Oh What A Fool Is A Young Man

Something a bit different from us.
A combination of Band In A Box and NI Komplete to create a pseudo orchestral backing.

Leon - Vocal & Lyrics
I played the outro guitar solo, sang a little and used my rudimentary keyboard skills and some midi editing to add a flute and chords for some of the Kontakt sounds.

The Band:
RealTracks in style: ~2483:Bass, Acoustic, Bowed HeldSimple Ev 085
RealTracks in style: 2870:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm CelticAirDave Ev 085
RealTracks in style: 2820:Harp, Rhythm ClassicalSlow8ths Ev 085
MIDI SuperTracks in song: 1805:Synth Pad, PopBelieve Ev16 065
RealDrums [in Song:RockNorthern^7-a:Snare, HiHat Closed , b:Snare, Bell Ride

O what a fool is a young man

You gave me a volume of haiku
Inscribed it with all of your love
It wasn’t long after you told me
You thought it was time to move on

I had worn pastels and paisley
From that day I only wore black
I thought that nothing could save me
Except somehow winning you back

O what a fool is a young man
In love for the very first time
Don’t be too hard on a young man
In love for the very first time

I tried to get your attention
To show you how much I still cared
When that didn’t work I ignored you
No better with that plan I fared

So I thought I’d make you jealous
Took someone else to the dance
You said that we made a sweet couple
And left us with no backward glance

O what a fool is a young man
In love for the very first time
Don’t be too hard on a young man
In love for the very first time

I opened that volume of haiku
Beauty expressed in three lines
Thought of the way we had seemed so in tune
Two paths that had somehow aligned

My sorrow was tinged with acceptance
Thought I might be happy one day
Love might even be kinder next time
Yes I know what you’re going to say

O what a fool is a young man
In love for the very first time
Don’t be too hard on a young man
In love for the very first time

O what a fool is a young man
In love for the very first time
Don’t be too hard on a young man
In love for the very first time

Different indeed!

Good to you you guys pushing the side of the envelope and trying new things. As always, great lyrics from Leon, I like the vocal(s) too.

Loved that outro solo! Were you using a whammy pedal for that?

Sounded good guys, enjoyed the listen!

Peter & Leon,

THIS is outstanding. COOL is an over-used word, but SO appropriate here.

An excellent write.
"I opened that volume of haiku
Beauty expressed in three lines"
...just one example...

The tracks are put together really well. Terrific production/arrangement. Loved the addition of synths to your stuff...

The outro guitar is over-the-top good.

So much good, I hate to bring up a slight "negative" (in my opinion, of course)... I did not care for the vocal processing. There was a "boominess" that "took it out of the mix". It made it seem like the tracks needed to come up, but I think it was more that the vocal needed to come down - to "sit" better (not sure if that would eliminate that "boominess" or not).

OK. Back to the praise...

So much to LOVE in this one!!

fj

I really like this...well done!

Guys,

I liked this one a lot. Really loved the intro synth sounds, very relaxing. I agree that vocals could come down in volume just a tad to bring the band up. Other than that, no issues here.

Keep up the great work!

Gentlemen, this is fantastic. Great backing tracks, loved that orchestra! The vocals and mix were super. The lyrics were top notch also. As usual your guitar tone and chops were outstanding.
Loved those guitar effects!

Great work on this Peter.
The lyrics are epic.
Rob4580

The guitar sounds really awesome here! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Dave.
I'm using a Line 6 Helix Lt - which has onboard (among many things) a whammy emulation linked to the expression pedal.

Peter

An interesting chord progression, which delivers the color of the song and its story.

Clever lyrics, sadly probably often a true story....

That's cool.
the unison/double tracking had a slip at 0.57 that could be repaired with a tiny bit of cut n paste or drag.
The outro guitar is important as it provides the "relief" the song was building towards - worked a treat too.

This is a fantastic song. Truly emotional text and the dark melancholy melody touch me deeply. The chording is excellent, intriguing and support the mood. The haunting sounding vocals highlight the sadness. The powerful rugged solo guitar still plays the strings of my soul. I really dig the orchestral background, the drum rolls especially.

Great work!

Janne

Peter & Leon,
I like the tension that you maintain with the orchestral backing and realisations evolving through the narrative- another excellent life lesson lyric!
I agree the vocal could drop in volume a little, otherwise this is really good ( one of the best I`ve heard from you ),and that outro guitar is spine tingling.

