A somewhat unsettling visit to the county fair...

At the Fair

THANK YOU in advance for your time and any comments. The county fair was a complicated thing back in the day. This is a rare (almost) all MIDI band for us. Tried a lot of high end sample patches but the pesky TTS-1 sounded too perfect. Go figure.

Lyrics: R.W. Davis
Vocals, harmony arrangement: D.A. Hughes
Manning the Midway: Me

Style is FUNNY1.STY (Funny1 - Goofy 3/4 Circus Music)
MIDI Instruments are : Tuba (59), Music Box (11), Ocarina (80), Trombone (58)
(I changed the FUNNY1.STY bassoon to tuba)
RealDrums: EthnicWaltz^2-a:Brushes, , b:Snare, Ride
All MIDI instruments rendered by Roland TTS-1

At the fair and partly cloudy
They say that it might rain
But it hasn’t rained in weeks
We’ve seen all the sideshow freaks
That we cared to contain
In our minds
And our hearts
Are beating slowly for ourselves
The stuffed animals on the shelves
Are beckoning us to squander all our savings
For our cravings
Just to show’em that we got a giant bear
Or something stupid like that
What’s that smell in the air?
Boiled peanuts? Roasted? Toasted? Parched? Or Spoiled?
I can’t tell
It’s just the smell

Cotton Candy Candied Apples
Grappled mem’ries
In our minds
Find some purpose
This ride could hurt us
We could lose our supper, sure
It’s me and her
And someone else
I can’t remember details
It’s all a blur

Little Thimble
Just a symbol
Of our stupidity
My soliloquy
While waiting for her to recover
I just discovered
That the hay is in my hair
Oh, touch of despair
Can she make it? It shaked us up and down and around and around and faster

At the fair and partly cloudy
I found myself amused
Rather confused
By the nature of it all
Call an ambulance
My head is spinning
And I’m not winning
Any favor
By sitting still
And hoping for some hope

You've the jaunty/jerky Ferris-wheel music machine sound down well.
The words paint a picture of the scene but the vocal could slip into a different flow for contrast or emphasis.

Ron,

Now that is original! The MIDI sounds great here - you have really used it to its full advantage.

Love the lyrics and the vocal. Overall, great production!

Bob

DC, RW, DA,

Killer Lyric.
Perfect Band.
Good vocals.
All mixed well.

fj

I'm not sure if I understand what the song is about, but it has a kinda hypnotic effect on me.
Not that I like this genre, but I can't stop listening to it.
Weird...

DC,

Wow this is awesome!

Almost as cool as the sound of the ice cream truck when it's driving through our Leave it to Beaver neighborhood every afternoon.

How is it even remotely possible to be depressed or upset about anything when you hear the sound of an ice cream truck??

🙂

That's the way this song made me feel so if that's what you're looking for you won man!!

Ray, THANKS for the listen and suggestions! Agree with the "different flow" philosophically, but since the lyrics don't have a traditional verse/chorus/bridge structure, I didn't have a crisp opportunity on this song in my view. Thought Dusty did a great job varying the vocal flow a bit in the second half of the song through selective harmonies.


Bob, ha! Yeah, wanted to venture out from our "normal" submissions for this one. "Circus music" is an off the beaten track genre for sure. Glad you liked it!


Floyd, THANKS for the listen! The lyrics are of a time and place that are SO specific to a unique musical style. I was surprised to find a perfect BiaB style for it. Glad you enjoyed it!


B.D., that may be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. In selecting the SoundCloud genre from the pull down menu, I couldn't find one that fit, so I've self-assigned this one to the "circus music" genre. Knew when I posted this one that it could be confusing. The song is about a boy and girl on a date at a county fair in south Georgia, USA, circa 1978. The county fair of this song was a mix of agricultural displays, thrilling rides, clowns, games of skill (usually rigged) and side shows like sword swallowers. The "county fair" concept is sometimes called a carnival or festival in other places, and many circuses share some of the same exotic participants and happenings. The lyrics also have a bunch of double meanings that can lead to confusion. They confuse me sometimes! But I like the idea of this song producing a weird hypnotic effect, because that's EXACTLY what happens to many when experiencing the sights and sounds of the fair. Glad you liked(?) it!! Ha!

Yep, I do

Hi Ron,

What a funny, but also intriguing melody.
And what a nice way of singing, in 'broken' lines I would describe it.

You made good use of those midi instruments.
I never really liked a Tuba, or Bassoon in a song, but after your performance I might...
They worked out very good.
Enjoyed it much!

Hans

Ha! Bringing back the memories for sure. The midi works well. Clever instrumentation.

Ray said, "You've the jaunty/jerky Ferris-wheel music machine sound down well."
Yes! Every aspect of the production including the great vocals contributed most excellently to that vibe.

There is enough fine imagery in the write for several songs. Well done.

County fair memories galore ... from the rides to the food and on to more.
Love the subtlety of some of the references.

Excellent!

