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Matcham Offline OP
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No creepy clowns here. But there is an acrobat, a bearded lady and a crooked Ringmaster. Allegorical as always.

The Circus Will Be Leaving Town

Style is _DOCPEDS.STY
RealTracks in style: ~592:Bass, Acoustic Bluegrass Doc Ev 100
RealTracks in style: 590:Banjo, Bluegrass Doc Ev 100 (Rhythm - Simple)
RealTracks in style: ~598:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Bluegrass Doc Ev 100
RealTracks in song: ~593:Fiddle, Rhythm Bluegrass Doc Ev 100
RealDrums: RealDrums in Song: CountryEven8Reduced: a: Brushes, HiHat b: Snare, Ride

Logic Pro X to mix. Electric gtr actually an acoustic gtr through a Peavey Delta Blues amp.

The Circus Will Be Leaving Town

Well the Juggler’s got my suitcase
Monkey’s on my back
Magician took my money
I’ve been bounced by an Acrobat
But there’s no point complainin’
no point feeling down
By this time tomorrow
the circus will be leaving town

The Gypsy’s funds are AWOL
Ringmaster’s gone to gaol
The carnie folk are starving
Still they’re asked to go his bail
Well you might think you’re someone
because you wear a fancy crown
By this time tomorrow the circus will be leaving town

Well the marquee’s front is open
Looks like it’s gonna rain
Better find yourself some shelter
or it’s in the mud again
Oh there’s no point complainin’
when dark storm clouds abound
By this time tomorrow the circus will be leaving town

I know I’m getting slower
but the world’s got too damned fast
If it’s made in a third world sweatshop
you know it aint built to last
It aint no use worrying
tho the world is run by clowns
By this time tomorrow the circus will be leaving town

The lions have broke their cages
High wire’s set to fall
The Bearded Lady’s shaving
There’s no order here at all
But darling don’t you worry
Put on your pretty gown
By this time tomorrow the circus will be leaving town

Thanks! Matcham

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Hi Matcham !

With only 3 chords, you've made a very hypnotic funny song.
I like the choice of all your instruments.
That's high quality.
Congratulations. Christian

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Matcham,

Like Chris already said, this is good work for just 3 chords!

Rob & Anne-Marie


We are Rob Meulman and Anne-Marie Bovenkamp from The Netherlands.

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Very cool tune Paddy. Loved the lyrics and vocal


Scott Collingwood
https://soundcloud.com/scottt709
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https://www.youtube.com/@SpiritLevel-ge3hm/
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"It aint no use worrying
tho the world is run by clowns
By this time tomorrow the circus will be leaving town"

Nice.

A little Dylan, A little Johnny Cash. Good combination there...

Well done all around. Good, interesting write, good instrumentation, good mix.

fj

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Hi Matcham, Excellent song! Very catchy vibe! I really enjoyed the arrangement of this. Well done! smile


Cheers,
Joe
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Matcham Offline OP
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Thanks guys. It's 3 chords alright. Straight up blues.

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Matcham,

Even catchier than your Animal Farm song ( you have a very interesting angle on the world - I like the cryptic humour!).
Your guitar gels with the simple backing and to these ears your productions have a very natural sound.
Most enjoyable.

Robert

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We have ZERO problems with three chords! "Three chords and the truth" or "three chords and some soul" will work for us every time over chord dense compositions.

There're many, many Dylanesque lines here and for us that is good. Very good. The lyric while not sparse still leaves a lot of dots for the listener to connect. Cool! Interesting and fun the way you processed the acoustic.

Tons of things to like here!

J&B




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Thanks Robert and team J&B. Bud you'd probably appreciate this - the guitar lines are borrowed from Sam Chatmon of Mississippi Sheiks fame. The song and the realtracks arrangement are built around that. So much good stuff to mine when you dig through the Americana archives!

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Originally Posted By: Matcham
Thanks Robert and team J&B. Bud you'd probably appreciate this - the guitar lines are borrowed from Sam Chatmon of Mississippi Sheiks fame. The song and the realtracks arrangement are built around that. So much good stuff to mine when you dig through the Americana archives!


That's an interesting approach. One of our collaborators a couple of years ago took a piano loop that he really liked and wrote a song around its chord structure. As with your's it worked out well.

Bud


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Cool little toe-tapper!! Very infectious groove. I like the way you sang it. Lyrics are very interesting. Well done all the way around! Take care. Greg

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Matcham

There are some darn fine lyrics in this song, that go much deeper than one might think
This would enable it to be played and sung in many different genres from rock to slow pop, makes it a bit unique Nice job.

PaddyG

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Originally Posted By: Matcham
Thanks Robert and team J&B. Bud you'd probably appreciate this - the guitar lines are borrowed from Sam Chatmon of Mississippi Sheiks fame. The song and the realtracks arrangement are built around that. So much good stuff to mine when you dig through the Americana archives!


Well how cool is that! We have listened to them several times while searching through old blues archives. Glad you found that...

J&B


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Matcham Offline OP
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Thanks very much for your comments. I'm glad the lyrics are appreciated. I wonder sometimes if the obliqueness of my style stifles meaning or stimulates it. I'm certainly conscious of meaning when I write.

The Sheiks btw were big before WWII with eg 'Sittin on Top of the World'. Classic tune! Sam Chatmon had his own career afterwards. I love his unique guitar playing style and that prompted the song.

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Hi Matcham,

I have listened to this quite a few times and it's a great composition.

My highlights:
- Vocal vibe - your vocal style and delivery really works on this kind of song
- Clever lyrics and symbolism
- The way you held back the finger picked banjo until the second verse
- It's like the RTs were written for this song!
- 3 chords but it didn't need any more

Good job!
Rec


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Matcham, this is so good at so many levels. The lyrics are great, your vocal is super and your backing tracks are spot on! Your line "tho the world is run by clowns" so true!

Two thumbs up!


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Nothing to do with intelligence. I go to sleep if left unattended for 15 minutes.

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Matcham, fun song you put together here. Has a hypnotic quality to it. As stated previously, has a Johnny Cash/Dylan vibe going on here. Thanks, Torrey

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Matcham

A nice authentic (Australian) blues. Good lyrics and nice guitar parts. Very enjoyable.

Peter

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Matcham Offline OP
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Rec thanks heaps for spending time with the song. I must say it's really rewarding when the song elements you hope get noticed, DO get noticed. You know what I mean.

Cheers,

Matcham

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