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Maria Blue
Video: All images from the actual aftermath of Maria in Puerto Rico



Months after Hurricane Maria 675,000 Puerto Ricans are still without power. Kudos to the first responders, military men and women and charitable organizations for their service in Puerto Rico that often required them putting themselves in harm’s way. However, for many still suffering long after the storm it’s easy to understand their frustration and this song attempts to address their continuing plight.

So…we’re late to the party but J&B finally gets into the “beats thing. ” But, hey, we did provide them ourselves with Janice on cajon and the two of us throwing in some handclaps.

Special thanks to floyd for joining in for the write and for the fine harmony (singing above that girl he is!)

Janice: lead vocal, melody, arrangement and percussion (cajon)
floyd: harmony, lyrics, arrangement and mix counsel
bud: lead vocal recording, arrangement, lyrics, mix, mastering and video stuff

RT 2482:Bass, Acoustic, Bowed Held Ev 085
RT 2213:Bouzouki, Rhythm SlowPop Ev16 065
RT 2213:Bouzouki, Rhythm SlowPop Ev16 065 - held chords
RT 1037:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm NorthernRockBallad Ev 065
RT 1037:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm NorthernRockBallad Ev 065 - held chords
RT 679:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm RockBritDriving Ev 085 (B:heavy)
RT 679:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm RockBritDriving Ev 085 (B:heavy) - held chords
RT 2687: Guitar, Electric, Soloist BluesSlowEvenBrentSimple Ev 085
Cajon: three tracks - mic on sound hole and another ambient mic / “kick” sound isolated for separate processing
handclaps: four tracks

Track effects: Waves Bass Rider / Nectar 2 / Neutron 2 / Logic Pro Guitar Amp Sim / Ozone 8 modules / delay and reverb from Nectar 2 modules
Mastering: Ozone 8 Adv

Thanks, Peter for those three notes


Maria Blue
© 2018 j. merritt / f. jane / b. merritt

Intro singing:

mama used to sing maria
about a girl so lovely
but now mama’s gone
and maria has turned ugly

V1

the wind howled all through the night
morning came i knew my life was gone
water was rising and trees were falling
better off had i never seen that dawn

Ch

oh Mother Nature won’t you tell me
why did you send that storm
was it only to make me wish
wish that i’d never been born?

V2

we wade through streets... turned to rivers
hungry babies, ever crying
medicine gone, a thirst none should know
old man prays "Lord, I'm dyin'"

Ch

V3

we live in tents and cardboard huts
children drink from dirty puddles
seems the big folks forgot about us
all wrapped up in their own troubles

Ch

Outro

Yeah! I knew I was going to like this before I even pressed play

Something a little different from you two! Nice groove on this one, the Cajon and handclaps work well IMHO.

Janice sounds wonderful, and I dig the harmonies from Floyd.

Off to watch the video now!

Janice / Bud / Floyd,

This is an absolutely astounding piece of work... It completely captures the despair and overall feeling of helplessness - it never loses that reality throughout the song. Amazing focus.

I can't say enough about Janice and her vocal gifts - she always reminds me of a more cosmopolitan version of Gillian Welch. A tremendous performance.

Killer production and write as well - I'm not sure it could get any better.

Bob

Thank you Dave. At times venturing out from the music home base is a bit like stepping of a cliff...

We are glad it worked for you!

Really love your latest.

J&B

Nice collab guys! Sounds like you guys are getting better at working together. Loved this on all sides.

Thank you Bob. Your description is just what we were working for...so that means a lot to us. And thank you for mentioning both the vocal and production. Janice is very appreciative of your comment about her vocal. We have been Gillian Welch fans since her first album. Janice says it's humbling to be mentioned in the same sentence!

J&B

What a great effort!!! Wonderful song and production! What a great tragedy that is. So many terrible storms that I can't keep the names straight anymore. And now in California, we have 20 or more dead from flash floods and mud slides. Mother nature can be brutal. Great job by all you guys!! Take care. Greg

Wow. Powerful lyrics that realy convey images of the storm and aftermath. Great production and beautiful vocals.

Hi J&B,

Simply stunning.

