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Sinful Savior

A 3-way collaboration based on an original idea by David Snyder. This was a lot of work, but a lot of fun, too, and very satisfying in the end. Thanks in advance for any listens and/or input!

Song by David Snyder, (DC Ron) Davis & R.W. Davis
Vocals by me
All guitars arranged and played by David Snyder
Production, mix & master by David Snyder with a small assist by me
No AI

Style is _PROXY.STY (Proxy Poppy Alt Rock Guitars)
RealTracks in style: 1522:Bass, Electric, PopPower8s Ev 120
RealTracks in style: 3923:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm AltRockPop8ths2NoteHi Ev 130
RealTracks in style: 3936:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm AltRockPop8sGrittyPower Ev 130
RealTracks in style: 3937:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm AltRockPop8sPowerHeld Ev 130
RealDrums in style:Rock90s^01-a:Closed Hat, Snare , b:Open Hat, Snare
The bass and drums are really the featured BiaB components. The guitars you hear are all David.

SINFUL SAVIORS

They sit in judgment
Just fiddlin’ away as Rome burns
They sit in darkness
Wonderin’ why the lesson hasn’t been learned
But their holier-than-thou has yet to be earned

They crack under pressure
They can’t handle the truth
They’re lost in the storm
Ripped away from their youth

Beat me down
Beat me down
You say I can’t get up because I don’t toe the line
I can’t have possessions because you say they’re not mine
I’m tangled in the message that’s laying a trap
Wanting to lie here and just take a nap
You criticize everything I say
But I can’t behave any other way
Hey
You tell it all with your behavior
It's your religion
Sinful Savior

They look down on you
From their elevated perch
They just ignore you
Unconcerned and leaving you in the lurch
Wash their hands in the water untouched by the church

They walk on the carpet
And not holy water
They don’t go to heaven
But someplace much hotter

Beat me down
Beat me down
You say I can’t get up because I don’t toe the line
I can’t have possessions because you say they’re not mine
I’m tangled in the message that’s laying a trap
Wanting to lie here and just take a nap
You criticize everything I say
But I can’t behave any other way
Hey
You tell it all with your behavior
It's your religion
Sinful Savior

Joe said the forest’s haunted
But I think it’s just dark
He said he’s getting hungry
And we should eat some bark
But that’s kind of peculiar
In the middle of the park
Just climb up the far mountain
In search of Noah’s ark

Beat me down
Beat me down
Beat me down
Sinful Savior

Ron / David,

Love this song! Great melody, lyrics and an outstanding chorus. It has a very cool "wall of sound" vibe with all of the guitars, which are perfectly mixed. No easy feat I'm sure!

This is one of your best vocals Ron. I love the way you deliver the lines.

Great collaboration!

Bob

David and Ron - wow! That has more jangle than a jewellery store! A great driving beat as well.

I wasn’t quite sure what the lyrics were about, and those are the best kind! One interpretation would be to say there is a lot of hypocrisy going around, and that’s true.

Good song!

Andrew D

Sounds great you two! Big sound, love the guitars!

Good vocal too. Nicely done Ron and David, collabs are the best!

You guys are a terrific trio. David, great job on all those guitars, and mixing them so well. A daunting task for sure. Is there a 12-string in there too? R.W., you are one of my favorite lyricists. Ron, excellent vocal, and trhere sure were a lot of words moving so fast. Yet every syllable was distinct. Good sounds.

Gentlemen, this is fantastic
I got a 60's feel on this one
Great guitars and vocal
Super mix
How about an encore

Hi, Ron and David.

Nice catchy pop! The guitars are nice and jangle, and the vocals sound great.

The focus of the lyrics keeps jumping which makes the pronoun game a bit hard to play a times. But overthinking lyrics on this sort of song is the wrong way to go.

Fun listen.

Thanks, Bob! Yeah, David did an amazing job with the wall of guitars. I listened to the isolated guitar track over and over again in awe and wonder. Almost a shame to cover it with a vocal at all, but...that's what we do, y'know? Glad you enjoyed it!

Nice and catchy pop, sounds old and modern at the same time.
Kinda timeless.
Great vocals, and David's guitar work isn't shabby either

Great sounding indie rocker. Interesting lyrics, I guess something to do with hypocrites or wrong prophets, "we should eat some bark" - yeah sure
I enjoyed those dazzling guitars, tasty vocals and the clear mix.
Another great example how collaboration is more than the sum of its parts, now I'm looking forward to a whole album of this style of creativity.

