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Great collaboration has produced powerful lyrics, including the title. Nice melody, catchy chorus in a well made package.
Janne
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AMEN Brothers and Sis! We need more beacons of hope like this. WTG, Tom +1! Great message.
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"we can rise above it all". Oh yeah. That's the line on which turns this hopeful song. When the world seems bent on forcing us to choose sides, we can rise above it all.
A great message, riding a simple and effective melody, carried by natural voices and supported by a strong progression and tasteful band. And it sounds good in my 'phones to boot. Thanks, Tangmo. We appreciate that!!
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"floyd jane", "greg johnson" and Ms. Janice...
Folks, folks, folks, do you all know what you've done, here??? Huh??? Well, do you??? You took a mighty swing with the big stick of righteousness and knocked the cap off a big bottle of highly-pressurized silence about what's goin' on in these here (dis)-United States. PG Music should give all of you a "Most Socially Significant Songwriting" award for this song of yours, "The Next Big Thing", 'cuz it is.
The title itself piqued my curiosity as to what was this "next big thing", and you delivered on it in no uncertain terms. Your skillful selection of RealTracks carried your "message" musically to this listener in the most ear-pleasing way possible. The sound/feel is intimate, yet tuneful.
Whoever sang the melody just immortalized himself. Ms. Janice's harmonies are the sound of the winds of hope blowing underneath lyrics that are down-to-earth and perfectly descriptive of how badly we're getting our spurs tangled up concerning how we live with each other in America.
This just goes to show all of us songwriters what can happen when you "take it to the river" and get your soul washed nice n' clean.
Bravo, for your courage, honesty, and sincerity, folks!
Deeply grateful, and deeply impressed,
LOREN
Last edited by bluage; 11/15/18 03:47 PM.
"Music is what feelings sound like."-- borrowed from a Cakewalk Music Creator forum member, "Mamabear".
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Floyd and Greg,
these are times when people all over the world are losing hope when they watch the new, read the papers, FB and the like. Not so long ago I was pretty sure that things - despite of any setbacks - were going the right direction. I grew up in times where love and brotherhood, peace and justice were our aims, and - call me naive - they're still what I deeoly believe in. It's so sad to see how these aims are being trampled and laughed at and how love and truth seem to have been superseded by hate and lies - worldwide.
I would deeply wish that this song woudn't have been necessary, but I am grateful you wrote, recorded and shared it.
It really touched me and I do hope that more of us will take a stand and write their own cry for humanity. Although this is not only lyricswise a jewel, but also a great, most lovable and well-performed piece, any style of music will be suitable for getting the message through, don't you think?
Thanks a lot !
Stefan
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Thanks all for the wonderful comments! Means a lot to me that you like our tune. Floyd did an amazing job putting this together. I had a concept and some fragmented ideas and he created a wonderful production from it. It is a great treat to get to collaborate with one of your favorite writers. Thanks so much Floyd!! Take care all. Greg
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To Greg, Floyd, and Janice the usual vocal, mix, etc accolades. But what took it over the top for me was the lyrics. I much needed powerful message that all in our ultra political divide need to hear.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
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LOVE it tiedyed, cheesecloth, sandals or not it's a contemporary and original plea for essentials. In some ways An excellent update of this...
Last edited by rayc; 11/17/18 12:54 AM.
Cheers
rayc
"What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
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Thanks to all who have mentioned my small part. It was a delight to sing and share the feelings of this song.
Janice
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos
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floyd / Greg
Lovely song. A wonderful set of lyrics with an excellent sentiment and a catchy sweet melody topped off with a great vocal and some lovely harmonies by Janice.
A great collaboration from some of the forums best.
Peter Thanks, Peter. We appreciate that... AMEN Brothers and Sis! We need more beacons of hope like this. WTG, Tom +1 to what Tom said. It says it all for me. I can't say anything better so I won't try. Di and I had this discussion over the weekend. What took us all afternoon to say, you two gentlemen said in about three minutes. A tip of the hat and a salute to both you. Wishing both of you the very best. And thank you for this. Alan Glad you liked this, Alan...
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Floyd, Greg and Janice,
How right you are!
And how beautifully you have turned this wish into a song.
Great vocals!
Rob and Anne-Marie
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Awesome timely lyrics. Super collaboration. Awesome vocal and Janice's harmonies are just perfect. Well done. Thanks, Scott... Floyd and Greg,
Well done, gentleman! Great sentiment conveyed in an engaging tune—really enjoyed that chorus and the harmonies. An admirable collaboration.
My best to both of you,
Deej
We appreciate that, Deej... thanks.. Great message! And a great song, nice melody and I love the vocal and harmonies.
Nice job on the production and mix, as usual everything sounds perfect.
Really enjoyed this one! I've listened a few times and will listen again.
Collaborations are the best, well done all! Thanks, as always, Dave...
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The addition to Janice to any project is never small, always a BIG BIG PLUS!! Thanks so much to Janice, one of the best singers I've heard, on or off of the forum!! Take care. Greg
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 I love seeing what people collaborate on. Thanks for sharing! Thanks, Ember.
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This song is needed.
For me to say anything more than that distracts from the message. Caaron - we appreciate your succinctness.  You conveyed an important universal theme quite nicely in this song. The chorus is memorable--I'm still singing it in my head as I type this. ES - thanks for stopping in... cool song....
I really liked the second verse. and the chorus wasn't bad either.
Yep... we need songs of hope in this hopeless world we live in. Herb - we're glad you liked this...
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A truly excellent song & production... loved the hook "why can't love be the next big thing"!
Jim
†=☮&♥
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hi greg and Floyd great message love it we need this I agree great colab guys eric
AMD (TM) 5950 4.9 GHz 16Core Processor 64 bit 32 bits of ram windows 10 pro 64 bit os. sound card Antelope ZenQ guitars Ibanez 2202a 1968 les Paul Custom and Cavin ae 185 Guitar boss Gt-100,GT1000 pedal Yamaha HS8 studio monitors
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The alternative has been there since time immemorial...now to just get folks to embrace it. Yep, we love the sentiment.
When you invited Janice in and we read that it was a floyd/Greg collab we knew it was gonna be strong. It's a floyd production and vocal...what is left to say about that combo. At the risk of being trite...that combo simply delivers EVERY time.
We would also like to mention that the sheer sincerity of this production is apparent all through -- lyrically, vocally and arrangement wise.
Sincere and hopeful, i.e., not angst ridden.
Superb!!!
J&B
PS Janice says thanks again for inviting her to play a small part.
Thanks for the nice review. More importantly...THANKS for again being a big part of the music!!!
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A great collaboration guys. You've got a super song there and a much-needed sentiment. I caught my breath when the first note of the bridge started, wow Floyd. A great job all round.
John We all say "Thanks!", John. And glad you liked the bridge!...
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Great arrangement, excellent write, smooth delivery and wonderful production. I'm running out of superlatives, and it's only my second sentance! I'm especially struck by the lyric - this is a great write. You start out with alliteration: build bigger, better bombs... well, what is wrong (OK, wrong is only visually alliterative ) You end both verses with the country songwriting trick of reversing the meaning of a word by changing the context: we ask "what is wrong with them?"
well, what is wrong with you and me?and the wonders of nature all under our control
yet we have so little insight into the nature of our soulsAnd that chorus is perfection! It's got the title as bookends, and is propelled in the middle by an acceleration with the inner rhyme: it's time we start with the human heartAnd then the final verse answers the question posed by the first two choruses, and invites the listener to take action without finger-pointing. All in all, an amazing write.
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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