The lyrics would be good anyway, but Janice's incredible vocal delivery
wrings every ounce of emotion out of them, leaving the listener completely
immersed in the futility of it all.

In addition to that, it's a fabulous backing track with a super mix.

And what about Floyd singing top register, in all senses of the word!

Congrats to all involved.

ROG.

I hope so...we've been at it for quite a while!

Glad you liked it.

Hey, waiting on your Paradox!

J&B

I know.... Vocals are a mess. Trying to finish.

Janice / Bud / Floyd,

I'm running out of superlatives. Stirring, brilliant, engaging, rousing....
The song sounds wonderful, the performances by all are world class. Great video, excellent percussion.
Superb song writing.

Peter

A lovely comment on a tragic situation.
All very well done.
Great backing band.

Cheers.

Nice collab.

Maria sure was a storm that they will never forget in PR. Nice work on the song and the video.

FJB. That combination seems to work SO well. I'm not kidding when I say I feel like I could almost write the comment THEN listen to the song. There is a standard that I, and I'm sure others have come to expect. Great job!

Thank you or including the video. Many times I don't like the distraction of a video that takes you somewhere you wouldn't have gone just listening. In this case, it brought me to where I wouldn't have known to go. So again, thank you for including it.

I'm always amazed at every aspect of your songs. You can hear everything. The old "you could hear a pin drop"...if it was in there, you would manage to have it heard. The other side of that coin is, you would do it in a way that wouldn't distract or beat us over the head with. I can't do that! This is one jealous dude typing right now.

Great song, great video, great production, great performance. Ladies and gentlemen...FJB

B,J&F, This is a great write and a brilliant performance. The vocals convey the emotion of the tragedy. The mix is spot on and really comes to light with the cajon and handclaps. Nice call. I would be kicking myself if I didn’t say that I think we completely failed the island in the recovery efforts. I won’t get political and I know this year has decimated the resources available for help due to these devastating storms, but I still think we could have done more. Thanks to all three of you for your socially conscious decision to create this song, Tom

Thanks Greg. Yep Ma Nature can be so rough at times to such innocent and helpless folks.

Glad you liked it!

J&B,
The first thing that struck me was: a great arrangement - how can there be so much space in there with all the tracks?
Inspired percussion choices.
There`s a heart to the social commentary of your lyrics Bud, which cuts through the politics... and Janice makes us feel that with another fine vocal.
Love the sweet sound of Floyd`s high harmony too.


Robert

Thanks for saying that. It’s much appreciated!

J&B

Serious but very good song J&B!! Once again you folks have produced totally pro sounding results! Janice just sounds great song after song! Floyd's parts work so well also! Final production is good enough for anyone considering this for any project! Thanks, Torrey

Rog, given your production experience and attention to detail we are much appreciative of your review. Janice’s vocal was to be a scratch placeholder but ended up staying in the mix. We are delighted that you liked it. And floyd did nail that part!

J&B

Incredible - this is astonishing Simply put, this is a beautiful song. The way the instruments and those vocals work together is flawless. It sounds sincere and heartfelt. And even though it is slightly unconventional, I love the drums you chose here! The stomping sort of groove help bring the whole thing together.

You guys outdid yourself - thanks for sharing!

This is great. Very powerful.

Great job people.

Makes me want to write a song called Captain Midnight now.

Oh wait, already did that.

Thanks Peter and thanks again for those three notes!

J&B

Loved the emotion and the message of the song. Great imagery. Well done compilation.

Wow, what an excellent delivery. The mix is absolutely perfect.

This tells the story just so well.

Another top effort to the collaboration team. Well done.

This is just an awesome piece of music. I like to read the lyrics before I listen to the song. IT helps me relate to the music. What a beautiful tribute to such a horrible event. I was lucky enough to spend some time in Puerto Rico. The memory I took home was such a beautiful place and such beautiful people.. Was so sad to see what happened and how they were left in the dark.

Janice vocal was so clear and heartfelt. The new mix tools you got for Christmas :-) and you skill at mixing left a professionally lever master song. The sound was so pure. All the instruments and harmonies were blended so well and identifiable. You, Janice and Floyd set the bar high on this one. Well done

Just stunning! Everything about this is so well done. Even the "beats".

