Angels and Devils Never Agree

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I am taking Pat Pattison's Songwriting class at cousera.org (along with a few others here) and it is pretty dang good. I wish I could say that I used all of Pat's techniques on our week 5/6 song assignment -- but I didn't (ha, ha). As a result, the verses really don't hang together that well with the chorus. Besides that fatal flaw, I sort of like it (ha, ha). I'll have to decide (later) what to change in the verses to support the chorus.

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Angels and Devils Never Agree
© Emmrich 2013

(verse)
fires burning in the woods out back
red flames belching a smokey black
acrid fumes of pine I smell.
Oh holy rain from heaven
please beat back the fires from hell

(chorus)
reminds me ...
angels and devils never agree
do you get down on your knees, or get up and flee
one’s divine, one’s feeding me lines
angels and devils never agree

(verse)
|each damn day I'm filled with doubt
faith's been tested, bloodied and bowed and
every face I see is dazed
Oh righteous gales from heaven
cast this shroud of darkness away

(chorus again)

(bridge)
there's no guarantee
It's a battle for the ages
You get to choose to
whom ya sing praises

(instrumental break -- verse)

(chorus again)

(tag)
Angels and Devils
Angels and Devils
Angels and Devils never agree

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Kevin: Vocals, acoustic guitar
drums: PraiseWorshipSlow16ths^1-a:H24, b:SRC
bass: ~518:Bass, Electric, Pop HalfNotes Ev 085
acoustic guitar: ~2051:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking CountryBrent Ev 085
cello: 1856:Cello, Background PopCountry Ev 085
piano: 1006:Piano, Acoustic, Solo-Accompaniment, PopCaliforniaSlow Ev 085
electric guitar: 1705:Guitar, Electric, Soloist CountryBrent Ev 085 (1st time using a electric soloist!)
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Kevin

I always like your stuff.. you have a totally unique sound going.

In this song the way you juxtaposed things pertaining to angels and devils on the same line I thought of Blood Sweat and Tears line:

"I can SWEAR there ain't no heaven, but I PRAY there ain't no Hell..."

The basic premise that angels and devils never agree is worth developing since we live in a time when that which was once called good is now called bad and vice versa

For that matter, the idea that there are extremes in two conflicting directions flies in the face of contemporary thinking that "it's all good"

From my point of view this was a well-done song in every way

Hi Kevin. I love it. I am also just finishing off the course but am not particularly impressed with my own efforts!! You seem to have done very well! Good job!

Lyrics held together well with the hook. Nice production as well, thanks for sharing!

hi kevin realy nice song very creative great job thanks for sharering eric

Kevin,

Like Pat, I am a fan of your sound. This is a very cool song. Great imagery.

The tracks and mix are excellent. Perfect for your vocals. That solo electric is SUPERB!! (Did you process that at all - sounds like some extra reverb, maybe - anyway... it's perfect.)

Like I told Steve recently... "Son, you need to come by more often."

floyd

Good song, good production, solid performance and a unique sound . . . and there ain't nothing wrong with any of that!

Later,

I think this is some of your best work Kevin.

My only very minor nit is "acrid fumes of pine I smell" waxes a bit too poetic compared to the rest of the song lyrics making it sound like a forced rhyme for "hell". Otherwise I think the lyrics flow well and the way you put the song together is creative and interesting.

I really like it.

Sounds great.

Very nice, Kevin. I do think this is some of your best work! Good sound.

Steve

Kevin,

I really liked this, especially the chorus! Excellent production as well.

Greg

Hi Kevin,

Quote:

the verses really don't hang together that well with the chorus

To my ears, the verses and chorus have the potential to hang together REALLY well. It wouldn't take too much tweaking. The chorus is great metaphorically and the way you use angels and devils to symbolise fire and rain (verse 1) and personal internal turmoil (verse 2) makes the chorus gain emotional intensity really well. Then the big what-is-the-meaing-of-life bridge adds even more emotional weight. I thought the lyrics developed very strongly.

I'm with Josie in that the line "acrid fumes of pine I smell" took me out of the song for a bit. I think it was because the first two lines set up a raging bushfire in my mind (we get lots of those here in Australia) and your lines were brilliant at creating that image. The third line didn't seem to advance the fear and panic associated with a raging fire that necessitated the urgent plea "Oh holy rain from heaven ... etc." In this regard, line 3 felt a little anticlimactic to me. Maybe that's just me. For what it's worth, and I only mention this because it might inspire something (if you need inspiring, that is), my take on these lines is ...

As Floyd has said, there are excellent images throughout these lyrics. I have no doubt that Pat would be really pleased with what you've done. In my opinion, this song has a great deal of potential to be something outstanding.

I'm with Floyd ... more please.

All the best,
Noel

P.S. I also really liked the hook!

Hi Kevin.

Great song. The lyrics are inspired, the vocals are excellent and the whole song hangs together really well. I particularly like the way it enters the chorus.

The mix is good, but for me I might have brought the drums up a shade, especially in the instrumental break, just to give it a bit of a kick. No one else seems to have mentioned this though, so it's probably just me being picky.

Looking forward to the next one.

ROG.

Great imagery -- very vivid. I'm not much of a drum user with BIAB but I am of the school that if you are going to throw them in the mix they need to "kick." So, like ROG, I'd consider giving them a little boost. Thanks for posting. Enjoyed it.