Robert

Thanks floyd -appreciate the review - possibly what you are hearing is caused by the vocal doubling? I'll have a play around with it later.
Thanks for the kind words.

Peter

Fantastic moody and ethereal sounds Peter! Love this flow of this (almost a Pink Floyd sort of thing). Yes it's different from your usual offering but it certainly works and sounds great! Love those interesting melody/chord changes!! Thanks, Torrey

Hi Peter and Leon,

really very different from the songs I've heard from you. But very good though. Great lyrics, beautiful solo, Peter - very appealing tone !!!

Great job - thanks.

take care,

Stefan

Nice change up guys. Super intro . Super vocal and lyrics . Your backtrack was awesome. Guitar was very cools as well. Did I hear a whammy in there. Well done

Great song & performance...
I liked the melodic treatment you gave the following lines...

It really made them stand out...
I also enjoyed your guitar solo (as usual)...
And I definitely liked the orchestral drum roll on the tag...
Nice touch!

Yes, what others said is what came to my mind: epic, ethereal, and I love that solo electric guitar. That was the cherry on top.

Good work and good use of BIAB.

Thanks Jim

Peter

Thanks Steve

Peter

Peter / Leon,

This is over the top good! Love the lyrics - just outstanding.

Tremendous instrumentation and mix. Loved it!

Bob

Really well done The orchestral backing tracks fit perfectly, and the whole things flows smooth as water. Different than the usual, but the ambition certainly paid off.

Thanks for sharing!

Really interesting song!! Sort of classical blues (a genre I never heard of). It works very well! Really nicely done, and a beautiful guitar outro by Peter....very David Gilmour! Nice job guys!! Take care. Greg

Appreciate the comments Mario.

Peter

Some nice poetic moments and it gets musically interesting at the one minute mark. I thought it could've been shorter and the brevity would actually make it a stronger piece. But it's fine as is. And the guitar is terrific!

Thanks Ember



Thanks Rob

Peter

Thanks Trevor.

Peter

Really appreciate those comments Janne.

Peter



Thanks for listening Ray.

Peter

Thanks a lot Torrey.

Peter



Thanks Robert appreciate the comments.

Peter

Appreciate the review Scott.

Peter



Thanks Stefan

Peter

Thanks

Peter



Thanks Jim

Peter

One could spend a lot of time trying to select a "best of the lyric" to comment on. It's that good.

The vocal is so convincingly delivered as are all of Leon's. Just the right amount of edge and soul.

The orchestral tracks are really well done. Actually some of the best orchestral augmentation of a
song that we've heard on the forum. Meaning it very well supports the feel rather than just
"being there."

That's a big cake to ice but the outro solo did it. Sublime. Wow.

J&B

Thanks

Peter

Thanks Bob
Peter

Thanks Derek
Peter

Thanks a lot Greg

Peter

Thanks for listening.

Peter

Bud / Janice
Too kind, thanks for the support over the last year and look forward to doing some new ones in the coming months.
Peter

Peter and Leon,

I’ve been meaning to get around to this one . . . worth the wait. Terrific write and original production. Melodically, I might have wanted a change up, perhaps a different note, singing a line slightly differently, emphasizing different components of the melody—or maybe introducing some higher harmonies in the 3rd verse (a bit earlier than you do) . Love that guitar solo at the end. Slick.

All my best,

Deej

Thanks Peter...
For taking time to listen to “There Won't Be No Christmas This Year” ...
You will find my response to you comments there...

Also I’d like to mention...
You really add to the success of this User Showcase forum!
Thanks again...

Hi Peter,

You and Leon have really pulled out all stops with this creation.

Looking through the eyes of the young man, you take the listener on a vivid journey of what it's like when one has no control over a crumbling relationship and what that means when trying to glue everything back together. I've been there. I congratulate you both on how you've managed to capture that sense of abandonment, feelings of loss, and the frustration of trying to solve a problem that cannot be solved.

This is very well done on so many levels.
Noel

Peter & Leon,

This is probably the most unusual tune I heard from you. I like it both musically and lyrically and all the interesting sounds that are dancing in it. Thank you for sharing and Happy New Year!

Misha.