Last Curtain Call

It's the weight of the world
you're wearing on your shoulders (you will wear)
like some martyr's crown (it will wear you down)
in all caps and bold
the tales of your trials will be handed down

in philosophy
the wisdom of your writings will be there to see
discernment of a sage (discernment, sophia!)
with soundness and clear vision
it warms our hearts when we hear

   but the truth is you can't see
   the forest for the trees
   you just burn them down

   when the cold wind blows
   everyone who knows
   better turn around

   these things that you say
   fade away when darkness falls
   another day somehow slipped away
   the last curtain call

it's the way of the world
you see the same old story,
see the same old play

the trumpet will sound
everyone will bow down
time to turn the page

your philosophy
ain't gonna set me free
like some fantasy (your fantasy)

the devil gets his due
and he shows up right on cue
but he looks a lot like you

   these lies that we can't believe
   they're only make believe
   just turn them down

   the cold wind blows
   everyone who knows
   better turn around

   the lies that you say
   are washed away when hard rain falls
   another day somehow slipped away
   it's our last curtain call

The Story

I started working on this a while ago, and found it again recently. I had some dummy lyrics on it, and threw more lyrics at it and hoped they would stick. I'm not terribly happy with it, as it's basically an anodyne and toothless protest song. I'd have preferred to have written something with more substance, but I haven't posted anything in a long time, and my kids said was worth finishing, so... here it is.

I see someone posted a song the other day with a similar title. Great minds think alike?

I don't recall coming up with the chord progression, but it's mostly circle of fifth stuff with lots of major7th chords - jazz lite, I guess.

I worked on the lyrics for more time that I care to admit, but sometimes you make early choices that work you into a corner. At some point I had to decide if I was going to tear it down and start again, or just live with it. So I decided to just let it go and get something done and not get so precious about it.

And yes, I rhymed "believe" with "believe". I expect the rhyme police will be knocking at my door any moment to issue a citation.

I replaced the drum track with drums from UJam's Legend kit, using the patterns. I simplified them a bit, but if I had the energy, I'd go back and add some flams and maybe a few crashes.

I tried replacing the guitars with some sampled guitars, but didn't like the results. There is a bit where a UJam guitar is playing, but it's so short that it's barely noticeable. Bringing the 12 string to the front of the mix was a last-minute decision. While putting together the list of instruments for this, I noticed that the piano was MIDI, so I went back and exported the MIDI track. I first tried using the Alicia's Keys piano and panned it against the other, but in the mix it had no effect. So I added some effects, and eventually got it to sounds like an electric piano. I could have just used an electric piano patch, but I thought it was amusing to go the long route instead. So the regular piano is in the first half, and the faux-electric in the second half.

The intro is just an attempt to do something different. I wanted more of stereo ping-pong effect, so I might go back an fix it later. But it's late and I'm tired.

As with most of my songs, the chorus is much too long. The chorus is so long that there isn't even time for a third verse or a repeat of the chorus. There's no instrumental hook, either.

Putting together the harmonies was, as usual, a bit of a grind, but also the most rewarding part. There are some spots where overlapping vocal make it impossible to make out what's being said, so I guess it's a good thing I posted the lyrics. wink

Yes, there are some dissonances in the vocals, and they sometimes rub a bit against the chords a bit much. In some places my ears have gotten used to them, while in others, they really should have been fixed. The chorus runs through some loosely related chords (Amaj7/Emaj7/Gmaj7/Dmaj7) but I went with my ear trying to keep each line as sensible as possible with as many voices as there were. There's a lot of voice exchange and very little doubling, and I was likely a bit too creative.

After going through the mix a number of times, I tried to cut out instruments so there wasn't too much going on. It probably needs additional work, but I figured I'd post it and get some feedback.

All suggestions are welcome!

Edit: I've cut back on some of the overlapping lyrics.

BiaB Instruments

Style is =NEALG.STY (Neal - Even 16ths Acoustic Count)
Custom MIDI Style: 1 Acoustic Piano (=PIANO_F.STY [AB])
RealTracks in style: ~362:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Ev 085
RealTracks in song: 4818:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm SteadyPushMuted ev 110
RealTracks in song: 4515:Guitar, Baritone Electric, Rhythm BroCountryPop8thsGritSteady Ev 110
RealTracks in song: 3226:Guitar, 12-String Acoustic, Rhythm CelticSongwriterQuinn Ev16 080

Vocals: SynthesizerV Studio 2: Kevin 2, Oscar 2, Sheena 2, Saros 2, Felicia 2, Sheena

Effects

Vocal Chain: GS VoiceCentric, Valhalla Vintage Verb (Chorus Space), Fame Studio (Vocals/Gtrs)
Drum: UJam Legend (Soeder De Berg) Tight/Worn Kit
El Gtr: (Intro) UJam Retro Finisher (Dimensional Chorus), Finisher Voodoo (Musheen), Finisher Voodoo (Slo Mo Sweep)
El. Gtr: UJam Retro Finisher (Dimensional Chorus), Finisher Voodoo (Musheen)
Bass: Waves RBass
12 String Guitar: UJam Retro (Scanner Ensemble)
Piano: UJam Retro (Dreamer)
Piano: Kontakt (Alicia's Keys) UJam Retro (Soul Signal Chain)
Guitar: UJam Amber (You Want This)

Master Track: Waves Magma BB Tubes, HorNET ThirtyOneMKII, EZMix 3 (Modern Pop Master Softer)

-- David Cuny

My virtual singer development blog
Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?

BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.