PG Music Home Forums General Discussion User Showcase Tribute song: Surviving your Idols

You all know this: over the years, a lot of musicians you admire died.
For me, the news were sometimes kinda sad, sometimes more indifferent, and sometimes there was this sting in my heart, and a deep deep sadness overwhelmed me. I never figured out why some of them went so deep while others not.

Fast forward to 2022, Rob Meulman wrote about the first song I've published here in the forum that the background harmonies sounded like Dolores O'Riordan from the Cranberries, and it made "click": the ones who hurt so much were the ones who had a big influence on me, how I perceive music, how I listen to music, and in the end how I compose music.

This is my unworthy tribute to them, a song I just HAD to write:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOnLi2S5iR0

Soundcloud link:
https://soundcloud.com/eleanorlennox/surviving-your-idols

Special thanks to marty (BabuMusic) for translation help, encouragement and to generally be a great guy to talk to!

The band:
Bass: 1189
Cello: 2557
Drums: NashvilleWaltzSw
Guitars: 1181 and 854
Piano: 3091
...and of course vocals by the one and only Eleanor Lennox

Lyrics:

Title: Surviving your idols
Verse 1:
They're all gone
my childhood dreams
the bands, my idols, my heroes
they lived for their music
lived for the day
they had all the glory but couldn't stay

Verse 2:
They're all gone, forever gone
they were the seed for who I have become
without their joy and their pain
my life would have never been the same

Chorus 1:
But your songs remain for eternity
they are living in my heart
and your dreams, your visions, your poetry
they will live, in my thoughts, forever

Bridge 1:
Forever, in my heart
are those feelings that tear me apart
there's a hole in my soul
I can't fill cause it's full of pain

Chorus 2:
But your songs remain for eternity
they are living in my heart
and your dreams, your visions, your poetry
they will live, in my thoughts, forever

Bridge 2:
Gone
all gone
and life has to move on
but not gone in my dreams
you still sing for me and everyone

Chorus 3:
But your songs remain for eternity
they are living in my heart
and your dreams, your visions, your poetry
they will live, in my thoughts, forever

...thank you...

Very nice song and video... Great tribute to these artists.

Bob

Excellent song, well written and produced.

Enjoyed the video also, well done!

B.D.,

Nice.

A good tribute to the musical influences no longer with us.
A very pleasant melody.
Eleanor does her usual fine job on vocals.
Good mix.

fj

I thought it was a great song B.D. Very well written and produced, and the video was really good too. Great idea.

B.D...really nice song...every aspect of the production was top notch...great tribute with a very tender serenade in 3/4 time...sweet!!

Nicely done.

Brian,

This is really, REALLY good! It completely hit the spot for me.

Firstly, these were mostly my idols as well.

Secondly, I love the animations you use in your videos. The lip-synching is so good! I know from experience that this can be tedious.

Third, the song is absolutely sweet and highly melodic but most of all, very touching!

You've raised the bar with this for sure.

Rob

Thanks for listening and your nice feedback, Bob. Very appreciated!

Thanks a lot for your feedback, Dave. Glad you liked the video as well

What a fine tribute song and video!

“But your songs remain for eternity
they are living in my heart
and your dreams, your visions, your poetry
they will live, in my thoughts, forever”

We agree wholeheartedly with that. Like you we’ve been influenced strongly by particular musicians and for certain powerful songs can remember exactly where we were when we first heard them.

Eleanor once again did her magic! Along with a fine Biab band and production. As always the mix is standout.

J&B

PS We are older … for us it’s been Gregg Allman, Glen Frey, John Prine, Tom Petty and more. It is so easy to apply your fine lyric to them.

Really nicely done. Excellent vocal and a good video to match the song.

Lovely work.

Peter

Lives changed by music...idols who become demigods...
Nice arrangement and Eleanor does a decent job but this song needs a little humanity in it to express the feeling.
For me...Buddy Holly was joined by Bowie while Elvis Costello, Nick Cave and Rob Younger are still kicking.

B.D. you are the master of synth vocals AI. Eleanor sounds fantastic.

This is a hell of a tribute to those whom have died. Many have left their mark on our hearts and on future and current musicians.

Two thumbs up

Glad you like it, Floyd.
And knowing how good your own mixes are, I'll take your "good mix" all the better

Thank you very much, Brad.
Having the idea was one thing, but turning it into a song took 4 weeks, which is an unusual long time for me.

Usually I work the other way around, while I'm writing a song the song itself tells me what it's about....

Nice song!!! Yeah, I really mourn the loss of so many wonderful singers/musicians from the past. I wrote a tribute song for Tom Petty when we lost him. So many of these people were more a part of my youth than all but 5-10 people in my actual life. I'm worried Joni won't be with us for too long....so sad. Really nicely done!! Take car.e. Greg

superb vocs includeing bg voc spread.

a lesson in the kiss concept of songwriting.

a lovely tribute song.


best.

om

Hello B.D.

You, Eleanor and BIAB put a masterpiece together. Congrats on an excellent piece of listening pleasure and an emotional trip with all the right stops.

Alan

The vocal was awesome. Add this sync'd to your video takes it to a new level. Cool song and lyric. Production was incredible.

Oh wow. So moving. Reminded me a little of the Irish band, the Coors, in some way, stylistically ... but what a song, and what a moving and sobering video. Thank you - appreciated immensely.

