So I am sure most of you know by now that our beloved Nelson Mandela passed on this Thursday. I was thinking how to keep his legacy alive but of course the answer, at least to me, is quite simple. I have to keep making small changes in my own life. So I sat down and wrote this song this weekend to remind me to do this. Everyday.

Realtracks are
RealTracks in style: 366:Bass, Electric, Country Ev 065
RealTracks in style: ~364:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking Ev 065
RealTracks in song: ~702:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Spirited Ev 065
RealTracks in style: ~369:Pedal Steel, Background Ev 065
RealDrums in style: NashvilleEven16^5-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride

Lyrics are on Soundcloud
As always comments are appreciated

Walk the change (for Mandela)

The Video on Youtube

Joanne:

I like your song. Very nice.

I especially like the last line:

Now I can dine
at the table you laid

Good job. I hope a lot of people hear this tune.

John

Hey Joanne,

Very catchy tribute. I like the chord changes and the way you brought in the backing. Mix sounds good to me and whatever settings you're using really compliment your voice.

Josie

Joanne,

Terrific.
Terrific vocal.
Terrific harmonies.
Terrific production.
Terrific mix.

Great song!

floyd

Wonderful tribute. Excellent song. Well written, played and sung

Hi Joanne,

beautiful tribute. Everything top notch.
I can't hear a pedal steel, but I hear a violin.

Guenter

Joanne, Great job all around. What a great tribute to a towering figure. Just outstanding. Tom

Joanne,

In every aspect IMHO this may just be your greatest effort yet!

Later,

Danny, John, Floyd, Tommy, Scott, Josie and Guenter

Thanks so much. I appreciate all your kind comments. It is really a bit of an emotional time but I guess an emotional time is a good time to write a song. I just hope I can touch a few of the hardened hearts, especially here.

I have now included a VIDEO that I quickly put together. The link is in the first post.

Beautiful. Top lyrics vocal and backings. The prosody is there to see!

Wonderful tribute!!!!!! And a fine production with the audio and vid to go with it. Thanks!


Our favorite quote:

"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination."
Nelson Mandela

Janice & Bud

Joanne:

I just saw the video. Only heard the song before.

Nice job on the video as well. I liked how you added several video layers and included some video for the call and answer.

Like I said earlier, I hope a lot of people hear/see this.

John

Well done, all around. Good mix, excellent vocals, and heartfelt.

Sometime less really is more, and this is an great example.

Excellent job on the video well done

Rich, Janice and Bud and David - Thanks for have a look at the song. Appreciate your comments.

Scott - Thanks for listening a second time!

John - The video production was a little easier this time!! I think I have mentioned before that I use NCH video pad software for making the videos.

I think the thing that made it easier this time is that I put the main video where I needed most of the synching on the time line. I put the entire clip on here and then lined that up with the audio. I “detached” the audio from my recorded clip and deleted that (if you leave that audio in and just mute it you get some clicks).

I then layered the additional clips over the basic clip and lined that up where necessary, also detaching and deleting all the audio on the other clips. I then put the fades and effects on the overlay clips. The thing I cant figure out yet is how to “fade” from the main clip to a clip that has been overlaid. You only seem to be able to put a fade on one entire clip so that doesn’t help.

Joanne,

Both of my ears agreed that that was the best song of yours they've heard! I support their conclusion. It was top shelf all around.

Very impressive work on so many levels!

All the best,
Noel

What a fantastic song, and tribute. Loved the harmonies and the dubs, and the video was really sensitively done. Superb lyrics. Congratulations.

Joanne,
The world has lost a great man and leader. Your tribute is truly outstanding! Thank you for this wonderful reminder of what it takes to make a difference in the world. May we all learn this lesson.

SD

Hi, Joanne !

I think everyone here can say this better than me
but I think your song is a most fitting tribute
to an extraordinary person ! Just Great ! Joanne !

Cheers
Dani

Noel, Videotrack, dani and Space Dog
Thank you for listening and your kind comments.

A BIG +1

The video was very impressive also!

I sent it to a DJ friend in Seattle who has a humongous, affluent listening audience (over 5 million) and he said, since Mr Mandela is not actually mentioned in the lyrics, that it was too generic. However, he readily acknowledged Josie C's songwriting talent. That leaves the door open for her.

A problem with tribute songs, if one is fortunate enough to get one airplay, your done.