Many Years Ago - PG Music Forums

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Finally out of my funk enough to get back to work. This one is about the day I realized that drinking the way I used to drink was going to kill me. I may do a vocal retake at some point but I wanted to get it down and out there. This is such a great example of how songs are just stories set to music, and that our best stories come from our own lives.

So here you go.

Many Years Ago

Edit to add: And for that guy in California who keeps telling me "Put the vocals more out front", this is as out front as I can get them without shouting....

Second edit to add: Have you ever known anybody that you said "He REALLY needs to quit drinking?" That was me.

Well written song. Great hook line in chorus. I think everything in mix needs to come up. The BIAB sounds good.

Nice work.

Cool Song Eddie, some of my best memories have been told to me by friends who weren't as drunk as me that night!

This is a good song Eddie, it drew me in to the story.
The mix needs some EQ tweaking and a smidgeon of reverb on the vocal wouldn't go amiss. It sounded all mono on my headphones, was that intentional?

John

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This is a good song Eddie, it drew me in to the story.
The mix needs some EQ tweaking and a smidgeon of reverb on the vocal wouldn't go amiss. It sounded all mono on my headphones, was that intentional?

There was some panning on the rhythm guitars, and everything was totally dry. When I start playing with EQ and Reverb my songs tend to go to places I didn't intend them to go.... That's why I have to lean on people here for production help. This one I will play with though. I have good base tracks to start off with.

What's realy funny is that I have now played this back on my studio near fields, through headphones, on a laptop, on a desktop, on an iPad, on a smartphone, and in the car. It sounds really different depending where I play it. In the studio, the high end was crisp. In the car, it's bottom heavy and I have to EQ the car radio. Very strange.

Nice work, and it's good to hear your voice!

Hi Eddie,

You got my applause. This is really good. Skilfully written and arranged. I like all the ear candy you've thrown into the mix to boost interest. I'm going back for a second listen.

All the best,
Noel

Kudos are appreciated. Especially coming from season, skilled people like we have here... thank you.

That was one of "those" songs.... I was talking to that girl I ran into ("Girl" is pushing it - we are 60 somethings now and I don't know how she even recognized me. Although I guess you never forget the ugliest guy you ever knew....

) and I actually used that phrase "Oh, so many years ago....." in the conversation. I came home and that song wrote itself in 15 minutes. The whole time we talked it was stuff like "You remember that time...?" and in every case the answer was either "no" or "vaguely".

And that night with the "motorcycle down the wrong side of the road" is absolutely true. I got onto the freeway headed east in the westbound lanes. Had it not been 3:40am and there was any kind of traffic at all, I would bed long since dead. So, I needed to give up that lifestyle, and I did. This is the end of July and so far in 2012 I have had one drink at midnight on New Years Eve and one Jack and Ginger on my birthday last month. No more "last call" for me....

But on point, again thanks for the kudos.

Catchy lyrics (haven't we all been there at some point!) and good use of BIAB. What STY and settings did you use? Vocal has a real Gordon Lightfoot feel and quality. Nice.

Bob

hi eddie well done great job nice mix you have a good voice i can relate to those words thanks for sharing wish i could sing eric

I liked this a lot, Eddie. Very catchy chorus.

Great story line Eddie.

Well constructed and written.

Cheers

Hey Eddie,

Cool arrangement. Always great to come out of a dry spell with a good song. And so nice to hear your voice clearly. When you get more comfortable and want to try it, I agree with Skyline on the reverb and panning.

Quote:

This is a good song Eddie, it drew me in to the story.
The mix needs some EQ tweaking and a smidgeon of reverb on the vocal wouldn't go amiss. It sounded all mono on my headphones, was that intentional?

John

Great song here Eddie!

I agree with John on everything. Those suggestions would take it over the top for me.

PS – We have a lot in common! But it was, or really is , beer for me!

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PS – We have a lot in common! But it was, or really is , beer for me!

With me it was shots of Jack with Jack and water chasers. I truly believe the median income in Lynchburg went down when I quit because they probably laid off a whole shift.....

Sounds like this is a very much a painfully honest story. The good news is that it is a story of triumph.

Loved the lyrics, the story-telling quality of the song. And, of course, the nice 'bounce' of the music.

Very nice work, Eddie!

Someone on Soundcloud said it reminded them of Pete Seeger.

I guess now I am knee deep in muddy water..... I take that as a HUGE compliment. Pete Seeger was a legend.

Eddie,

Good song! As has been stated, well written. Nice job on the arrangement. Interesting that you are coming out of your dry spell, writing about your other "dry spell".

Thanks for sharing this one!

Steve