The video really works with the song. Such a devastating event. Prayers continue to go up for all the victims.

Thanks so much for sharing this one. Great work by all involved in this very impressive collab!

Steve

Well, everything has already been said by now.

Not a "pretty" song, but definitely fitting the feel of the subject.

Hello, Janice & Bud, floyd,

Regarding Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, it was reported in detail also in Japan at that time. Since Japan is also a natural disaster-rich country, we cannot think like a very different incident.
Recently it has been reported that further misfortune may await the Puerto Ricans in the United States due to President Trump's policy. (Immigration policy is a very delicate matter, so I will withhold any opinion on this.)
And the video at that time was also aired again.
When you pick up such a miserable theme, you can express it extremely well by song.
I can see well that the tradition of folk songs is stuck to the corners of your bodies and souls.
Janice's vocal completely fits this tune.
The cajon is very effective.
Your performance and video were very impressive.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

When two of the best performing acts on the forum team up - this is what happens. Powerful - poignant - a lesson in collaborative writing and producing. There are some amazing compositions and performances on the forum right now (as usual) - this one ranks right up there among the very best.

Alan

Thanks y’all! Glad you liked it. Herb, appreciate you mentioning the video.

J&B

Thanks, a lot, for mentioning the video and the audio production. I was surprised at how few pictures of the aftermath were available in the public domain...and I never use copyrighted material so I felt a bit limited. I used the effects on them to try and reduce the distraction. Thanks for noting that! The mix was a challenge with that number of tracks - not used to that at all - but floyd was assuredly the right person to get feedback from and to offer suggestions...like the held chords. We appreciate your nice comments!

J&B

Always love working with you guys - from whatever angle.

A beautiful tribute to a tragic event. Nobody can hold nature back.

Every level of this song and recording are top shelf! Heartfelt delivery of pensive and melancholy lyrics. All captured by a well crafted arrangement and spot on mix.

Well done all!

Thanks Tom. Yes, it's easy to envision how many Puerto Ricans might wonder why as US citizens they are continuing to suffer months afterwards. As I mentioned it was it not our intent to disparage any of the folks who were early on the ground to help. But I think not so many kudos to some governmental entities in both Puerto Rico and the mainland. Glad you liked it and thanks for mentioning the percussion and the mix!

J&B

That is a beautiful song, you guys put the right touch to it, production, vocals all so good!!!

Thank you Robert. There are a lot of tracks but often they aren’t playing at the same time and the handclaps while 4 tracks take up little of the soundstage. Same with Janice’s doubled vocal. We appreciate you mentioning the commentary and the vocals both of which floyd greatly enhanced. floyd really surprised us with harmony part!

J&B

That is much appreciated Torrey. And even more so as we are big fans of your productions.

Thank you!

J&B

A quick "Thanks" to all who listened and commented... fj

Thanks man. We much appreciate every word of that! And extra thanks for mentioning the percussion - we had hoped that would work out.
And, yep, floyd really polished the sound with his harmony.

J&B

Hahahaha! Yeah you did.

Thanks!

J&B

Sorry guys, slow off the mark on this one. As always very thoughtful and powerful. Perfect vocals and a great story line. Production A+.
Rob

Thank you!

J&B

Dramatic song about a dramatic event.
There's a lot of emotion in this song which has perfect percussion in the arrangement.
Great vocals by Janice as always and we also love Floyd's vocal contribution on this!

Rob and Anne-Marie

great song, love the arrangement, hand claps etc.

nice job from everyone involved

enjoyed the listen,

Kenny

Thanks. Glad you felt it told the story well. We worked hard on that!

Very thought provoking and well written song, nice one guys

Truth is always stranger than fiction and songs of truth more powerful than lies.
Cool.

Thank you Scott. I wish while writing this that we had the benefit your perspective of having visited there. Thanks for mentioning the mix. This one was a challenge and i do feel like my new Izotope toys helped the process a lot.

We most appreciate all of your comments!

J&B

Steve, we all appreciate your positive and supportive comments. Glad you liked the beats and the vid!

