I've been blessed with a very good life, but like everyone, there have been difficult times. Several years ago a tragedy struck that will probably last the rest of my life. It's something I always live with, but October is always the worst. I usually just withdrawal within myself, which is why I haven't been around for a while. Early this October I was feeling down and sorry for myself while working on my computer in my music room. I decided to kill an hour of downloading time plucking on my guitar and came up with this song. I wrote it and then promptly threw it in the trash. On Halloween my wife was feeling terrible (we just had to put our dog down). She looked at me, tried to smile, but agreed that October can stink. With that, I got home and took the rumpled paper out of the bin, and decided to record it. If you decide to give it a listen, you won't hurt my feelings at all, but I'd love to know if you think I should leave it in the round file or hold on to it for a while - as well as any production hints I could learn from. It's going to take me some time to catch up with all the songs posted while I was away, but I'm looking forward to it!

https://soundcloud.com/user-722422510/if-october-never-came If October Never Came

If I could take 31 days and make them go away
you know, I’d take October and make sure it never came.
I’d stay here in September and not remember all the pain.
My hurting might be over if October never came.

The days would not grow shorter and chase the light away.
The winds would not blow colder, or the leaves begin to change.
The skies wouldn’t start to snow, and I’d never have to let you go.
Oh, there’d be no starting over if October never came.

Oh, every year at about this time the memories start to flood my mind.
Most of the year I get through okay, but now October’s here, and there’s just no escape.
So, if I could take 31 days and make them go away,
oh, my hurting might be over if October never came.

Oh, every year at about this time the memories start to flood my mind.
Most of the year I get through okay, but now October’s here, and there’s just no escape.
So, if I could take 31 days and make them go away,
oh, my hurting might be over if October never came.
Oh, if I could take just 31 days the angels never would’ve taken you away
and my hurting, it might be over if October never came.
If October never came.

Everything but vocals is Biab:

Drums: Brian Fullen, _POPH085.STY
Bass: Dow Tomlin, _POPH085.STY
Acoustic Rhythm Guitar: Tony King, _POPH085.STY
Acoustic Finger Picking Guitar: Jason Roller, _POPH085.STY
Electric Rhythm Guitar: Darin Favorite, _POPH085.STY
Fiddle: Wanda Vick, _TIMEY
Pedal Steel: Eddy Dunlap, _TIMEY
Piano: John Jarvis, _CPPBSAJ.STY

Brad, It's a keeper. My only nit is the processing on the vocal. It sounds boxy to me. It could be the mic. If it is a decent mic you might want to look into Isotope Nectar. it will make a huge difference. I liked the concept of the song and it is put together well. Keep em coming, Tom

I like it, it's a beautiful song with good lyrics.
Like Tom said, the vocals are good but sound boxy.

But, before you invest money in another plugin I'd just give it some EQ-love (mids and highs are too low) and a bit of reverb.

Brad...so glad you pulled this out of the trash...this is a beautiful and poignant song...the phrasing is exceptional..."oh, my hurting might be over if October never came."...I love the meter and movement of that line...the "over", "October" internal near rhyme is very cool...the solo of the steel and fiddle sound like they were made for this particular song...this is one of my favorites from you...so sorry October has this effect but you captured it in this song for all of us to share...well done brother!

The song is certainly a keeper,
I agree with B.D. Thomas about the EQ and reverb, but it is not really a problem if you leave it this way.
Good lyrics and music.

And as for any pain is true.... Time is your best friend.
Give the pain time to heal.

Anne-Marie

Hey Brad, this song is definately NOT worthy.
Not worthy of what? The round file of course.
I very much enjoyed this.

And as far as the pain, try to hold on to and re-live the great memories I'm sure you have.

Hi Brad,

First of all, a very good song! Well worth saving from the trash.

Really good writing in my opinion!

Track sounds good too.

As far as the vocal goes, I agree with Tom.