B.D.,

Wow, that was a cool video to watch . . . and what a lovely tribute to all those awesome musicians. The song is just perfect for this video. Really captivating, lovely vocal—brilliant! Outstanding in all ways!

My very best to you,

Deej

B.D.Thomas,

Awesome tribute you created here! Love the sound of the synth vocals, they really sound great! It's a sobering thought for me to realize that I have reached an older age than the vast majority of these people! Makes me appreciate today!

Take care, Torrey

firesong, thanks a lot for your nice feedback.
I don't write often in 3/4, but I think for this kind of song it works quite well.

Thanks a lot for listening and your feedback, Herb.
Very appreciated!

Rob, thanks a lot for your really, really nice words.
Very appreciated!


I guess you're most probably about as old young as I am

Hi B.D.Thomas,

Very nice melody, a nice voice, a perfect instrumentation. I appreciated.Well done

Kindly regard
Derichette
alias JaniJackFlash

B.D.
This is well mixed and speaks to us all.
We all have our idols. I recall George Jones and "Who's gonna fill their shoes".
The video, although very well done, maybe could have been a history of idols from living memory or some will be wondering why you didn't include their own idols but we can't have it all can we?

Well done.
Vic

B.D.
Good work in arranging this tribute. Interesting what technology and creativity can do. Good mix.
Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Hello B.D.
Cool idea
And really good implementation
Sounds great
Well done
Many greetings
Andi ;-)

Nice tribute and touching subject, so true for all of us, to miss these great artists and never hear any new material from them is really sad. Nice melody, catchy chorus, good arrangement (I really like the cello) and pleasant vocals. Good work with the video also.

Janne

[...slowly catching up after being on vacation...].

Thanks for listening and for the kind words, J&B.

For me, as a songwriter and music lover, writing a song like this was a very personal thing, but from the feedback I've gotten here and from friends, I've realized that I've hit on a more general theme that most, if not all, generations can relate to....

Thanks a lot for listening and your nice words, Peter. Really appreciated!

You really do a wonderful job with video and synth singers. Very pleasant and draws the viewer right in. Great idea for a tribute tune, kind of reminds me when the Oscars show which actors died that year. Great work, keep it up!

Sorry I am late to this.

Absolutely beautiful song.

The video, the song, fill me with sadness. So well done.

Hehe. Thanks to Scott running late, I get a chance to hear what I missed the first time around.

Excellent work - vocals, lyrics, arrangement and mix. Eleanor works well here.

I think if I had invested more time I could have made it much more expressive, but I see what you mean.

My wife thought that a male singer would fit the mood of the song better, but my (baritone) voice somehow didn't fit right

Thank you very much for your nice comment, Mario. Much appreciated

Thanks for listening and your nice feedback, Greg.
I'm also worried about the next one playing his last gig...

Thank you so much for your kind feedback, om

For someone who has a tendency to overproduce and over-arrange songs, this means a lot to me

A very lovely lead vocal on a good tribute song with universal appeal.The uncomplicated folk-pop arrangement works.
Well done!

Robert

Hello B.D.Thomas,

This is a very nice tribute song and video!
The melody and lyrics are wonderful, and I can feel your endless love for your favorite artists.
I also have many favorite artists.
Just like your idols, most of them have already passed away.
Your song made me want to write a tribute song to them someday.
Enjoyed my listen and watch a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Great job on putting this together.
Such a sweet heartfelt tribute.
So many gone too soon.

Josie

Thanks a lot for your nice feedback, Alan.

"Emotional trip with all the right stops" is a beautiful phrase...I think I have to steal that for one of my next songs

Thanks you for listening and your nice comment, Scott!

Thanks so much for taking the time to listen and comment, James.

I really like the Coors (SO much talent in one family), it could very well have influenced some of my choices here.

Thanks for your really nice comment, Deej, I really appreciate it!

That's what I try to do and everyone should.

Thank you for your very nice feedback, Torrey.

Not sure which one was better. The song or the video. Together they were impressive!
-Mark

Thanks a lot for your very nice feedback, Derochette

Thank you, Vic, for listening and for your feedback.

As far as including more idols, I had to compromise because the song has a certain length and you can only pack so much into it. Each image stays around 11 seconds, and that's just the right amount of time to recognize the person and read the commentary and let it sink in a bit.

And most importantly, I only chose musicians who had an impact on my songwriting, and even with those, I had to pick the most important ones.
Far too many have died already

Thanks you Misha for listening and you nice comment

Thanks a lot, Andy.
Many greetings back to good ol' Germany

Yeah, knowing I'll never hear a song from them breaks my heart.

Fun fact: I was originally going to use a violin and viola (see String issue), but neither work well in 3/4 time, so I had to switch to cello.

Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Janne. I appreciate it very much!

Thank you for your kind feedback, TuneMonger.

The idea for the slideshow indeed came from Billie Eilish's rendition of "Yesterday" at the 2020 Oscars.

Music is all about evoking emotions. Your comment means a lot to me.
Thank you!

Thanks a lot for your nice comment, David.


Well, it was written specifically for her vocal range

But I was also a bit surprised how well her voice works in a ballad with sparse instrumentation.... even a cappella without instruments it still sounds great.

Thanks a lot for your nice comment, Robert. Very appreciated!

Thank you for your kind comment, Shigeki Adachi.

Just do it! I would love to hear another approach to this topic

Thanks a lot for listening and for your nice comment, Josie!

Thanks so much for your nice comment, Mark.
And since I still consider myself a beginner when it comes to video work, I'm glad you like it too