I'm not sure what to make of this. -- http://youtu.be/RTKLy1-sXMc

Any comments opinions and/or criticisms most welcome.

Band. 2drums bass 2guitars.

RD - urban pop broken wires
RD - Tango
Bass - RT1759 Pop 16th's
Guitar - RT642 - Hard rock thrash hollow
Guitar - RT832 - Alt country moody

'Picture a Hero' - By John Paul Booth and Richard McGrath

Yesterday I found a crumpled photograph
Tucked into a hollow in the floor
There's my Grandpa standing with his bride to be
Just be-fore he went off to the war.

He looks smart and eager, in his uni- form
She's so pretty in her Sunday dress
I can almost hear her laughing, happi-ly
And pro-testing that her hair's a mess

The war is won, the war is lost
the tearful left, to count the cost
Of every-one that ever died
Be-lieving, God was on their side

Grandpa never shared his war-time memories
He'd just stand up quietly and leave
If the conversation ever turned that way
He'd let other men their silk yarns weave.

Grandpa, of that crumpled, faded photograph
Never came back from the war they say
Somehow part of him got left be-hind out there
Somewhere part of him just drained a-way.

The war is won, the war is lost
the tearful left, to count the cost
Of every-one that ever died
Be-lieving, God was on their side

War-time records show him in the in-fantry
And they list the medals Grandpa won
They say he's a hero, made his nation proud
Grandpa never showed them to his sons.

Grandpa, he once said to me, " All men feel fear
Though some try and and never let it show
It can take less courage to act as the 'brave'
Than to be a 'coward' and say 'no' ".

The war is won, the war is lost
the tearful left, to count the cost
Of every-one that ever died
Be-lieving, God was on their side

Yesterday I found a crumpled photo-graph
Tucked into a hollow in the floor
Hidden, just like Grandpa's faded me-mories
Of the man he was before the war.

Richard,

I think that works. Your vocal could come up some - so that it's "in command" so to speak....

floyd

100% improvement from the 1st post. Plus the video helped me greatly to understand the story. With this said I have a couple of questions.

Was the soldier in the photos your grandfather? And was the Maloney gravesite the same person?

Very interesting.

Later,

I think I commented on the original that you needed a chorus....

well done. The chorus sort of breaks it up nicely.

It gives it an anchor.

I like the line about God being on their side.... every war has sides that believe that.

God sits and laughs.... or does he cry?

Interesting story and video. I thought the chorus was very good and added to the song.

Thanks Floyd - Good advice I'm sure.
Am going to do the Coursera Music production course and hopefully get some ideas.

Danny - appreciate your interest - Paul wrote the poem mainly about his grandfather but also as a combination of various people he knew.
I used my old family photographs and my uncle Laurence Maloney, who died during the war, buried in Perth. The other soldiers are my Dad and other Uncles.
The graves are from a holiday in Cairns Australia. I basically used all the war and grave pictures from my photo album.

Herb - I'm sure all soldiers believe they are in the right and fighting the good fight with God on their side. It's sad.

Thanks for the encouragement Josie. You certainly have a lot of songs!

Hi Richard,

Well done! I enjoyed the visual and musical journey. What impressed me the most was they way you ended. To my way of thinking. the repeated verse and lack of chorus at the end were perfect. Their effect on me was that I was left thinking about war and how it impacts on all us.

Thank you for sharing your work.

All the best,
Noel

Thanks Noel. War is a sorry business. Must try for a happy song next time.
Cheers.

Thank you so much for the background on the photos, really helps tie in the lyric.

Later,