Getting a dedicated vocal plugin is the easiest way to go to get a decent vocal sound without having to be an expert at mixing. As Tom mentioned, Nectar is a good one to have. Also Waves has a couple that are good, CLA Vocals and GW VoiceCentric. In the case of the Waves plugins they all go on sale from time to time for $29.

Good song, thanks for sharing!

Hi Brad, it would have been more than a pity if you left this song in the trash.
It was wise to take it out and bring it here in the forum.
About the lyrics; There are a lot more months I like to skip, or at least some days in each month. Otherwise we have nomore years...
But your lyrics are very beautiful and sensitive. You worded your feelings well.

It's a very nice, sad song, with a good band.
I agree with those who wrote your vocals can shine more. Try some reverb and delay, but with care.

Hans

Brad,

You have done a great job dealing with tuff stuff! It's ironic that some of the best songs comes from the things that hurt us the most! My hats off to you with the fine work you did with this country tune @

Thanks, Torrey

Every song is worth hearing by others, to let out your emotions, especially when it is personal and touching like this, thanks for sharing the song and its backstory. I was born in October so it is not something I would wish to disappear, but I can relate to the feelings about winds, leaves and snow and what they represent. Great band and enjoyable sentimental vocals. Excellent solo part, really showing the face of sorrow.

Janne

You've got a real superpower that allows you to sing a lyric nicely into the meter of a song. Not many can do that. As others have affirmed, this song was definitely worth bringing to fruition. What actually happened remains a mystery, but I think that adds to the song's intrigue. Great work.

Brad,

"The days would not grow shorter and chase the light away.
The winds would not blow colder, or the leaves begin to change.
The skies wouldn’t start to snow, and I’d never have to let you go.
Oh, there’d be no starting over if October never came."

A good write. Personal, original, fresh.

The BAND fits.

A keeper.

The one thought that I had was that the tempo was a-bit-fast for the story. I wondered how it might work with a more "ballad tempo"?

Sorry for your loss(es).

fj

Hey, thank you very much for the listen and the suggestion Tommy. I've been fighting with learning this mixing stuff for a while now, so a lot of my problem may just be inexperience and lack of talent, but I will start looking into what you suggested. I think I've got a decent mic, so maybe something like that Isotope Nectar will help. Thanks.

B.D., I appreciate you taking the time to give it a listen and your suggestion. I'm going to try that too. If I can bring my skill level up it may save me a little money!

So glad you liked the song Dan. I used a lot of reverb on the fiddle and a little on the steel to try and help with that lonesome sound. I thought it came off pretty well with the fiddle, but wasn't so sure about the steel.

Thank you very much Anne-Marie for giving it a listen and your kind words of encouragement.

Thanks a bunch Bass Thumper, and by the way, I've been listening to some of the stuff you've posted since I've been gone, and it is coming out great. I've really enjoyed the way you've been thumping that bass lately in particular.

I'm sure glad you stopped by and gave it a listen Dave. I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for the suggestions. $30 or so shouldn't break the bank.

Thanks for the listen Hans. I'll give it a try!

I appreciate you giving it a listen Torrey, and I hope your album is off to a great start!

I hope you had a great Birthday Janne! Several in my family were born in October too - me, one of my sons and my mothers all fall in that month.

Thanks for the input TuneMonger. Yeah, I didn't want to get too personal with it. After all, none of us have a corner on the "hurting market". Pain is something everyone deals with, and I was hoping that by not getting too specific it would make the song more relatable. Because it was such a quick write and dealing with my personal feelings at the time, I decided to toss it at first.

Floyd thanks for the comment, especially coming from a writer as good as yourself - that means a lot. I was wondering about that tempo. I thought it may sound better a little slower, but was afraid that would drag it out over 4 minutes and make it boring. You're probably right though.

Brad

Glad you gave the song another chance. Really sad cool country tune. Excellent backtrack. Well done

Brad,
I agree with all the positive comments so far on the quality of this song:its tough to find a balance between raw emotion and good songwriting when you are putting personal pain on the line-your song communicates that and makes it relateable and tuneful.
Other than the good advice you already have on vocal processing, I had a wish for a little more variation in the vocal intensity;for example, holding a line like "never have to let you go" to lead in to the chorus.
I`ll be listening to your journey with this song.

