Originally Posted By: Pat Marr
Wow,Greg.. this is awesome! And since it's actually a combination of several different artistic endeavors, I'll deal with each of them separately!

1) The Video
Yeah, I always prefer songs that come packaged with a video... and I thought you did a particularly good job of finding powerful images to reinforce the equally powerful statements in your lyrics. I notice you used fades between the pictures. It's hard to go wrong with fades, because they make everything look "right" ... but in the case of music videos especially there is an added advantage to changing scenes abruptly without fades... but only if its done right on the beat. (It has the effect of being a visual floor tom, if you catch my drift.)

2) The Lyrics
I think you are a great lyric writer in general, and especially in this case, you did justice to the enormity of the topic. That is no small achievement! I could easily quote the whole song as examples of outstanding lyric writing, but.. they're all great! I often try to analyze what makes lyrics interesting. Sometimes its the ability to create verbal imagery... but I think your special gift is the ability to "coin a phrase" and say common things in a new way that shines a light on some previously obscure aspect of the topic. This song is full of that, and I cite the verse that contains your title as an example.

3) The Music
You always do such a tasteful job of selecting chords, instruments and effects that build exactly the right mood for your topic, and this is no exception. Its an instantly likable sound canvas for your story to be painted on

4) Your singing
Again, this is one of your strengths... unlike me, you can actually sing, and that opens up a wider set of melodic options for you. Especially in a song like this, where there is likely potential for opposition to the ideas you are setting forth, the calmness of your vocal presentation takes on an authority of its own, and the vocals rise above the mere task of portraying a melody. Very impressive.

5) The mix
What can I say... your mixes are always clear and "right" in every way.

When we play our songs for others, they typically hear "a song" ... but in most cases "the song" is actually the combined result of several skill sets, any one of which can sink the ship if you don't get it right. That's what really impresses me about you and the other "heavy hitters" on the forum, because you have a long track record of wearing ALL the hats well.


What can I say Pat, except that's about the nicest review I've ever had. It is wonderful the way you listen so carefully to songs on the forum and give such thoughtful responses. I really appreciate your steady support and kind words. Thanks so much! Take care. Greg