Tim, a fellow songwriter and musician/singer I've known for some time in another forum, came to me with a scratch vocal/guitar track on a new song idea he had and I assisted with some advice on lyrics and the music. Tim considers it a co-write so I can post this.

We have spent the last month or better working on this song....and as we worked, the song actually took several different directions. This is but 1 of 3 versions to it. I have 2 versions and Tim has his own mix. We both worked from the same tracks. This version is more country than either of the other 2.

On my version, here's the BB/RB tracks

B3
Steel guitar
part of the BASS track from the second verse on
Part of the Drum track from the beginning to where the bass comes in. AD take over at that point.

Tim sings it. I'm playing acoustic and electric guitars

Mixing & production from my studio.

HARD WAY

If you would like to hear Tim's version you can find it here: Tim's Version

Hope you enjoy it.

Lyrics:

IT'S A HARD WAY TO LIVE

I tried to go my own way, but you know there's a price to pay when you're runnin' from the hands that made you.
I thought I knew best. I said hell with the rest..I couldn't see what hard livin' had done to me.

And it's a hard , hard way to live. It's a hard, hard way to live.

I didn't want to believe, I didn't really see the need, I was lookin', but I still hadn't found.
I was standin' all alone, with a heart made of stone, and on my face...always a frown.

It's a hard, hard way to live, It's a hard hard way to live.

Well I finally saw the light, I gave up without a fight. I can't believe, the kind of man I used to be.
I'm free at last, all my wrongs are in the past, The Lord can change any man, take it from me.

It's a good, good way to live,It's a good good way to live.

It's a good good way to live.

Hi Herb,

Country outlaw Christian - I liked it.

Was gonna listen to Tim's version but for reasons unknown Soundcloud has stopped working for me tonight...grrr.
Edit- Got it to work, I think your mix is cleaner.

Josie

Really great feel and energy. Top notch arrangement and production! Excellent all the way around. Keep it up. Take care. Greg

This is a really good song and an excellent production, on both versions. On Herb's version, the drums and rhythm guitar work/ chord progression has a similar feel to early Waylon Jennings works,(in a very good way). It was a close call for me to 'like' one version over the other as both were top notch. I ended up leaning a bit more toward's Herb's version mostly because I'm really drawn to this style of music and choice of instruments. This is the type of song genre my late brother excelled on with the pedal steel guitar, so my mind wandered into how I imagined he would play it and the drawn out chords of the particular BB steel guitar instrument Herb chose, not because it was the wrong instrument but it varied from the jazzier, hot licks, and playoffs between the lead guitar/ steel guitar I was imagining in my head caused portions of the song to lose some of its energy to me. Again, if I listen to it without my particular bias and connecting my brother's playing to the music style, I don't think it is a real issue. Either way, it is my favorite song I've heard today and it made me smile.

Charlie

Josie, Greg & Charlie: Thanks for listening and the comments. I think Tim will like what you all said.

Hi Herb,

great feel and energy.
Good arrangement and production.

Guenter

Hi, Herb !:))


Greet tune and great lyrics
not to mention the great vocals
I enjoyed this really very much !!:))

Cheers
Dani

Hello Herb.
I enjoyed both versions very much. The smooth vocal sits very nicely and subtly within the mix. He has a great voice. Nice collaboration.

you've got a nice clean and engaging mix here. very enjoyable to listen to.

great write!

guenter, dani, josiec, and gruverider, thanks for listening.

Tim just emailed to say he listened to my mix.....I didn't want to send it to him until he was fairly satisfied with his mix, so that it wouldn't influence him or distract him.... so I sent it to him Friday evening before I left town.

Excellent mix...definitely has that 'outlaw' country vibe. I like the way it builds toward those final choruses, the organ is cool.

Nice work on those guitars Herb.

Good job with this very uplifting.


DA...

I listened to both versions and liked 'em both. Tim's version is maybe a little more "contemporary" with a slighter harder edge to it. Yours might need a little more compression to bring it all together a little more, and Tim's might need to work on controlling the drums a bit more (a little "boomy" maybe?).

It is interesting how the mix can make takes sound so different.

Tim's version allows the lyric to come to the surface. The production fits the song/lyric - the cadence of the piano follows the lyric the way it should. The guitar gets in the way throughout and he would be better off dropping it entirely - the steel adds some nice things, but again, the guitar gets in the way of that. The harmonies in the chorus really help bring home the lyrical hook - and they sound great on the last verse.
Herb's version doesn't help the lyric. The cadence of the production goes against the cadence of the lyric and continues to build until it takes over the song. By the end there's no air. These lyrics don't have the strength to rise above that - saying nothing about the writing - it's about the words themselves. Some lyrics are built of strong words - Don Henley writes strong words - some are built on soft words - Jackson Browne typically writes using all soft words. This lyric is for the most part soft. You need a certain style of production to allow soft words to shine. The density of the heavy bass and the continual organ and fuzzy guitar and ride are too much for them - they get lost in the production...

It think if you could work together and combine your strengths you could turn this into a solid piece of work.

Herb and Tim, I really like the song. The Waylon outlaw vibe is there. I am leaning towards Herb's mix, however I think the drums should be brought up in both mixes. In Tim's mix the kick sounds wrong. I love the organ in Herb's mix and agree with Charlie that the drawn out steel chords are robbing the energy in what should be a hard driving sound. I would start with Herb's mix and break it down starting getting a BIG drum sound and building a piece at a time concentrating on a driving sound. The kick should drive the train here. Thanks for posting both versions. That is a great idea and gives us all a chance to hone in on the mix and exchange ideas. Tom

Interesting observations. Since this is mostly Tim's call on what we do and where this goes, I will leave that decision up to him.

At the risk of being redundant....I pretty much agree with what's been said. Hearing the same song interpreted differently in a back to back listen often gives me a better perspective of both the lyrics and melody - A good write will stand out in both productions as this one does. I can see how the strongest points of each production could possibly be combined. But heck, I like hearing them both.