Robert

HI Brad ...

Definitely a keeper. Indeed, sad. But, it pulled some strong feelings from you that gave you the courage to put this "out there". No round file for this one - just a round of applause. And yes, a little reverb on your vocals would be a real nice touch.

Stay strong!

ALan

You tell a story, express an emotion and sing a bunch of not quite rhymes so that they sound fine.
I'd rate that as a win.
Def strip the vocal of all processing and do as little to your voice as possible.
I suspect perhaps a little proximity effect as well so start by looking at what's happening beneath the fundamental peak before proceeding.

This song is part of your life, Brad. It's a keeper. Maybe it's cold here this morning, but I'm getting chills now. It's now November, the 11th month, and I encourage you to write another song about your other months.

Brad,

I agree with Dave.
A very good song! Well worth saving from the trash.
It's a song that makes me feel nostalgic.
And I feel the flavor of an elegant country.
Very good times and difficult times. That is the life.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Nice idea and lyrics, Brad.
Something about the vocal not quite right.
Is it doubled? If so, try bringing them closer. Maybe increasing the vol a little too.

Vic

It's a good thing you plucked this from the bin.

I particularly like the line "The days would not grow shorter and chase the light away."

Instrumentation is an excellent fit for this song,

This is definitely a keeper and one that so many folks can relate to.

There are dates and songs that are so strongly associated with sad events that we choose to disregard them.

Your lovely melody fits the lyric perfectly and your vocals are good.
You've already received a lot of good suggestions regarding vocal processing and we will only add a big +1 for the power and versatility of Nectar.

Very good choice of RT’s and RD.

Well done,

J&B

Good write - personal, but vague enough to be general.

I agree with others - good vocal and backing, just do some work on that vocal processing.

Glad you kept it!

Hi Brad
Emotional song
Well sung
The background track is really very well done
Sounds great
Many greetings
Andi ;-)

Thanks for giving it a listen Scott ... and I appreciate the the use of your ears!

Robert, thanks for the listen and the suggestion. I'm not sure I can pull it off, but I'll give it some thought.

Thank you for stoppin' in to give it a listen Alan. Hope Di is doing well today. I just listened again to the post you did with her voice!

Thanks for the suggestion Ray. I appreciate it, but it's often a little over my head a little ... but I keep reaching. For instance I'm not sure what you mean by proximity effect or the fundamental peak - am I just a little to close or far from the mic when laying the vocal?

Glad you listened Marty. I'll try and take you up on that encouragement. With Christmas just around the corner now, things around here are getting a little busier, so I could use a little musical break.

I'm glad you liked it Shigeki and appreciate you giving it a listen. I've got a quite a way to go before I can get the type of sounds and production you're putting together though.

You called it Vic! I'm never quite satisfied with my vocal recordings. I think Torrey Bliss does a lot of vocal doubling and I like his stuff, so I thought I'd try it. This was my first attempt.

Hey thanks for giving it a try and the comment Scott. If I only had a vocal like yours I'd have it made!

Janice and Bud, thanks so much for listening. I appreciate your comments. Your music consistently proves you know what your talking about. I haven't looked up Nectar yet, but hope to once things slow down a little for me.

Thank you David. I'll get to work on that PM you sent as soon as I can - hopefully today.

Thanks for the comment Andi. My wife and daughter are going to be visiting your part of the world soon and we've been keeping an eye on the weather, Whew! It's getting a bit chili over there!

I agree with everyone that this song is a winner

I also agree that the vocal could use a little work

The band was perfect for the lyrics

I know about losses this time of year. Five years ago between mid October to mid November we had to put our three dogs down. Not a happy time. But just before Thanksgiving we did get two puppies that cheered everyone up.

Keep the faith my friend.