Originally Posted By: Scott C
Wow what an awesome intro. Made sit up straight in my share. I loved the way the lyrics flowed. I did not understand them but I liked the way you delivered them. Lovely backtrack. Well done Hans


Scott: You said very nice things! I wished I could have seen that reaction you wrote of! i told my son. He is 'beginning to become' a bit more impressed about his fathers skills. One more son (and a wife) to go. But we're coming closer to that goal with your kind of posts!
But about understanding the lyrics I must share a little secret; I had problems with the meaning of some sentences too. I noticed that in her poems my mother sometimes wrote very 'wide'. I asked myself "what did she want to say"? In some occasions I rewrote them in modern Dutch (do you understand what I mean?).

Originally Posted By: Rustyspoon#
Hans,
Dutch version wins hands down. Very solid composition and progression. Vocals & mix are very good! Flute sits well in the song and a good choice for ending, but toward the end (ending) I would pull panning more to center. Thank you for sharing!
Misha.


Wow Misha, those are nearly as nice words as Scott wrote! I really appreciate your observations of my improvement. Your words about eq-matters allways glow up when I'm busy mixing my songs now. And you were right, it pays off. One day I can mix as bright as Floyd does!
So thanks for your comment. I'm not really convinced if panning of the flute towards the end is necessary. But I am stubborn as you know!

Originally Posted By: Tangmo
"...to me, the words are nice the way they sound...it doesn't much matter what they mean..." James Taylor.

Here's a confession, Hans. Almost every new song I encounter might as well be sung in Dutch to my English-speaking ears. It's a hard pill to swallow for someone who has tried (and is still struggling) to write a good lyric...but I don't think anybody really cares (at first listen) and some never do. It'd be hypocritical for me to expect otherwise. I "hear" perhaps a repeated vocal/melody/words "hook"...and that's all. I'm "listening" to the way the words sound, seeing as how they carry not just meaning, but melody, rhythm, and tone. Capture me with those, and I'll listen to your lines and thoughts and maybe then get your meaning.

There's an up and a down side to the custom and practice of posting lyrics here at this showcase. Mostly, it's a good thing and I wouldn't change it. But it's an awful lot to absorb and there are times when "pre-absorption" is injurious to a simple good listen.

Okay...enough philosophizing. I dig this. Power and tenderness in every lick and measure.


Tangmo, what a nice quote from j. Taylor. And what nice words from you. Very philosophical, but so true! Although I know people barely listen to lyrics in songs (except the diehards), still it doesn't mean you can suffice with nonsense. You couldn't too! And a whole lot of us on this forum neither. I hardly saw any weak lyrics here. So I agree AND disagree with the 'hard pill (In Dutch politics we succeed in eating the cake and spare it ;-)), but i do understand what you say. The same with how you deal with the words in a song. I too see them also as some kind of instrument. But as I said earlier: you are putting it very philosophical.

So thanks for your comments, judgement and positive conclusions,
Hans

Hans Berkhout
(Birchwood)
https://soundcloud.com/user-296497130