Janne

Thanks, Andrew! Yep, these lryics are more than a little tricky to unravel, but "a lot of hypocrisy going around" is a nice summation of how I think about them as well. I really like the way the wall of guitar sound ebbs and flows, and creates a dynamic undercurrent that pushes the narrative along. David's the absolute best. Glad you liked the tune!

Enigmatic, puzzling, mysterious, intriguing. But, hey, who said we needed to know the answer to everything? Years ago, deciding that life's too short, I gave up wondering why "someone left the cake out in the rain."
Sinful Savior challenged my self-imposed rules about rhythm, reason and prosody and, surprisingly, stood the test. Well done.

I love it---all aspects of the song. Kudos to Dave's jingle jangle REM guitar sound. More please...

Hey thanks everybody for your wonderful, warm and supportive comments so far.

Yeah this was a lot of fun for sure.

Ron and I had preceding discussions about how the lead singer of R.E.M. told me one time that a rock and roll lyric is not supposed to make sense because if it does it's not really rock and roll.

Then I told Ron I had a song title called Sinful Savior.

He said what's that about?

I said I don't know really but have you ever noticed there are some people in the world who can live the most decadent, sinful and amoral lives ever, but then they decide that they're going to adopt a new weird religion and start eating tree bark, and if you don't start eating tree bark and adopt the same weird religion then you're just a horrible person, and they're the most wonderful thing on the face of the Earth. And they should be in charge and you should bow down to them. Have you ever met people like that?

Ron said: I think my brother can take it from there.

And the rest is on the forum right now as the finished product of that!

🤣🤣🤣

P S. Ron really was the final mixer on this. He was absolutely relentless in making sure that the final version had exactly the sound that he was looking for and I give him some mad props for that. He's a beast.

David and Ron
I've never heard of eating tree bark - is it a 'thing' or just a metaphor (or both).
Anyhow, it resulted in a great song!
Andrew

emoji free


"Sinful Savior"! Forget your polished, pristine pop; this is where grit meets grace, and lo-fi becomes a badge of honour.
Let's just say David Snyder and DC Ron, the sonic architects of this masterpiece, aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. They're like the Indiana Jones of sound, unearthing raw emotion and vulnerability from the depths of the mix. Forget Bon Iver and Elliott Smith comparisons – this sounds like pure, unadulterated honesty, served up with a side of "I'm just gonna lay it all out there."

Ron has turned this lo-fi production into an art form, a deliberate act of rebellion against the sterile, overproduced wasteland that plagues modern music. It's like he's saying, "Perfection is overrated! Gimme grit, gimme heart, gimme something that sounds like it's been lived in!" A demo-like aesthetic that's so cool, it's practically wearing sunglasses indoors.

The lyrics? Oh, they're like tiny poems that punch you right in the gut with their directness. The theme of being a "sinful savior" is just genius. It's that perfect blend of flawed humanity and valiant effort that makes you want to high-five the nearest stranger. "Sinful Savior" is a truly fantastic theme, and Snyder, Davis, and Davis have spun gold from it. It's like they reached into the human condition, grabbed a handful of complex emotions, and somehow distilled them into a catchy, thought-provoking anthem.

And those guitars? Mr Snyder's arranging and playing are simply divine. Each strum and riff is perfectly placed. A true axe-wielding wizard! The rhythm section is also solid as a rock.
But really, let's talk about the master himself, DC Ron. He's not just a producer; he's a sonic architect, a vibe curator, and a musical miracle worker all rolled into one. He's taken raw emotion and turned it into something truly beautiful. He's a wizard, I tell you, a wizard!

Now, our producers, bless their heart, might have been a tad overzealous with the lo-fi filter. At times, it sounds like the bass is hiding behind a stack of blankets, and everyone's fighting for space in the sonic closet. A little vacuuming of the mix could help, but we're not aiming for pristine, people!
Repetition Alert! it could use a little musical caffeine. A bridge, maybe? A key change? Just something to keep us on our toes.

So, to Messrs David Snyder, (DC Ron) Davis & R.W. Davis: Bravo! You've captured lightning in a bottle. Just a few minor tweaks, and "Sinful Savior" could be the soundtrack to everyone's existential crisis. Keep the rawness, embrace the weirdness, and just maybe, give that bass a little more room to breathe.

This is truly impressive work! You've turned "Sinful Savior" into something amazing.

cheers

Izzy

Thanks, Dave! Yep, those guitars are insanely well done. HUGE tip of the hat to David.

Really enjoying making music through collaboration that I couldn't even think of by myself. Absolutely the best.