Thanks for listening and watching.

J&B





Thanks! We’re happy that it worked for you.

J&B

hi really excellent work vocal mix instruments arrangement just awesome thanks eric

Thank you Shigeki. And yes we did feel deeply about this song. Also we are glad you liked the vocal, the percussion and the video.

We appreciate it!

J&B

Really good tune guys. I generally avoid tunes from the news cause it's hard to separate the emotion and sympathy from the politics. I like that you kept the story mostly 'small'. I don't really like line 3 of V3 lyrically because it preaches and that's always the temptation with these sorts of songs.

I really like the arrangement and feel. You kept me interested thru the whole song.

One thing I'd like to hear more of is that bowed bass. It seems kind of buried. Maybe take just a hair of the very low end of off that sound so you can bump the overall volume up a bit.

Overall though, I really like this tune. Very nice job.

Peace,

Ian

Thanks Al. When we read something like this it makes the time and effort all worthwhile. We appreciate your support.

J&B

Lawrence, that means so much to us. We are your biggest fans and to have you say that is very special.

Thank you.

J&B

Thanks for the kind remarks. They are appreciated!

J&B



Thanks Rob. Appreciate you mentioning the production!



Thanks to both of you. Glad you noticed the emotion that went into it and a big thanks for mentioning the percussion!

J&B

Thanks for listening Kenny!

J&B

Thanks y’all for listen and commenting. We appreciate your support!

J&B

Thanks Eric!

Hey Ian

Thanks for taking your time to listen and offer the very thoughtful comments. I’m glad that you liked the song overall.

I would like to respond more specifically to a couple of your comments.

You mentioned: “I don't really like line 3 of V3 lyrically because it preaches and that's always the temptation with these sorts of songs.”

We sincerely do not feel that the song preaches via that line; rather, it simply expresses the frustration and sense of lack of control of the protagonist - a rural Puerto Rican lady. I grew up in rural and small town Georgia. Often I heard family/friends referring to the “big folks.” There was no specificity to it. It was not a political divide. But it was a feeling that one had no say or control in events that greatly influenced one’s life. Surely a mother with young children who had gone without power, clean water and other essentials for an extended period would feel that the “big folks” didn’t care. She would not be concerned with parsing out all of the reasons for her situation. So, that line was not a result of yielding to temptation - it was the result of contemplation about the storm’s aftermath. All this ramble means is that We didn't consider the line to be divisive.

You mentioned: “One thing I'd like to hear more of is that bowed bass. It seems kind of buried. Maybe take just a hair of the very low end off of that sound so you can bump the overall volume up a bit.”

The bass was problematic. As an upright bass player I likely spend too much time mixing bass RT’s I’d hoped to not have a buried sound as I tried, using Neutron’s masking feature, to get the cajon and bass to cooperate with one another as they occupy a very similar eq range. So much of this had to do with hearing acuity and my 72 year old ears ain’t particularly acute nowadays!

Again, thanks for the thoughts and for listening. Good to see you around again!

Cheers

J&B

Janice, Bud and floyd,

I first listened to this on Soundcloud a couple of weeks ago. At that time, I couldn't find any words to say that could convey how your creation impacted on me. Even now I'm not sure that I can find the right words. It such a very powerful work.

Since Soundcloud, I've listened to the song and watched the video on Youtube. Each time I've visited, I cannot stop myself from imagining the desolation, despair and horror that those who are caught up in the aftermath must be feeling. That such misery should become part of a game of politics really saddens me.

You've done a truly amazing thing in writing, arranging and producing "Maria". Janice's outstanding vocals are absolutely the perfect vehicle to carry such an important message.

With all my heart, I hope that your song helps bring a better tomorrow to those who still so desperately need it.

Regards,
Noel

Noel, your comments are exceptionally meaningful to us. We live in such a transient world nowadays. Today’s headlines are buried tomorrow. Information overload often leaves us little time it seems to reflect on the simple humanity of events like this. What you’ve expressed makes us feel perhaps for a moment we were able to hit the pause button and offer a time of reflection - at least that’s what we hoped for. Thanks you so much.

J&B