J&B

Ron...well that was different! you are quite eclectic in your compositions...I think you captured the carnival atmosphere of the fair ...it took me back to boyhood memories when we used to sneak into the county fair and spend the day...thanks for the memories...a delightful little trip! Oh, BTW super vocals as usual

PS: this also reminded me of a episode of "The X-files" where Scully and Mulder go to the freak show to solve a murder...the guy with the little brother growing out of his abdomen did it...not him...the appendage...the truth is out there!

WOW, BiaB has a bassoon tuba? This is so cool, Ron. Man, a great composion really. Excellent lyrics especially for those of us fortunate enough to attend lovasl fairs. 3/4 Circus Music. Isa there any other tempos clowns can dance? Brilliantly creative, Ron.

Hi Ron,

Very different and original!

Enjoyed everything about this, well done to all three of you.

Ha! Thanks, David. There's something about the relentlessly happy ice cream truck tune that has the same effect on me as a clown chasing me with a balloon: "Hey, isn't THIS fun?!" That's the same mashup of excitement and dread that I was trying to capture here. Happy to have brightened your day!


Hans, so glad you liked it! Because of all the word play I did break up the rhythms in some unusual ways to (hopefully) highlight the lyrical ambiguity. Yeah, that tuba sounds GREAT to me, but not because of anything I did. It just FITS. THANKS for the listen!


THANKS, Ezekial! Yeah, those were the days, for better or worse.

Unsettling, that's how the music sounds, it feels all the time that some instrument is missing, but that seems to be the secret juice. And together with the bumby melody and the weird lyrics the effect is complete. You have made it all work as a very original tune and delivered the visit perfectly. Only thing missing is a psychedelic video

Janne

Hi DC.
It's an amusing song and sounds old fairgroundy to me.

Vic

Great quirky and original song! While I love bassoon you did right going for the tuba as it fits perfectly for the fairground scenario. I was raised in a UK seaside resort with a permanent fairground open all summer and when I was at art school in my late teens I worked 3 summer seasons, 67-69, on the fairground. Every Friday night a new batch of tourists would arrive, mostly coming for a fortnight, and all of the teen daughters would descend on the fairground looking for their holiday romances! I enjoyed at least 6 holiday romances each summer, so your song brought back some great memories!

J&B, yes, the lyrics are quite evocative of the country fair. Glad this resonated for ya'll!


Dan, ha! True story: I once pursuaded my girfriend (now wife of 25+ years) to watch her first X-Files episode, and it turned out to be an episode that was so unspeakably horrific that it was later issued a TV-MA rating and banned from broadcast. She was not impressed, though, well...she DID marry me anyway. So a happy ending!

Glad you enjoyed revisiting your memories of the fair! (Even if your X-Files episode is pretty crazy, too)


Marty, glad you liked it! I switched the GM patch from bassoon to tuba since I thought the "oompah" was cooler. (Not a biggie, but is "lovasl" = "local"? Google helped a little...)


THANKS, Dave! "Different" and "original" are high praise indeed. Glad you enjoyed it.

Janne, glad it worked for you! Yes, it's unsettling for sure, but...so is the fair. I'll leave the video for AI or perhaps an evil clown. Plenty enough of both. Ha!


Vic, amusement is our goal, so...THANK YOU!


Chay, well...wow, didn't see THAT coming! Glad to have stirred up some happy memories. My spouse is an expat Brit, but I only know UK seaside resorts through movies and songs. They do sound quite lovely, even without the teenage association. THANKS for the listen!

Quick addendum to our response.

Just read your reference to a county fair in south GA. I grew up there and went to many county fairs! 😀

Bud

Bud, ha! The SPECIFIC fair was the Southwest Georgia regional fair in Albany. But it moved every 7-10 days, and was pretty much the same fair across the region. So...nice to know another member of the Brotherhood of the Fair!

Ron, I could see myself on a carousel!
Great backing tracks
Super vocal and lyrics
Very clever write.

Mario, funny, *I* can see you on a carousel, too! Hope you enjoyed the ride...THANKS for the listen!

Very original. I'm not sure I agree that the vocals should take a different direction. Perhaps you are trying to make a point about pointlessness/redundancy of the whole excursion?

Gayle, thanks for the listen! It's kind of like David's earlier comment about the ice cream truck music making him feel happy. Until you realize it's only playing one short tune, over and over and OVER again. And then it won't ever leave the neighborhood, or when it does the tinkly music is still bouncing around inside your head. Aargh! So yes, I agree that the repetition serves the song, and the oddball feel of the fair, quite well. While the fair is perhaps pointless, my Dad had a saying that went something like, "The purpose of the fair is for them to separate you from your money." He was a hoot. Ha!

Very cool style for this song. Perfect vocal and lyric. Really neat instrumentation. Well done

Hi Ron.

Wow! This is creativity on steroids.
I loved it.
The 'fairground' arrangement is superb and a perfect fit for RWD's extraordinary lyrics.
The three of you have created something very special with this one.

Musical brilliance at its best.
--Noel

Scott, glad you liked it! Thanks for the listen.


Hi, Noel! THANK YOU for the kind comments. It was a lot of fun for all of us, so glad it hit the mark!