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Hi, link: This Is The Life For MeA couple of weeks ago, a handful of us started working our way through the Andrea Stolpe book, Popular Lyric Writing: 10 Steps to Effective Story Telling. The lyrics of this song developed from an exercise related to Andrea's techniques. Essentially, I wrote a very short story (150 words) on the topic of 'Fishing'. I then pulled it apart into short phrases and looked for rhymes within the text. When I'd deconstructed my writing, I gave myself a verse outline for rhyme, rhythm and types of phrase, put it all together and verse 1 was done. Applying more of Andrea's processes, the rest of the song followed. All comments welcome and appreciated. Regards, Noel LYRICSSitting here fishing at the river's edge The sound of nothing fills my head I got a sun that's shining, warm and yellow I count myself a lucky fellow CHORUS This is the life for me It's all that I need Yeah this is the life for me This is the life for me I got a girl I love and when she sits beside me Head on my shoulder, hand on my knee Her touch is electric, my spirit soars Who could ever ask for anything more? CHORUS I don't want to live for millions and millions of years I only want to be happy with what I've got right here CHORUS BIAB DETAILSRealTracks539:Bass, Electric, Pop Sw 120 962:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm CountryBoogieCleanA-B Sw 140 965:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm CountryBoogieGrittyA-B Sw 140 1117:Fiddle, Background CountryBoogie Sw 140 2165:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm NewOrleansSwinginPop Sw 130 RealDrumsNashvilleShuffle^01-a:Sidestick, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride The song began in BIAB, tracks added in RB and then mixed in Reaper. Ozone was used to polish the mix and Nectar was used to polish the vocals.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Hi Noel,
Very good song...Bouncy and happy.
I like your 1st verse...I can imagine exactly what you wrote.
Nit pick...2nd verse seems to come out of left field, nothing to do with fishing as I perceive it.
Saying that...It is a very good song.
Well done
George
Windows 11 64 bit, Biab 2026 (1237), Realband 2026 (10)
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Hey Noel, Great song! I liked everything about it, especially the Ragtime feel and your vocal delivery... My new favorite of yours.  Bob
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Noel, I get it . The song is not about fishing. It's about enjoying the things you love. (fishing and the girl) I really like the chorus. It has a sing along quality to it. I always enjoy your detailed posts on lyric writing. It gives me a far different perspective from the stream of consciousness type of writing that I do. I am afraid if I put as much thought into the process as you do I would get brain lock. I agree with Bob the ragtime feel is perfect. Great Job. Tom
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Noel, my friend, I got it too !
The only thing is that I do not
have that girl beside me anymore !:))
What river are you referring to in
your song ?(I take it you ment fishing on
the river, could be the sea too, naturally ?)
I also found your tune a very happy
and joyful one making the listener
happy too !:)) My congrats on a
very nice and well sung tune !:))
Cheers
Dani
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Hi Noel,
what an uplifting song.
Thanks for the background story.
I'm still humming the chorus.
Guenter
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Awesome! What a blast. Great lyrics, really liked that bridge, sweet mix, love that New Orleans swing.
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Excellent. Really enjoyed the rhythm and melody. Well sung and played..
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Excellent work Noel. Love it!
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Noel, it took an entire 3 notes to "hook" me! Then at 1:45 you had me "Squattin' in your basic tall cotton when you unleashed that fiddle on me! Wow, that borders on cruel and unusual punishment!
I loved the instrumentation throughout but I've come to expect great things from you.
Thanks so much.
Don
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Noel...
Another super listen from you. The ragtime style fit this so perfectly. We loved everything about it!!! you put a lot of thought and work into your music and it shows! Best to you, mate...
Al & Di
BIAB 2024 Ultra Plus-all StylePaks*Win11*32GB DDR5*Rhyzen 9745x*AT 2035 Mic*Peavey Nashville 112 Amp*Ibanez ART120* Acoustic/Electric/Washburn D200S Acoustic*Stromberg Monterey Jazz Guitar Loops: https://aldavidmusic.wixsite.com/bestmusicloops
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Noel,
Terrific! Love the simplicity of your chorus. So singable and so memorable. The change of focus of the two verses is super. And the perfect bridge to send it off into that happy place it's going in the end..