THANKS, Marty! Definitely a 12-string in David's mix of 12 or so guitar tracks. We started off with the tune at a leisurely 100 BPM. We then talked about kicking it up to 165 BPM but David decided I'd probably hyperventilate, pass out and impale myself on the mike stand. So we settled for 130 BPM, which is still a brisk pace for those lyrics. Thankfully, I only got a little winded. Glad I didn't garble the rapid fire lyrics too badly!

Cool piece of Power pop.
The jangle is a bit out of control for the 1st minute. Needs a compressor that has a PIN DOWN setting for 12 string. Density is a good example.
Great guitar sounds and a very cool song.

THANKS, Mario! Glad you enjoyed the tune. Would love to do an encore. David's hard to keep up with, but it's fun trying.

Excellent collaboration!

Complex.
Complexity in the write - both lyrically and melodically.
Complexity in the production.
Complexity in the arrangement.
A complex collaboration.

And it all gels. Perfectly.

COOL vocals.

Damn good Listening.

fj

THANKS, David! Yeah, the pronouns do meander a bunch, but I agree overthinking them is a mistake. Funny story (to me)...I shared David's description of Michael Stipe advocating for the role of gibberish in rock lyrics with my lyricist/brother. My lyricist later said he was struggling with adding lyrical gibberish. I told him not to worry about adding more gibberish, his normal level of gibberish was fine. Not sure how he took that.

Ron,

You, your brother and David have done an incredible job.
This is a really solid write and an outstanding presentation.
The three of you should write some more.
The sound of musical talent is everywhere in my headphones right now!

--Noel

THANK YOU, B.D.! As we discussed this song and what we were going for, we referenced "timeless" songs and albums more than once. So...very cool to hear that word reflected back. I still dunno about the vocals, but David's guitars are transformative for sure.

Cool pop song. Very 80s-ish.

The mix is not bad and it's a good choice of guitar real tracks....

Enjoyed it.

THANKS, Janne! I'm a sucker for dazzling guitars, and these really do it for me, too. Who knows, maybe an album is out there somewhere?

Brian, THANK YOU! Glad you escaped from your listen none the worse for the cognitive wear.


I'll double down on kudos to David's jingly jangle. Early REM was certainly a musical reference as we discussed the sound we were looking for. I'm still shaking my head in awe and wonder when I listen to these guitar parts...

Andrew, THANKS! I'm not sure I'd ever heard of eating tree bark either, but it's a nice (and lyrically delicious) metaphor that supports David's concept. But truthfully, I'd recommend skipping the bark at dinner tonight. Glad you liked it!


Izzy, REALLY appreciate the enthusiastic and detailed review. Have spent more than a few minutes going over your notes and listening to the music of Mr Iver and Mr Smith (MONSTERS!). You're right, the bass could be punchier, that's on me. Your notes on the arrangement are insightful, and I'll take them to heart. FWIW, the "Joe says the forest's..." section before the outro is what I think of as the Bridge to Nowhere, as it follows a different harmonic scheme and melody than the verses, pre-chorus and chorus. One of the things I value in my brother's lyrics is his often-non-traditional structure, which often happily takes the song to non-traditional places. And so here we are! Glad you liked the tune, and took the time to offer suggestions on how to make it better.

Thanks, Ray! Wasn't familiar with the Density plugin but looks like it could be pretty handy. THANKS for the tip!

"They walk on the carpet
And not holy water
They don’t go to heaven
But someplace much hotter"

Truth

We are big fans of "connect your own dots" lyrics and this is an excellent one.

Great vocal and ax performances.

Stadium filling!

J&B

David, I really like this, some fab guitar and vocal work and the mix is damn good. Excellent collaboration, thank you sir!

Pete

Man, I really, really, really love this song! Best thing I've heard today. I'll be listening multiple times, that's for sure. It sounds like somebody I can't place, maybe Marshall Crenshaw? Great collab, you guys need to do more like this! Way to GO!

Thanks, Chay!


THANK YOU, Floyd! Was a little worried about your "complex" comments until I got to the "gels perfectly" part. Whew! The tune took a few interesting twists and turns on its journey, glad it got somewhere enjoyable for you.

Geez, Noel, that's awfully nice of you to say. I'm fortunate to have such talented collaborators here for sure!


THANKS, Herb! But SURPRISE...NO REAL TRACK GUITARS on this one. Those are all RealDavid's. Yeah, we're standing on the shoulders of a couple of 80's giants on this one.

J&B, when ya'll enjoy one of our songs it's virtual SRO, so...the stadium is filled! THANKS for listening!

Pete, glad ya'll liked our tune. THANKS for listening! Ron