of excellence. It also removes it from my sing-along list. hehe. Man, you are so good at developing a song, squeezing all of the magic that is otherwise hidden within it. You've got such a superbly unique voice, Deej. Oh, and your guitar work is perfect.

And now I can't wait for the next Deej56 song.

Deej,

This absolutely great! Love the song, production and your vocal is stellar...

First rate and pro all the way.

LOVED IT!

Bob

Super job on a great song Deej! Your vocal is spot on and emotive! You have such extensive range! Love the melancholy feel! The band seems to be just what this calls for! Thanks, Torrey.

Strong lyrics, the imagery brings the wide void very much alive. I like also that it can be interpreted in several ways.
The chord progression is very enjoyable, has some echos from the 60's, especially in the verses.
Very emotional singing, really straight from heart. Your nice guitar playing gives the song very personal feeling, and also distinguishes it from the standard BIAB band. Good selection of instruments, although you mentioned piano in the instrument list, but I couldn't hear it, should I visit the doctor?

Janne

The chorus is goosebumps. I can see this song on The Voice turning chairs. BGV outro was icing. Fantastic work!

Deej,

Excellent. A good write. Solid backing - perfect for the song - nice use of BIAB and your guitar.

Super vocal. Well recorded, nicely mixed. Killer falsetto...

Killer song. Well done.

fj

Deej
This is such a beautiful,soaring song, I love it!
The band does a good job but I can imagine this song taking off into the stratosphere with a more modern
and dramatic Cinematic, Folktronic, Dark ambient, New Age Ambient techno, Dungeon synth or Emo Dark Wave backing.
But the song sounds great as it is so congratulations are in order.
cheers
Gary

Another great write.
Love the vocals, a bit like James Blunt.
Well done!

Moto

Janice said it reminded her of Fleetwood Mac a bit.

For us a vocal either has soul or it doesn't ... not much in between and you have it in spades.

The write is strong and we get the duality of interpretations that you mentioned.

Nice arrangement, band and mix. Your guitar worked fine.

Well done!

J&B

Wow DJ! Wow in billboard sized letters!
Such a fine tune. You've put together a really fine tune. Your vocals seamlessly meld from what sounds like Robert Plant to Tracy Chapman. Such cool and excellently executed vocals and music. Thanks for posting, I enjoyed listening to it!

Deej
lots of character in the song.
would love you to double the vocs in the chorus,
would really elevate the song with a female double
in the chorus. just an idea.
I LIKE THE EMOTION !!
nice ending...love how busy it is.

best
om

Deej,

A stunning vocal and the chorus is indeed exceptional.

A really impressive piece of song writing and a lovely performance.

Peter

(Guitar sounds fine)

Deej,

A treat to my ears. Wonderful write. Your vocal skills really shape this tune so well!
Good and clear mix too. Smooth listening experience. Enjoyed it very much. Thank you for sharing.
Misha.

Ezekiel, Nigel, rayc, Noel, James, Marty, Bob, Torrey, Janne, Tune, Floyd, Gary, Kap’n, J&B, Bawb, om, Peter and Misha:

Thanks all for kind feedback. Glad it seemed most folks enjoyed the listen. Really appreciate your taking the time to give it a spin and to comment. A few notes on the comments below:

rayc: I kept going back on forth on the mix on my guitar parts—think maybe a bit of self-consciousness had me dialing it back—but I agree the volume can come up a tad before that second verse. I’ll make that change. As for the drums, I’ll say if there’s any degree of dissatisfaction with BIAB, for me, it’s the drums. I can never get them go pop, no matter how much I EQ, compress, or otherwise. I’m very jealous of many on this board whose drums resonate magnetically.

Janne: Well, the piano is there but sits for the most part behind the mix panned far right. Where it’s most prominent is just after the last line of the bridge “. . . across the void”. What I really wanted to do is quiet everything down and just have that piano playing . . . but I just couldn’t get it to click the way I wanted to. A better production artist could have brought it to fruition . . . but I fell short there.


Tunemonger: I’m not sure how well the final mix is . . . but those BGVs for me were the most fun part of recording this. Glad you enjoyed!

justanoldmuso: Interestingly enough, given your similar comments on my last couple of songs, I actually did double the vocal here—from start to finish. But I did it using the Waves Double Plug-in. I didn’t like the contrast of not using if for the verse, and using only for the choruses, so I used it consistently throughout. Your comment continues to intrigue me, and wonder whether doing a second layered vocal might add more. Lastly, I worried the BGVs at the end were too busy—still not convinced they mesh, but glad you enjoyed.

My thanks to all of you--stay safe, stay well!

Deej

For me, one of your best Deej.
The falsetto adds interest and lifts the song.

Great production. Very nice piece.

Vic

Deej. re your intrigued.

heres some vocal triks i learnt in big studios. there are many other triks. hth/ymmv.

1. psychologically , for a singer, the first voc take is the roughest , cos the singer has no voc reference point...and is thinking "am i good enough". even top singers sometimes get nerves. so get it over fast.
then the second take is easier cos one has a reference point hearing the first take back down low in the
cans.
2. i do multiple voc takes, maybe 3 (some singers do many more) then comp a final vocal from takeing the best of the 3. then i think where does the song need "voc doubles" or even "triples". the whole idea being to build "a vocal character". eg choruses often. i never use software to double. i find that actually singing again a new trak results in little interesting variances and characters.

in summary if your intrigued, run tests on your songs, also listen to past big songs and youll hear many techniques like the above used. there are lots of triks one can learn from carefully auditioning in detail well known songs.

i dont have all the answers, cos triks vary often according to what each song needs to create the best sound picture for it. what works on one song might not on another. lots is experimentation.

i just listened to babu music/marty..
"i'm in it for the minute"..
deej a v good example of contrast and useing doubles in the vocals to build vocal character.

happiness/best/hth/ymmv
always experimenting old muso.

Really nice song Deej!! Lots of passion in the delivery.....always love your vocals!! And your guitar licks sounded great to me! Take care. Greg

Vic, justanoldmuso, and Greg:

Appreciate the feedback. JOM, I typically do anywhere from 3-5 vocal takes with the third or fourth take usually working best. Interesting thought to keep some of the other versions playing along to double or even triple. I will definitely experiment going forward. Again, thanks for the tips.

Kind regards to you all,

Deej

Awesome tune Deej. Lovely backtrack and excellent mix. Guitar was perfect. Beautiful vocal and lyric. Just and awesome listen. Well done.

What a wonderful song and a wonderful voice!
Built up so well.
At some moments it makes us think of James Blunt.
Really great production!

Rob and Anne-Marie