And fun music to carry it all. The play between the fiddle and piano leads is really nice. The whole thing builds nicely and carries the listener along for the ride.. an enjoyable one.
I did imagine you in a vaudeville straw hat, cane and seersucker suit doing a soft-shoe while you sang this...
floyd
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Such a feel-good song, Noel ... they lyrics and vocals are just perfect with the backing track you created! It's bedtime for me, but now I woke up!LOL! Awesome job!!!
Cheers, Mike My Music * Asus ROG Strix G15CF 32 GB DDR4 4TB HDD + 1 TB SSD NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8GB Win 11 AKAI EIE PRO Sound Interface. BIAB/RB 2024 UltraPak Build - Latest
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Noel,
Great sounding track. You couldn't have chosen a better arrangement to carry the melody and lyrics. Wonderful happy feel from start to finish.
I like how you set the scene of our hero fishing and how good it feels to be there then let his mind wander as it naturally would to the other good thing he loves and how great life is in that moment of satisfying relaxing reflection on this beautiful day fishing at the riverbank.
Loved it here.
Josie
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Hi George,
Good to see you! Thank you for having a listen.
I smiled when I read what you'd written about verse 1. I was hoping that it would allow listeners to see the song's character sitting at a river, on a quiet and restful sunny day, fishing.
I wrote lot's of different verses 2 before I settled on the one in the song. I can appreciate that it seems to come from nowhere because I haven't really anchored it with anything from verse 1; that is, there is no obvious long-distant lyric relationship that helps make a lyric cohesive. It's a good point you make and I'll take it on board if/when I revisit the song.
Thank you for pointing this out to me.
Best regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Hi Bob,
Thanks for dropping by. Appreciate it.
Like with most Realtracks, I discover, I stumbled on to this one by accident. I'd written the song, I had the bass, the guitars and drums all chosen. I wanted something else to fill up the mix and to give me entertaining variation. What I did was to sort the Realtrack list by tempo and then started working through different instruments. The minute this piano played it seemed to fall into place.
Thanks again.
All the best,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Hi Tommy,
Thank you for jumping into the thread.
The beauty of Andrea Stolpe's process is that brain block doesn't occur. All I do is think of any topic at all; the sky is literally the limit. Then I write about this topic from the perspective of the senses and include things relating to internal and external body movement and feelings. As mentioned above, I aim to get around 150 words. Once the writing is done, I pull out the main one-to-four-word phrases from the writing and list them. The reason for doing this is because extracting the main phrases removes the clutter around the words and takes them out of the context of the story.
Now when I read through my list of phrases without context, possibilities open up. I always go where those possibilities take me and I don't necessarily try to make the verse a reflection of the initial writing.
It's fun!
Once again, thank you for the comments.
All the best,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Janice just commented that this tune takes her back to a George Harrison concert where they did a skiffle groove song. Big time feel good vibe then and now. While, I'm name dropping I'll say that the melody and lyric come easily have come from McCartney. I'm not going to try and offer any analysis of the lyric, etc., other than a simple "the total package works for me!" And for my eternally optimistic and happy wife the song is absolute heaven!
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! A few of our videos are here on our website: https://www.janiceandbud.com/our-music.html
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Hey Dani, I'm grateful that you found your way inside to have a listen and I appreciate your comments. When I wrote the song, the river I had in mind was one from my childhood. In my primary school years, I grew up in a very small seaside town. Mum and dad used to often take the family fishing. The place we'd fish was a great spot; peaceful and beautiful. It was where the sea's salt water and the river's fresh water interfaced with one another. We used to catch some spectacular bream and trevally there. Writing this song took me back to times I really enjoyed. I think that helped a great deal with writing both the music and the lyrics. Once again, thank you All the best, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Hi Guenter,
Thank you. It's always good to see you. It made me smile when I read that you were "still humming the chorus". I was hoping that it was simple enough to be remembered easily. Thanks for letting me know about that!
Regards,
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
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In this PAK you can find: dulcet folk ballads, funky gospel country, Brazilian jazz fusion, upbeat 1980s pop, classic Americana, a plethora of breezy bossa novas, indie singer-songwriter, scintillating synthwave, exuberant electronica, and many, many more!
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
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