First of all, I'm so sorry I haven't had a chance to listen to as many songs on this forum as I'd like to. It's beyond hectic here, I barely got the chance to even write, let alone anything else. But ... I know that's not good enough, so I will remedy - promise.

Here's something I've tried to create today; it's on "private" because I feel it's still kind of "work in progress" - so please don't share anywhere else, thanks :-) I'd be really grateful if, if you have time to listen and comment, you let me know what you think - at the moment, I'm not sure if it's a masterpiece or it's something to be thrown in the bin, haha ... probably somewhere in between, but who knows. Anyway, here it is.

https://soundcloud.com/jamesdelsono/speaking-to-a-ghost/s-a1PzU09HmGQ


SPEAKING TO A GHOST

It's late, dear one. I wished to write to you
For ever such a time; I know you always knew;
I wonder how you've been throughout all this time,
The long time that has passed since ever you were mine.

You know, in this harsh world that we're all living in
Where love's a dirty word, emotion is a sin,
I do remember US; my head upon your breast
And you whispering me: "be silent, silence's best".

And I do ask myself if now's indeed the time
To break this wretched silence, to say what's on my mind,
Or whether I'm forever to rest and stay "at ease",
To try to find myself some kind of inner peace.

So let me ask you this: are you yourself happy?
And is your life right now a breeze and carefree?
Are you indeed in love alike I loved you so?
And, if I say hello, you'll look away once more?

***

Our time has long since gone; I'm speaking to a ghost
To all that happened in a time that's long since lost.
But, if I have one hope, it's that, when you are old,
And gray hairs have replaced your shining strands of gold,

When suffering has gone throughout your green eyes
When darkened are above the bluest of our skies,
When wrinkled is, forever, your spotless skin of yore ...
You may think back, remember the one that was once yours.

***

And then you may think back and wish to talk to me;
And wonder if I still live, and whether I'm happy;
Pick up the telephone, or write to me once more ...
And see if I to you will open up my soul.

***

You are around no more ... my thoughts of you are smoke;
I don't know where you are, and whether you're as broke
In soul as I am now ... if you still think of me ...
Until we're both old, this I'd better let be.


****** Song Summary *************
Title: #1 - Prayer - 11 July 2020
File:#1 - Prayer - 11 July 2020.SGU
Key=F , Tempo 60, Length (m:s)=5:12
No intro. 74 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 74. Repeat x1 chorus
No Melody
No Soloist track.
Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0,
Song is saved with bar changes for Key Signature,
Style is _SLOJAM2.STY (R 'n' B Slow Jam with Drum Loop)

RealTracks in style: 1190:Bass, Electric, ModernRnBRock Ev 065
RealTracks in style: 910:Piano, Electric, Rhythm SmoothBallad Ev16 065
RealTracks in style: 873:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm ModernRnBRockFunkyOffbeat Ev 065
RealTracks in style: 1771:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm JazzFunkMovinMuted Ev16 130
Loop in Song: Loops PAK 2\R&B\Drums, Hybrid, RnBSlowJamPushA-B Ev16 060.wav
*******************

Voice track recording and mixing in Audacity. I added a little reverb to both voice and backing track.

James,

Sounds good. A nice backing track. A typically well-penned spoken lyric (the vocal is just slightly "boom-y/bass-y").

A bit long at 5 minutes.

fj

As always, thank you for listening, fj. No idea how on Earth you manage to listen to so many songs on here ... but thank you!

Yes, I was a bit worried about the length, but couldn't bring myself to cut any of this ... so here it is. The vocal IS a bit boomy ... I played with it for ages and this is the best I was able to do ... I'll mess around with it again if needed.

Again, thanks!

This has a great sound man. Very original and creative!

Thanks David - really appreciate your kind comment!

James, I would say this is almost a masterpiece. I say that as I think the vocal is a little to bassy. Maybe an EQ and a touch of reverb would help.

Your band is excellent so I wouldn't change a thing there.

Wow, thanks Mario! It's this darn mic that's too bassy ... makes me work with the EQ and reverb, etc. ... an area which I'm famously bad at, but will keep trying and hopefully improving (you should have seen the original state of the recording file before I played with it a little, haha ...)! But otherwise ... thank you. Coming from someone like you, that's a heck of a compliment to receive ... so I hope you won't mind if I celebrate it a little ;-)

Well written and spoken.

In a good way it has an older, perhaps 30's-40's feel to it that is perhaps augmented by the letter writing and telephone references.

Nice!

We enjoyed it,

J&B

Thank you Janice and Bud! I'm no good at musical styles, I just write whatever happens to inspire me at any given time, haha ... so I have no idea about the 30s-40s feel - it certainly wasn't done on purpose, haha - but I am glad that it seems to work! Thanks so much for once more listening and taking the time to comment - glad you liked it!

Great job on putting that backtrack and mixing the instruments James! Lyrics are great as always! Thanks, T

Thanks Torrey!!! I didn't do much mixing beyond adding a bit of reverb to the preset style - but I'm glad you enjoyed the track!

Very well put lyrics. I agree with Floyd and Mario, just a tad boomy, and the the lyrics are very powerful, this is just a little long. But I have to say...

Very well done!

Steve

I like the vibe of this song. What a great song title. The title makes you want to hear the song behind the title.

I think the arrangement would benefit by having a short musical introduction. The current beginning is rather abrupt. The song has a good sound so the mix is almost perfect.

Thanks Steve and Jim!

Steve: I was always a little long-winded in such matters, haha. But ... as I said above, I didn't have the heart to cut any of it, so ... :-) Thanks for your kind comments - I'll see what I can do about the boominess.

Jim: thanks! I found it hard to find a title for this, so I'm glad that this one worked. I'm not sure I agree about an introduction, I rather like the abrupt start, haha ... but I'll think about it, as - after some reflection - I may well change my mind! It's a new idea, so it needs settling in my brain before I decide. But thanks for suggesting it and thanks so much for listening for all your other kind comments, too!